Tuesday, May 16, 2000

Johnson City, Tenn. -- The East Tennessee State University athletic department announced today that Donnie Sharp (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) has signed a National Letter of Intent to join head coach Tony Skole's Buccaneer baseball program next fall.

Sharp, a senior at Oak Ridge High School, has made 12 appearances on the mound so far this year. The right-hander is 6-3 with two saves. He has allowed just eight earned runs in 53.2 innings for a stellar 1.04 earned run average.

Sharp has struck out 66 batters (8.61 strikeouts/game) for head coach Tom Froning. As a position player, Sharp is batting .372 this year.

"Donnie will have the opportunity to pitch immediately," Skole said. "He is an extremely talented player that comes from a great family. We are very excited to have Donnie join our baseball family at ETSU."

Sharp joins Justin Adams (Kingsport, Tenn.), Bryan Crouse (Morristown, Tenn.), Matt Hensley (Knoxville, Tenn.), Josh Kite (Greeneville, Tenn.), and Scott Rose (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) in the 2000 recruiting class.