LEXINGTON, Va. (April 9, 2015) – After stepping out of conference play for five straight games, the ETSU baseball team returns to Southern Conference action this weekend as the Buccaneers open a three-game set at VMI’s Gray-Minor Stadium on Friday night. 

GAME TIMES/PITCHING MATCHUPS

Friday – 6 p.m. – Game No. 32

RHP Lee Haeberle (2-5, 6.80) vs. LHP Austin Heenan (0-3, 6.27) 

Saturday – 4 p.m. – Game No. 33

RHP Jimmy Nesselt (3-3, 4.53) vs. LHP Brandon Barbery (3-1, 2.97) 

Sunday – 1 p.m. – Game No. 34

RHP Griffin Krieg (1-3, 8.50) vs. TBA 

PREVIEWING THE BUCS

ETSU (12-19, 1-5 SoCon) is looking to snap a five-game losing skid after dropping a 6-3 decision to UNC Asheville on Tuesday night at Thomas Stadium.  

The Bucs had chances to pull off the comeback win, but ETSU left 11 runners stranded and went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position. 

Sophomore Chris Cook (Kingsport, Tenn.), who has reached base safely in 15 consecutive games, is tied for the SoCon lead in hits (51) and runs scored (36), while ranking second in batting average (.411) and fifth in on-base percentage (.461). 

Junior Trey York (Knoxville, Tenn.) leads the SoCon in batting average (.414), slugging (.775) and on-base percentage (.496), RBI (36), and triples (5), while he’s tied with Cook for the lead in runs scored (36). The Buccaneer second baseman is also tied for third in home runs (7) and ranks fourth in hits (46). York has reached base safely in nine straight games. 

Jordan Sanford (Powell, Tenn.) and Aaron Maher (Brentwood, Tenn.) have hit safely in their last five games. 

PREVIEWING VMI

VMI (9-17, 4-5 SoCon) is coming off a 6-2 setback to Radford on Tuesday night, but the Keydets have won three of their last five, including a 7-6 win over then-No. 12 Virginia last Wednesday. 

After dropping its first two SoCon series (Wofford and Samford), VMI took two of three from Furman last weekend in Greenville. 

Offensively, the Keydets are led by red-shirt senior infielder/outfielder Jordan Tarsovich as he’s hitting .340 (35-103) with seven doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 26 runs and 17 RBI, while senior infielder Thomas Stallings and red-shirt senior catcher/outfielder Will Connerley have both recorded six home runs for VMI. 

As a team, the Keydets have belted 27 home runs, including a six home run outburst in the 12-11 win over Furman last Saturday. 

On the mound, VMI is led by freshman left-hander Brandon Barbery as he’s 3-1 with a 2.97 ERA (11 ER/33.1 IP) in six starts. Junior right-hander Taylor Edens has six of the Keydets’ eight saves and has struck out 27 in 23.0 innings out of the bullpen. 

VMI has lost nine of its 11 games at home this season. 

SERIES HISTORY

ETSU and VMI have played 83 times and the Buccaneers lead the all-time series, 43-40. 

This weekend marks the first meeting since March 14-16, 2003 when the Bucs took two of three from the Keydets in Johnson City. 

The Bucs have won seven of the last nine against VMI, while head coach Tony Skole is 8-4 all-time against VMI during his tenure at ETSU.  

COVERAGE

This weekend’s series will be broadcast live on the SoCon Digital Network. 

Live stats will be available for this weekend’s series visiting VMIKeydets.com. 

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

A LOOK AHEAD

The Bucs will play nine of their next 10 games at home, beginning Tuesday night against Appalachian State. 

TEXTCASTER

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