Saturday, March 23, 2002

Johnson City, Tenn. (March 23, 2002) - East Tennessee State broke out of its four-game losing streak in a big way this afternoon, pounding out a season-high 20 hits and getting a complete-game performance from Donnie Sharp (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) as the Buccaneers took a 15-1 win over Binghamton in the first of a three-game series at Cardinal Park. After taking a 1-0 lead in the first, ETSU (7-12) took care of business early, scoring five more in the second to take control of the contest. Kirk Keithley (Peoria, Ill.) and Brandon Cross (Bluff City, Tenn.) started things off with singles to open the inning. After moving up a base on a ground out, Tim Turner (Marietta, Ga.) brought home Keithley with a ground out to second. Matt Traylor (Knoxville, Tenn.) then doubled home Cross to make it 3-0. After Jeremy Terry (Cumberland, Ky.) singled into the hole at short to put runners at first and third, he and Terry pulled off a double steal to make it 4-0. After a walk to Bryan Crouse (Kingston, Tenn.), Chad Boruff (Knoxville, Tenn.) got the first two of his four RBI on the day, doubling home both runners to complete the scoring. ETSU got to Binghamton (4-11) starter David Eagan for three more in the fifth. Boruff led off with his third home run of the season before the Bucs added two more on a double-play ball with the bases loaded and a Binghamton error. Brandon Cross (Bluff City, Tenn.) added a two-run double in the sixth and the Bucs got four more in the seventh on a solo home run from Turner and RBI singles from Michael Giroud (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Ryan Hyder (Erwin, Tenn.). Sharp was just that for ETSU on the mound, hurling the team's second complete game of the season, allowing just seven hits, striking out four and walking just one. The only run the Bearcats could muster came in the fourth when Tony Berube doubled with one out, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a single by Tim Collar. Keithley led the ETSU attack with four hits in five trips, scoring three times. Boruff and Terry each had three hits, with Boruff driving in four with a double and home run. T.J. Kowalchuk was the only Bearcat with more than one hit, finishing with a 2-for-4 afternoon. The two teams will finish off their series tomorrow with a doubleheader at Cardinal Park beginning at 1:00 p.m.