JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (March 12, 2011) - Junior centerfielder Matthew Scruggs' (Knoxville, Tenn.) two-run home run in the ninth inning lifted the ETSU baseball team to a 6-5 win over North Florida Saturday afternoon at Harmon Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. as the Bucs have won five straight games.
Senior Bo Burton (Kingsport, Tenn.) had a good start for the Bucs (9-2, 3-0 A-Sun) as he limited the Ospreys (7-7, 1-4 A-Sun) to two runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings of work, while sophomore reliever Scott McNally (Roswell, Ga.) improved to 5-0 on the season.
Closer Andrew Karmeris for UNF was tabbed with the loss after giving up a run on one hit in 1.0 inning.
Catcher Derek Trent (Kingsport, Tenn.) put the Buccaneers on the board in the top of the second inning as he sent his third home run of the season over the fence in right to make the score 1-0.
In the top of the third, Scruggs continued his hot weekend at the plate as he crushed a solo home run over the right field fence to give ETSU a 2-0 advantage.
The Bucs increased their lead to 3-0 in the top of the fourth. After Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) walked and Trent doubled down the line, right fielder Andrew Green (Powell, Tenn.) laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to the right side of the infield scoring Hoilman from third.
ETSU added another run in the top of the fifth on a Bo Reeder (Cookeville, Tenn.) RBI double to left center to make the score 4-0.
UNF cut into the Buccaneer lead in the bottom half of the inning as the Ospreys scored two runs on three hits highlighted by a two-run single by Michael Smith.
Alex Hernandez brought the score to 4-3 in the seventh as he sent a solo home run to left.
In the next inning, the Ospreys grabbed the lead after a two-run double by second baseman T.J. Gavlik to make the score 5-4 UNF.
Scruggs answered in the top of the ninth with his second home run of the day as he hammered a two-run shot over the scoreboard in left to give the Buccaneers a 6-5 edge.
Reeder then came in for ETSU in the ninth to close out the game as he picked up his sixth save of the season as he worked out of trouble after allowing an Osprey runner to get in scoring position with one out.
The Buccaneers close out the series against the Ospreys tomorrow at 1 p.m. as they look for the sweep. For more information on ETSU baseball and all other Buccaneer athletic news please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.
