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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Following its weekend series at Cincinnati last week, Austin Peay State University’s baseball team travels west for a four-game series at Utah Tech starting Thursday, March 5, at 7:05 p.m. (CT) at Bruce Hurst Field in St. George, Utah.
LEADING OFF
Utah Tech is the only Western Athletic Conference opponent Austin Peay faces this season. The four-game series will feature games nine through twelve on the 33-game road schedule this season.
Entering the series at 11-1 this season are the Utah Tech Trailblazers. The team is led by head coach Chris Pfatenhauer, who is in his 16th career season and his second at Utah Tech. The Trailblazers were picked in the preseason to finish sixth in the WAC with 11 points, one ahead of last-place UT Arlington. Abilene Christian was the preseason favorite with three first-place votes.
Junior Ryan Kroepel, a two-way player at third base and on the mound, was selected as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year. He was a First-Team All-WAC selection in 2025, as he batted .367 in 55 games and a conference-best .467 in WAC games. He hit six home runs and drove in 35 runs while scoring 33 times. On the mound, he was 4-2 with a 3.09 ERA in 19 appearances, earning eight saves. He was already named the WAC Pitcher of the Week once this season on Feb. 16.
Two other Trailblazers have earned WAC weekly honors, in Kyle McDaniel and Talan Kelly, winning Player and Pitcher of the week, respectively (Feb. 23 and March 2).
The Governors come to Utah Tech with a 3-5 record away from The Hand this season, following a 1-2 showing at Cincinnati a week ago, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Austin Peay is 5-6 through the first three weeks of its 2026 campaign. The Governors came away with a 7-1 win over Cincinnati in game two of the series last weekend. The Governors bullpen was a crucial factor last weekend, where they used just seven arms, with two starters going at least seven innings.
Redshirt junior Kaleb Applebey picked up his first win of 2026 after throwing seven innings and not allowing a run to score on just one hit, while striking out six batters. He now has three straight appearances with six strikeouts, through his first three career starts. He was also named the Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Week following his performance. He is the first Governor to win a conference weekly award this season, and it is his first-career conference weekly honor.
Senior Kade Shatwell, in the series finale at Cincinnati last week, threw his first-career complete game while picking up his first loss of the season. The right-hander threw eight innings and struck out a career-high seven batters, and allowed three runs to score in the bottom of the fifth inning, which were the only runs scored in the game. He is slated to be the game four starter on Saturday.
Redshirt senior Chance Cox enters the starting rotation this weekend as the game one starter on Thursday. His last start came at Mississippi State (Feb. 24), where he threw three innings and struck out four in midweek action. He began his season at UNLV (Feb. 15), striking out a career single-game high six batters across 4.1 innings of work in the no-decision.
SERIES HISTORY
The Governors and the Trailblazers have never met. It will be the first time that the Governors have played in Utah, and Utah Tech will be the first Utah-based team the Governors have ever played.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Fans unable to attend can listen to the weekend series on ESPN Clarksville 104.1 FM in the Clarksville area or through the TuneIn app on their mobile device. Van Stokes, who is in his 25th season as the Govs play-by-play voice, will have the call all weekend.
The series will be streamed on WAC International.
FOLLOW ALONG
Keep up to date with all Governors baseball on the official website of Austin Peay Athletics – www.LetsGoPeay.com. Follow @GovsBSB on X and Instagram for all Governors Baseball updates and ticket information as they happen.