Austin Peay State University’s baseball team fell late to Western Kentucky University Tuesday night at home. Photo | APSU Athletics

A pair of two-run homers from Austin Peay State University center fielder John Bay and pitcher Lyle Miller-Green weren’t enough to overcome an early lead against Western Kentucky in the Governors 12-9 loss on Tuesday.

A grand slam from Western Kentucky’s first basemen Blake Cavil in the second inning gave the Hilltoppers a 5-0 lead. Austin Peay stayed five runs behind until a scoring burst in the fifth inning put them on top.

Miller-Green hit a double that scored catcher Gus Freeman in for a run. First baseman Brody Szako followed with an RBI ground out. Jon Jon Gazdar then got on base with a run-scoring single. With Gazdar on base, Bay stepped up and crushed one out of the park for a two-run home run to give APSU an 8-7 lead.

The Hilltoppers scored off a balk to tie the game at eight, but Govs right fielder Nathan Barksdale recorded an RBI to put Austin Peay back up 9-8 in the seventh inning.  

WKU kept the Govs from scoring another run for the final two innings. The Hilltoppers took an 11-9 lead with a three-run home run from right fielder Ethan Lizma. After one more insurance run, the govs fell to the Hilltoppers 12-9

Austin Peay is now 11-5 and will head to Nashville for their First Atlantic Sun Conference series against the ASUN preseason favorite Lipscomb on Friday at Ken Dugan Field.