The Governors baseball team started off their highly anticipated season with a three game series against Bradley University. The Govs went 2-1 over the weekend.
The Govs won the first game 7-1. Junior third baseman Logan Gray, the Preseason Co-Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year had two RBIs in the win over the Braves.
Junior pitcher Alex Robles threw seven innings and gained his first win of the season.
The Govs were trailing in the first inning 1-0, butthe deficit was no match for Gray’s power at the plate. During his first season at-bat, Gray launched a home run to tie the game up.
After that, the Govs went on to score six more runs. They tacked on four runs in the third inning and two more in the sixth.
The second game started in the Govs’ favor. On the mound was sophomore lefty Michael Costanzo, who had a no-hitter going on in the seventh.
Gray started the momentum off in the bottom of the first with a triple and an RBI. The Govs tacked on three more runs in that inning, then added on two more runs in the third.
During the seventh inning, Costanzo started to struggle a little. He allowed a walk and then a home run to lose the no-hit bid. Senior reliever Jared Carkuff came in to relieve, but also gave up a two-run home run to make it a 6-4 score.
In the seventh inning, senior shortstop Clayton Smithson led off with a single home run to make it a final score of 7-4.
Costanzo also earned his first win of the season.
The third and final game of the series did not end in the Govs favor. APSU fell to Bradley 9-7. Sophomore lefty Zach Neff started on the bump for the Govs. During the third inning, errors on the first base side led to seven runs for Bradley.
During the bottom of the fourth, the Govs fought back and scored four runs themselves to make it a score of 7-4.
Junior first baseman Dre Gleason went 4-of-5 with no singles. The vet had three doubles and one homerun. Gleason drove in four of APSU’s seven runs.
APSU had several chances to tie the game, but failed to seize their opportunities.
In the seventh inning, the Govs had two runners in scoring position with only one out, but could not capitalize. Bradley scored a run in the eighth and ninth, while the Govs drove in one final run in the ninth, but they could not overcome the Braves, falling 9-7.
The Govs are back in action during the Governors Challenge where they will play Alcorn State on Friday, Feb. 26 at 3:30 p.m., University of Connecticut on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 3:30 p.m. and Missouri State Sunday, Feb. 28 at 3:30 p.m.
