Austin Peay Baseball Narrowly Falls 9-8 at Bellarmine

Junior DJ Merriweather strikes out career-high 10 batters in relief effort

Mar. 15, 2026 at 2:42am

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The Austin Peay State University baseball team fell to Bellarmine 9-8 in the second game of their Atlantic Sun Conference series, despite a strong relief outing from junior DJ Merriweather who struck out a career-high 10 batters. The Governors jumped out to an early lead but Bellarmine rallied with a grand slam in the third inning to tie the game. The teams traded runs until the bottom of the eighth when Bellarmine scored two to take a 9-7 lead. Austin Peay made a late push in the ninth but ultimately fell short.

Why it matters

This was the first Atlantic Sun Conference matchup for the Austin Peay baseball team, who are looking to make an impact in their new conference. The close loss shows the team's competitiveness and ability to battle back, even against a tough conference opponent on the road.

The details

Austin Peay took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single from Cole Johnson. Bellarmine tied it in the bottom half, then the teams combined for 8 runs in the third inning to make it 5-5. Merriweather came in relief and struck out 10 batters, but Bellarmine scored 2 in the eighth to go up 9-7. Austin Peay scored 1 in the ninth but couldn't complete the comeback.

  • The game was played on Saturday, March 14, 2026.
  • Merriweather's 10 strikeouts were the most by an Austin Peay pitcher since Gavin Braunecker on April 25th last season.

The players

DJ Merriweather

A junior pitcher for Austin Peay State University who struck out a career-high 10 batters in relief.

Cole Johnson

A redshirt sophomore for Austin Peay who drove in the team's first run with an RBI single.

Logan Murphy

A Bellarmine player who hit a game-tying grand slam in the third inning.

Sawyer Pace

A Bellarmine player who had a sacrifice fly to tie the game in the second inning and a two-RBI single in the eighth to give Bellarmine the lead.

Jett Hope

The Austin Peay pitcher who took the loss after allowing two runs in the eighth inning.

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What’s next

The Austin Peay baseball team will look to bounce back in the rubber match of the series against Bellarmine on Sunday at 12:00pm.

The takeaway

Despite the narrow loss, Austin Peay's ability to battle back and the standout relief performance from Merriweather show the team's competitiveness as they open Atlantic Sun Conference play.