FLORENCE, Ala. (Interstat) — The Austin Peay Governors visit the North Alabama Lions on Friday in an ASUN Conference series opener at Braly Municipal Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. with a forecast of 69 degrees and clouds.

Austin Peay enters with a 24-27 overall record. North Alabama is 25-26.

The Lions won the most recent matchup Thursday 15-0, part of a four-game series that began April 10. North Alabama took three of four in that set, including 15-5 and 13-12 wins, and outscored Austin Peay 37-20 over the weekend.

Austin Peay’s DJ Merriweather is a two-way player to watch. On Sunday, he pitched a complete game (Interstat) — 6.0 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 4 strikeouts (Interstat) — and went 1-for-2 with a home run and 2 RBI in a 15-2 rout of Eastern Kentucky. Over his last five games, Merriweather has started twice on the mound and posted a 1.86 ERA in 9.2 total innings while batting .300 with two homers.

North Alabama counters with reliever John Allen Stogner. In his last appearance Tuesday at Murray State, Stogner threw 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out one. Over his past three outings, he has surrendered one earned run across 8.1 innings for a 1.08 ERA.

Austin Peay’s Ty Wisdom (Interstat) — 2-for-4 with a homer and an RBI on Sunday (Interstat) — and Paris Pridgen (Interstat) — 2-for-3 with two RBI (Interstat) — also are key contributors. For North Alabama, Dylan Coleman drove in two runs Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 5-4 North Alabama win. Interstat’s ELO system gives Austin Peay a 65.3 percent probability to win.

Both teams play again Saturday in Florence for the series finale.