JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 12, 2015) – The ETSU baseball team opens a three-game non-conference home series with Miami University, beginning Friday night at Thomas Stadium.

GAME TIMES/PITCHING MATCHUPS

Friday – 6:05 p.m. – Game No. 15

RHP Jimmy Nesselt (2-0, 2.52) vs. RHP Ryan Powers (1-3, 5.06)

Saturday – 2:05 p.m. – Game No. 16

RHP Lee Haeberle (2-2, 5.64) vs. RHP Jacob Banks (1-3, 3.22)

Sunday – 1:05 p.m. – Game No. 17

RHP Griffin Krieg (1-1, 7.80) vs. RHP Nathan Williams (0-1, 3.52)

PREVIEWING THE BUCS

ETSU (7-7) suffered its fifth straight loss Tuesday night as the Bucs fell to Tennessee, 5-2, in Knoxville.

Freshman Hagen Owenby (Knoxville, Tenn.) drove in the two runs, while junior Trey York (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored the two runs in the three-run setback. Owenby went 1 for 3 with the two RBI, while York – who has reached base safely in all 14 games to start the season – went 2 for 3 with one double and the two runs scored.

Freshman Ryan Simpler (Lewes, Del.) held the Vols scoreless for the first four innings, but suffered the loss after allowing three runs on six hits and struck out four in 5.1 innings.

Five different Buccaneer batters combined for ETSU’s six hits on the night.

PREVIEWING THE REDHAWKS

Miami has lost nine of its first 11 to start the season and suffered its fourth straight loss Tuesday at Ball State.

The Redhawks allowed four unearned runs but were shutout for the third time in four games as Ball State won, 4-0.

Miami was swept last weekend at then-No. 10 South Carolina, but two of the three games were decided by two runs.

Offensively, the Redhawks are led by senior outfielder Matt Honchel as he’s hitting .488 (21-43) with four doubles and six runs scored in his first 11 games of the season, while sophomore infielder Steve Sada – a 2013 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American – leads the team in RBI (4) and is second with 11 hits.

As a team, Miami’s pitching staff has held its opponents to a .205 batting average (68-332), but the Redhawks have been outscored, 50-27, in their first 11 games.

Miami won the Mid-American Conference East title last year, while Friday night starter Ryan Powers was taken in the 22nd round by the Philadelphia Phillies.

SERIES HISTORY

Miami leads the all-time series, 3-0.

The Redhawks won all three games in 1976 in Statesboro, Ga. Miami defeated ETSU, 5-2 on March 22, 14-10 on March 23, and 9-0 on March 24.

This weekend marks the first MAC opponent for the Bucs since ETSU defeated Eastern Michigan, 8-7, on Feb. 20, 2007 at Cardinal Park.

Overall, head coach Tony Skole is 5-3 versus current MAC schools as the Bucs took two of three from Central Michigan in 2004, split a midweek series with Ball State in 2004 and split two games with Eastern Michigan to open the 2006 season.  

COVERAGE

All three games this weekend will be broadcast on WXSM-AM 640 The Extreme Sports Monster as “Voice of the Bucs” Jay Sandos will have the call starting with the Atmos Energy Dugout Show, which begins 30 minutes prior to first pitch.

Live stats will be available for this weekend’s series via StatBroadcast by visiting ETSUBucs.com. Fans can access live stats on their computers, mobile devices or tablets.

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

A LOOK AHEAD

ETSU heads to Kentucky for a midweek non-conference game at Morehead State on Tuesday, March 17 at 3 p.m.

TICKET INFO

Single-game tickets to ETSU baseball games are $10 for reserved seats behind home plate and $5 for reserved seats along the baselines.

Single-game tickets are $2 for groups of 10 or more people. Please call (423) 439-4828 for details.

Tickets can be purchased at the stadium, online at ETSUBucs.com, or by calling (423) 439-3878.

TEXTCASTER

ETSU fans wanting to receive Buccaneer news, score updates, in-game promotions and much more sent to their mobile device can do so by signing up for “Buc Updates.” Click here to sign up today!

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