Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky lost both games of an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader at Austin Peay on Friday. The Colonels lost game one 18-15 and dropped the second game 11-9.
Game three of the series will be Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
EKU (16-20, 8-6 OVC) hit six home runs in the two games combined. Senior shortstop
Ryland Kerr combined to go 6-for-10 with a home run, four runs scored and seven RBIs. Junior catcher
Alex Holderbach was 6-for-11 with a home run, three runs scored and six RBIs in both games combined.
In game one, the Colonels grabbed the early lead, then fell behind, but never stopped fighting back.
Eastern scored three times in the top of the first inning. Holderbach singled through the left side to plate the first run of the game and his 41st RBI of the season. He entered the game 13th in the nation in RBIs.
The Governors answered with seven runs in the bottom of the first and never trailed again. Parker Phillips had a grand slam to get the scoring started.
Eastern was down 14-5 when
Daniel Harris IV led off the sixth inning with a home run, his third of the season. A three-run seventh inning by the Colonels closed the deficit to 14-10.
Chris Botsoe led off the inning with his third home run of the season.
Austin Peay had an 18-10 lead going into the ninth inning. EKU continued its comeback bid by scoring five times to make it a three-run game. Kerr and Holderbach hit back-to-back home runs in the inning. Kerr's 3-run shot down the left field line was his second of the season. Holderbach's solo shot over the wall in left center gave him a team-best nine dingers.
Holderbach finished the game 4-for-6 with two runs and three RBIs. Kerr was 3-for-5 with two runs and four driven in. Harris had a 2-for-3 game with a walk, three runs scored and an RBI.
Will Johnson was 2-for-2 with three walks, two runs scored and two driven in.
In game two, a pair of two-run home runs by David Martinez and Phillips gave Austin Peay a 4-0 lead in the second inning. Back-to-back doubles by Holderbach and
Nick Howie in the top of the fourth inning cut the Governor lead in half.
After the Governors pulled ahead 7-2 after four innings, Johnson's two-run home run in the fifth got the comeback started in earnest. It was his second of the season and made it a 7-4 game. Two more runs in the sixth inning got the Colonels within one, 7-6.
Eastern Kentucky took the lead in the seventh.
Cornell Nixon's started the inning with his first home run of the season. Johnson drew a walk and Kerr doubled to get two runners on with no outs. Holderbach followed with a double to left field to plate both runs and swing the lead to the visitors, 9-7.
Austin Peay (21-15, 11-6 OVC) grabbed the lead right back with three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
