JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 18, 2011) - The ETSU baseball team saw its seven-game win streak come to an end Friday night as the Bucs fell to Jacksonville 14-10 in a slugfest at Cardinal Park.
The Bucs (11-3, 4-1 A-Sun) were out hit 20-10 in the contest by JU (12-6, 3-1 A-Sun) as John Long (Anderson, S.C.) registered his first loss of the year after giving up eight runs (five earned) on nine hits in 2.1 innings of work.
Steve Eagerton earned the win for Jacksonville, but was also touched up as he surrendered seven runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings.
The Dolphins exploded four seven runs on six hits in the first inning to take a 7-0 advantage. Taylor Ratliff led the way in the inning with a leadoff home run and three-run double.
Third baseman Bo Reeder (Cookeville, Tenn.) got the Buccaneers on the board in the bottom of the first as he drove his third home run of the season over the left field fence.
In the second inning, Jacksonville added another run as Dan Gulbransen came in to score on a sacrifice fly after leading the inning off with a double to make the score 8-1 JU.
ETSU cut the Dolphin lead to 8-4 in the bottom of the third on Reeder's second home run of the day as he hammered a 1-1 pitch to right for a three-run homer.
Jacksonville's Jimmy Howick gave the Dolphins a 9-4 edge in the fourth inning after doubling in a run.
The Buccaneers would answer though scoring two runs in the fifth and seventh innings to come within a run. Junior Dylan Pratt (Johnson City, Tenn.) homered for the sixth time on the year in the fifth inning driving in two runs. With the bases loaded in the seventh, Derek Trent (Kingsport, Tenn.) brought in a run after being hit by a pitch, while Andrew Green (Powell, Tenn.) drew a bases loaded walk to make the score 9-8 JU.
The Dolphins put the game out of reach in the final two innings as JU scored two runs in the eighth and three runs in the ninth to go in front 14-8. Gulbransen had a two-run home run in the eighth. Jacksonville then scored three runs in the ninth with two outs on a Jonathan Murphy two-run double and an Adam Brett Walker RBI single.
ETSU added two runs in the ninth on a RBI single by Pratt and a sac fly to center by Trent, but it would not be enough as Chris Kaminski got Derek Niesman (Wellington, Fla.) to fly out to right to end the game.
Reeder led the way offensively for the Bucs as he posted his first three-hit game of the season going 3-for-4 with two home runs, four RBI and scored four runs.
The Bucs are back in action tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. as they face JU in game two of the series. For more information on ETSU baseball and all other Buccaneer athletic news please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.
Jacksonville 14, ETSU 10 (March 18, 2011 at Johnson City, Tenn.)
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JU.................... 710 100 023 - 14 20 0 (12-6, 3-1 A-Sun)
ETSU............... 103 020 202 - 10 10 1 (11-3, 4-1 A-Sun)
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Win - Steve Eagerton (4-0) Loss - John Long (1-1)
HR - ETSU - Bo Reeder 2(4); Dylan Pratt (6)
JU - Taylor Ratliff (1); Dan Gulbransen (2)
