Wednesday, April 04, 2012

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Apr. 4, 2012) — After having Tuesday’s game against Appalachian State washed out due to rain, the ETSU (14-12, 3-6 A-Sun) baseball team returns home for Atlantic Sun play as the Bucs host North Florida (18-13, 2-7 A-Sun) for a three-game set beginning on Thursday at Thomas Stadium.

Thursday’s first pitch will begin at 3:05 p.m., which was moved up from the original 7:05 p.m. start. Friday’s first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. and will be the first game at Thomas Stadium under the lights. Saturday’s series finale will begin at 1:05 p.m. Each game will be broadcasted live online at ETSUBucs.com with live stats also available.

The Bucs will send John Long (Anderson, S.C.) (4-3, 3.96 ERA) to the mound on Friday to face UNF lefty Tommy Organ (2-1, 3.71 ERA).

Friday’s game will feature ETSU freshman righty Jimmy Nesselt (Plantation, Fla.) (2-2, 4.28 ERA) against UNF right-hander Kyle Westwood (2-3, 3.83 ERA).

ETSU will throw sophomore righty Jake Long (Anderson, S.C.) (2-2, 2.27 ERA) in Saturday’s finale. UNF has not yet announced its starter for the series finale.

The Bucs made the short trip to Boone on Tuesday as the two squads were able to get two and a half innings completed before the bad weather moved into the area. ETSU got two solid innings out of starter Kuehl McEachern (Mt. Dora, Fla.) and a two-run homer from Matthew Scruggs (Knoxville, Tenn.) to give the Bucs a 2-0 lead. However, the stats will be wiped off the board as the makeup date between the two schools will start from the beginning.

ETSU heads into the weekend ranked second in the Atlantic Sun in slugging percentage (.436) and in home runs (30). The ETSU pitching staff has been solid throughout the season as they lead the league in opposing batting average (.238), while allowing the fewest hits (203) and fewest runs (116) in the conference.

North Florida heads into the weekend with momentum after upsetting No. 1-ranked Florida at home on Tuesday night, 10-5.

The Ospreys are one of the top hitting teams in the league as they rank near the top of the A-Sun in several categories including average (.295, second), slugging percentage (.435, third), runs scored (207, second), hits (324, first), RBI (182, second), doubles (63, second), home runs (25, third) and total bases (478, second).

Tyler Marincov leads the UNF attack at the plate with a team-best .379 average, while also leading the squad in home runs (5), RBI (27), total bases (66), slugging percentage (.569), on-base percentage (.449) and stolen bases (7). Marincov is one of seven Osprey regular starters batting over the .300 mark.

ETSU and UNF have met 19 times throughout the years with the Bucs owning a slight 11-8 advantage in the series. ETSU is coming off a series sweep over the Ospreys in Jacksonville last season.

For more information on ETSU baseball please visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball link.