JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 13, 2010) -  The ETSU baseball team pounded out 17 hits as the Bucs cruised to a 14-1 win over SIU Edwardsville Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Park.

Junior Ben Booker (Knoxville, Tenn.) improved to 2-0 on the season as the Bucs (10-2) picked up their fourth straight win. Booker was phenomenal on the mound allowing one run on five hits in 7.0 innings with seven strikeouts.

Mitchell Fairley fell to 0-2 on the year for the Cougars (2-11) as he gave up six runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work.

Freshman Kerry Doane (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) continued to impress offensively as he went 3-for-4 on the day with a double, home run, scored two runs and drove in four. In the series, Doane is hitting .875 (7-for-8) with two doubles, three home runs and 9 RBI.

Matthew Scruggs (Knoxville, Tenn.) also had another good day at the plate as he was 2-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBI, while junior Chas Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) drove in three for the Buccaneers.

In the bottom of the third, Scruggs doubled to right center to give the Bucs runners on second and third with two outs. Byrne doubled to left center scoring shortstop Garrett May (Marietta, Ga.) and Scruggs to make the score 2-0 ETSU.

Zach Hawkins cut the Buccaneer lead to 2-1 in the top of the fourth as he homered to left. After giving up the home run, Booker went on to retire ten of the next 12 batters allowing only one hit.

Doane picked up where he left off on Friday in the bottom of the fourth, as he crushed the first pitch he saw over the fence in left center to give the Bucs a 3-1 lead.

The Bucs scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth as May led off the inning with a solo shot to right. Later in the inning, Doane singled through the left side scoring two runs to give ETSU a 6-1 advantage.

ETSU exploded for seven runs on six hits in the bottom of the seventh to take a 13-1 lead. First baseman Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) led off the inning with his fifth home run of the season. The Bucs got RBI doubles from Doane and Andrew Green (Powell, Tenn.), and a two-run triple by Scruggs later in the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, freshman Michael Gonzalez (Jupiter, Fla.) singled in a run to put ETSU ahead, 14-1.

Sophomore Josh Means (Kennesaw, Ga.) threw two scoreless innings of relief for the Buccaneers giving up one hit with a strikeout.

The Bucs are back in action tomorrow at 1 p.m. as they go for the sweep of the Cougars. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU baseball and all other Buccaneer athletic news.

ETSU 14, SIU Edwardsville 1 (March 13, 2010 at Johnson City, Tenn.)
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SIUE.............. 000  100  000  -  1      6      2   (2-12)

ETSU............ 002  130  71x    - 14   17     1   (10-2)

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Pitchers: ETSU - Ben Booker; Josh Means (8)

SIUE - Mitchell Fairley; Brian Lorenz (5); Brent Rynearson (7)

Win - Ben Booker (2-0) Loss - Mitchell Fairley (0-2)

HR - ETSU - Doane (4); Garrett May (2); Paul Hoilman (5)

SIUE - Zach Hawkins (2)