CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.- Jacksonville Baseball (15-17, 9-4 ASUN) faced off with Austin Peay (20-13, 8-5 ASUN) and fell short in a back-and-forth offensive battle that ended in the Governors favor, 11-10.

Jacksonville put a three spot on the board in the top of the eighth, one of them being a RBI single by Clayton Hodges to tie things up at eight apiece. Chandler Howard came up to bat and smacked a liner to left field to give the Dolphins the lead 10-8 heading into the home half of the inning. Unfortunately, the Governors responded quickly and sharply, with a three-run shot that gave them the lead, which they held for the remainder of the game.

Richard Long pitched six innings and collected a pair of strikeouts in his outing; he was given a no-decision.

The Dolphins started the game off with the bats going, driving in four runs in the first two frames; two in the first and two in the second. Tyler Hinrikus got the 'Phins on the board with a RBI single that scored Will Gale. Hodges, later in the first, drove in Hinrikus to put Jacksonville up two early. After a scoreless Govs first inning, A Justin Nadeau RBI single and a Hinrikus double added to the Jacksonville lead to make it 4-0 'Phins. Heading into the home half of the second, the Govs responded and added three runs in the second with help from two Governor homers.

After a scoreless third inning, the 'Phins added a pair of runs to extend their lead when Nadeau drove in Gale on a sacrifice fly and Hodges added a RBI single to make it 6-3 Jacksonville.

The Govs added another homer, this time a solo shot to cut the deficit to two in the bottom of the fourth. After a blank spot by Jacksonville in the top of the fifth, the Govs made it a one-run game with a Miller-Green double. The 'Phins quickly responded though in the sixth with a Josh Steidl RBI single put Jacksonville back up two, 7-5.

Austin Peay replied the following half inning with a two-run homer to tie things once again, 7-7.

Jacksonville couldn't plate a run in the seventh and as the game headed into the home half of the seventh, the Dolphins made a call to the bullpen to have Tommy Allman relieve Long. The Govs took with lead later in the inning with a RBI single, but Allman escaped without any further damage.

Momentum swung back in the favor of the Dolphins in the top frame as Hodges and Howard both came up clutch in a bases-loaded situation to give Jacksonville the 10-8 lead.

Issac Williams came in to relieve Allman in the eighth and surrendered a leadoff double. The next Govs batter came up to bat and flew one out to left field, where Tyrell Brewer took a risk and extended out to make a diving catch that was called an out. After the umpires had a gathering, they reversed the decision and called it a single, setting up the Govs with two runners on and no outs. The next Peay batter stepped up to the plate and rocked a shot to right center that gave the Govs the lead late, 11-10.

Jacksonville was unable to respond in the ninth, leading to a tough loss in a dramatic back-and-forth game. Williams was given the loss, making his record now 3-2 on the season.

Head Coach Chris Hayes commented post-game: "It was a battle to start off the series tonight and I am proud of how our guys competed. It is nice to see that we were battling the whole game and I thought we did some things well on both sides of the game, but in the end, it wasn't enough to get it done."  

"I am confident that our boys will be ready to respond and play tomorrow." added Hayes.

Three Strikes:

1. Hodges led the team with three RBIs, three other Dolphins (Nadeau, Hinrikus and Howard) had a pair of RBIs as well.
2. Gale and Hodges both recorded three hits, teammates Nadeau and Hinrikus also recorded a multi-hit game.
3. Brewer, Nadeau, Hodges and Gale (2) all recorded a stolen base in the game.

Up Next:

Jacksonville will return tomorrow to take on Austin Peay for game two of the ASUN conference weekend series. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 pm.