Tuesday, March 30, 2010

BOONE, N.C. (March 30, 2010) - The ETSU baseball team fell to Appalachian State 14-4 Tuesday at Smith Field in Boone, N.C. as the Bucs were out hit 15-9 in the contest.

Freshman Kerry Doane (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) was tabbed with the loss for the Bucs (16-6, 5-1 A-Sun) surrendering seven runs (six earned) on seven hits while striking out four with two walks.

Reliever Nathan Hyatt picked up the win for the Mountaineers (15-6-1) after coming into the game in the third and got ASU out of a bases loaded jam. Hyatt went 4.2 scoreless innings, while limiting the Bucs to two hits and struck out six.

Shortstop Garrett May (Marietta, Ga.) led ETSU offensively going 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. 

Centerfielder Matthew Scruggs (Knoxville, Tenn.) led off the game depositing a 3-1 fastball over the fence in center to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead.

The Mountaineers answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-1 lead. Crespo led off the inning with a double and came in to score on a single by Jeremy Dowdy. Later in the inning, two runs came in to score on a single to center by Tyler Zupcic.

ETSU retook the lead in the top of the third scoring three runs on five hits to make the score 4-3 Buccaneers. Right fielder Andrew Green (Powell, Tenn.) got a leadoff single, and then came around to score on a two-run home run by May to left. Chas Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) came in to score on a ball hit back up the middle by catcher Derek Trent (Kingsport, Tenn.) to give the Bucs the lead.

Appalachian State stormed back in the bottom half scoring four runs on four hits highlighted by a three-run home run by Dowdy and a solo shot by Ryan Stetson to go in front 7-4.

Catcher Jerod Faggart added a run for ASU in the fourth as he sent a solo home run down the left field line to make the score 8-4.

In the bottom of the fifth, Doug Jones came in to score on a bunt single by Hector Crespo to extend the Mountaineer lead to 9-4.

Appalachian State continued the scoring onslaught in the six as two more runs came across on sac bunt by Tyler Zupcic and a RBI double by Stetson to give ASU a 11-4 lead.

The Mountaineers put the game out of reach in the bottom of the seventh scoring three runs on a RBI single by Wes Hobson and a two-run home run by David Towarnicky to make the final 14-4.

The Bucs are back in action tomorrow as they host ACC foe Virginia Tech at Cardinal Park with the first pitch slated for 7 p.m. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU baseball and all other Buccaneer athletic news.

Appalachian State 14, ETSU 4 (March 30, 2010 at Boone, N.C.)
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ETSU............ 103  000  000      -      4      9   2  (16-6, 5-1 A-Sun)

ASU............... 304  112  30x    - 14   15     1   (15-6-1, 2-6-1 SoCon)

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Pitchers: ETSU - Kerry Doane; Derek Bushey (4); Pete Whittingslow (6); Drew Story (8)

ASU - Seth Grant; Nathan Hyatt (3); Will Helms (8)

Win - Nathan Hyatt (1-0) Loss - Kerry Doane (1-2)

HR - ETSU - Matthew Scruggs (3); Garrett May (2)

ASU - Jeremy Dowdy (2); Jerod Faggart (7); Ryan Stetson (1); David Towarnicky (5)