Tuesday, March 22, 2005

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Mar. 22, 2005) - The East Tennessee State Buccaneer baseball team will host the Tennessee Volunteers Wednesday night at 7 p.m. from Cardinal Park in Johnson City, Tenn. for the first meeting of the season between the in-state rivals. The two teams were scheduled to play on Mar. 16 from Knoxville, Tenn., but that game was moved to Apr. 12 due to inclement weather.

            The Bucs come into the game at 11-5, one of their best starts in school history. ETSU has an explosive offense, led by senior second baseman Nick Crowe (Johnson City, Tenn.), junior shortstop Chuck Hargis (Powell, Tenn.), sophomore leftfielder Stephen Douglas (Kennesaw, Ga.) and senior All-America catcher Caleb Moore (Knoxville, Tenn.).

            Crowe leads the team with a .377 batting average through 16 games and Hargis is second on the team, hitting .373. Douglas is currently on a team-best 12-game hitting streak, raising his average to .367. Moore is batting .361 and paces the club with six home runs and 23 RBIs.

            Tennessee is 16-5 on the season after taking two of three from Auburn this past weekend. The Vols also have a potent offense, hitting .335 as a team with six regular players batting .338 or better. Josh Alley leads the team with a .407 average and Eli Iorg is second on the team, hitting .404. Iorg is also tied with J.P. Arencibia for the team lead in home runs and RBIs, with both players hitting six homers and driving in 24 runs.

            Wednesday's game will also be a great pitching matchup as ETSU sends their ace, junior righty Jeremy Hall (Gray, Tenn.) to the mound against Tennessee sophomore righty Craig Cobb.

            Hall is 3-1 in five starts this season with a 5.03 ERA. He leads the Bucs with 34 innings pitched and has struck out 19 batters while holding opponents to a .265 batting average. Cobb is 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA in five appearances. He has made two starts and has allowed 18 hits in 15.2 innings while striking out 12.

            Wednesday night's game will be broadcast on the Mountain States Health Alliance Buccaneer Sports Network, starting with the pre-game show at 6:30 p.m.