» By DANIEL NEWTON – dnewton7@my.apsu.edu
If the APSU Bat Govs had a theme song for this week, it would most likely be “All I Do is Win” by hip-hop star DJ Khalid.
The Bat Govs were victorious in three of their four games, beating visiting MTSU on Wednesday, April 11, and winning two of three against visiting Murray State on Saturday, April 14, and Sunday, April 15, both wins coming from walk-off home runs.
Wednesday’s game against MTSU saw the Bat Govs enjoy a team effort in the victory.
The Bat Govs used nine pitchers throughout the game, one pitcher per inning.
The APSU pitching staff surrendered only two earned runs as the Bat Govs pulled out the 10-3 victory over the Blue Raiders.
On Friday, April 13, the Bat Govs lost their second consecutive Ohio Valley Conference game against Murray State, 13-7.
The game went into the top of the ninth with APSU behind by one run, 8-7, but that is as close as the Bat Govs came.
Four ninth-inning errors allowed the Thoroughbreds to plate five runs and put the game out of reach.
The team had six errors on the game, the most since April 27, 2008 at Southeast Missouri.
Both Saturday and Sunday’s games ended with APSU celebrating at home plate in dramatic finishes.
Saturday’s game ended by a Tyler Childress home run in the bottom of the ninth.
The Bat Govs jumped out to an early 7-1 lead by the fifth inning, but saw its lead squandered in the sixth behind some errors and clutch Murray State hitting.
The Thoroughbreds tacked on five runs in the inning and a single run in the seventh and eighth innings.
The Murray State late charge was no match for the Bat Govs as they were able to keep the ‘Breds from gaining the lead and Childress delivered the victory blow in the bottom of the ninth.
Sunday’s game was even more exciting than Saturday’s game, as APSU was able to escape with a narrow 13-12 victory in extra innings.
The Bat Govs blew a lead two separate times during the game, but were able to come back thanks to the big bat of senior Greg Bachman. Bachman had a three-run home run in the first inning to jump the Bat Govs into the lead.
Later in the contest, Bachman had another clutch three-run home run in the eighth inning to help tie the game at 11.
The Bat Govs surrendered a run in the ninth but were able to bring in the tying run with two outs and a 1-2 count, as sophomore Jordan Hankins hit a game-tying double.
In the bottom of the 10th inning, junior Cody Hudson hit a towering home run, giving APSU their fifth home run of the game and more importantly, the win.
This week boosted the Bat Govs record to 22-13 and 9-2 in OVC play, keeping them in first place in the conference.
The team will look to stay hot when they travel to Murfreesboro on Wednesday, April 18, for a rematch with MTSU.
The team will now travel to Richmond, Ky. for an OVC series with conference rival Eastern Kentucky Friday, April 20, through Sunday, April 22. TAS
