ETSU has won seven of its last 10 against the Vols

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (March 9, 2015) – Coming off a three-game sweep by West Virginia, the ETSU baseball team looks to bounce back into the win column Tuesday night when the Bucs travel to Knoxville for a midweek game at Tennessee. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BUCS

The Bucs (7-6), who have lost four straight, dropped all three games to Big 12 foe West Virginia over the weekend at Thomas Stadium.

After suffering a 7-6 10-inning setback in the series opener, ETSU was outscored 31-6 by the Mountaineers in the final two games. The Blue and Gold dropped game two, 18-2, and the series finale, 13-4.

Freshman catcher Hagen Owenby (Knoxville, Tenn.) hit .500 (5-10) with one double, one home run, two runs and two RBI in the three-game series, while red-shirt senior Daniel Tucker (Hendersonville, Tenn.) and junior Kevin Phillips (St. Louis, Mo.) both hit over .300 on the weekend.

Sophomores Jamin McCann (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Connor Bartow (Jonesborough, Tenn.) were the only Buccaneer pitchers to not allow a run in the series. McCann tossed two innings and struck out four, while Bartow struck out one in an inning of relief.

PREVIEWING THE TENNESSEE

Tennessee has won three of its last four and sit 6-5 on the season.

The Vols took two of three from Grand Canyon over the weekend in Knoxville and outscored the Antelopes, 11-3.

Tennessee’s pitching staff features a 1.69 ERA, while opponents are only hitting .201 (68-338) and averaging less than three runs per game against the Vols. Junior two-way player Andrew Lee has yet to allow a run in four appearances (5.1 innings), while junior left-hander Andy Cox has allowed one earned run in 10.0 innings.

At the plate, junior outfielder Vincent Jackson is hitting a team-best .405 (15-37) with two doubles, five runs and three RBI, while fellow junior outfielder Christin Stewart has belted two of Tennessee’s three home runs and is hitting .316 (12-38) with three doubles, one triple, eight runs and 10 RBI.

PITCHING MATCHUP

Freshman right-hander Ryan Simpler (Lewes, Del.) goes to the hill for the Bucs and Tennessee counters with sophomore right-hander Hunter Martin.

Simpler is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA (3 ER/10.0 IP) in five appearances (one start) for ETSU, while Martin is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA (2 ER/5.2 IP) in three appearances (one start).

Simpler made his first collegiate start last Tuesday in the 9-1 win over Radford. The Buccaneer rookie tossed five scoreless innings and struck out four. Simpler has 13 strikeouts in 10.0 innings this season.  

SERIES HISTORY

Tennessee leads the all-time series, 58-16, but the Bucs have won seven of the last 10 and nine of 14 against the Vols, including a series-sweep over their in-state rival in 2013.

Eleven of the last 14 meetings have been decided by two runs or less, including eight by one run.

ETSU defeated Tennessee, 2-1, in Knoxville last season and completed the sweep with a 9-7 in Johnson City. Clinton Freeman (Jonesborough, Tenn.) belted a two-run home run and the Buccaneer bullpen held the Vols scoreless for the final five innings to earn the win at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, while ETSU jumped out to a 4-0 lead and held on for a 9-7 win at Thomas Stadium. Freeman also homered and got the save in both games last season.

Senior Jimmy Nesselt (Plantation, Fla.) earned the win at Thomas Stadium and Jamin McCann tossed two scoreless innings of one-hit ball out of the pen.

COVERAGE

Tuesday marks the first radio broadcast of the season as “Voice of the Bucs” Jay Sandos will have the call starting with the Atmos Energy Dugout Show at 5:30 p.m. on WXSM-AM 640 The Extreme Sports Monster. Click here for live audio.

The game will also be video streamed live on SEC Network +. 

Live stats will be available for the game via StatBroadcast by visiting ETSUBucs.com. Fans can access live stats on their computers, mobile devices or tablets. Click here for live stats.

Live updates will also be posted on Twitter by following @ETSUAthletics and @ETSU_Baseball.

A LOOK AHEAD

ETSU returns home to host Miami (Ohio) in a three-game weekend series beginning Friday night at 6:05 p.m. at Thomas Stadium.  

TEXTCASTER

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For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball page.