Preece Goes Deep Twice as Baseball Drops APSU Series Opener

BOX SCORE

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Freshman center-fielder Ryley Preece showed off his power Thursday night in the Ohio Valley Conference series opener at Austin Peay with his first multi-home run game. But unfortunately the rest of the Eagles were not able to cross the plate enough in a 13-4 setback at Hand Park.

Preece, who now has three home runs, also recorded a career-best four RBI. MSU slipped to 13-12 overall and 4-3 in the conference, while the host Govs moved to 10-17 overall and 7-6 in league contests.

The Govs broke open a close battle with multiple runs in each of the middle innings.

HOW IT HAPPENED

- Preece crushed a 2-1 Luke Brown pitch over the wall in right field in the top of the first inning.
- The Govs took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth as Jack Alexander doubled home Bobby Head in the second and a repeat play in the fourth. 
- Trailing 3-1 in the fifth, Preece unloaded on a three-run homer to right center-field to score freshman shortstop Colton Becker and senior second baseman Bryce Hensor.
- Garrett Spain put his team back in the lead with a two-run long ball in the fifth.
- The Govs scored six times in the sixth, including a two-run homer by John McDonald and a three-run smack by Head.
- APSU added its final runs in the seventh on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly

NOTABLE

- Preece's multi-homer stat line was the second multi-home game for an Eagle this season. Senior catcher Jack Gardner went yard twice against Marshall on March 6.
- Freshman first baseman Jackson Feltner had another multi-hit game with three singles, his team-best ninth of the season. By virtue of that he also extended his reached-base streak to a team-best 15 games.
- Senior designated hitter Alex Jacobs posted his second multi-hit performance, and senior third baseman Stephen Hill also had a multi-hit night, his fifth of 2021. 
- Starter Jason Goe (1-4) was saddled with the loss, having 10 runs - all earned - on his stat line.
- Sophomore righty Joe Rotkis pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the eighth, his first perfect inning.
- Morehead State finished with 10 hits, the fourth double-digit hit production in the last five games with the fifth being a nine-hit day.

UP NEXT

The teams will conclude the series on Friday with a doubleheader set to begin at 2 p.m. ET.