Austin Peay State University’s baseball team will travel to St. George, Utah, for a four-game series against Utah Tech beginning Thursday, March 5 at Bruce Hurst Field. This marks the first time Austin Peay has played in Utah and their first matchup against a Utah-based team.
Utah Tech enters the series with an 11-1 record under head coach Chris Pfatenhauer, who is in his second season with the Trailblazers and sixteenth overall as a head coach. The Trailblazers were predicted to finish sixth in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) preseason poll.
Junior Ryan Kroepel leads Utah Tech as a two-way player at third base and on the mound. He was named WAC Preseason Player of the Year after batting .367 over 55 games last season and posting a conference-best .467 average in WAC play. Kroepel also recorded six home runs, 35 RBIs, and scored 33 times. On the pitching side, he went 4-2 with a 3.09 ERA across 19 appearances and earned eight saves. He received WAC Pitcher of the Week honors on February 16.
Other Trailblazers recognized this season include Kyle McDaniel and Talan Kelly, who won WAC weekly awards for Player and Pitcher of the Week on February 23 and March 2, respectively.
Austin Peay arrives with a road record of 3-5 this season following their recent series at Cincinnati where they secured one win out of three games. Their bullpen used only seven pitchers during that weekend, including two starters who pitched at least seven innings each.
Redshirt junior Kaleb Applebey achieved his first win of the year by pitching seven scoreless innings against Cincinnati while allowing just one hit and striking out six batters. “He now has three straight appearances with six strikeouts, through his first three career starts,” according to Austin Peay officials. Applebey was named Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Week for his performance—the team’s first conference weekly award this season.
Senior Kade Shatwell pitched his first complete game but took his first loss after throwing eight innings in Cincinnati’s series finale. He struck out a career-high seven batters but allowed three runs in one inning—the game’s only scores—and is scheduled to start Saturday’s fourth game.
Redshirt senior Chance Cox will join Austin Peay’s starting rotation as Thursday’s game one starter. His previous start came against Mississippi State on February 24 when he struck out four over three innings; earlier this year at UNLV he set a personal best with six strikeouts across four-plus innings.
The upcoming series represents games nine through twelve of Austin Peay’s planned thirty-three road contests this season.
Fans can listen to broadcasts locally on ESPN Clarksville 104.1 FM or via TuneIn app, with Van Stokes providing commentary throughout the weekend in his twenty-fifth year as play-by-play announcer for Governors baseball. Streaming will be available through WAC International.
For updates or ticket information about Governors baseball, fans are encouraged to visit www.LetsGoPeay.com or follow @GovsBSB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.
