Friday’s game time moved to 1 p.m. due to weather

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (May 19, 2016) – Senior right-hander Lee Haeberle (Hendersonville, Tenn.) allowed two runs and struck out eight in 5.2 innings, while the Buccaneers scored nine runs in the first three frames as ETSU baseball cruised to an 11-2 series-opening win over The Citadel on Thursday night at Thomas Stadium. 

Please note, due to inclement weather expected to hit the Tri-Cities, Friday’s first pitch has been moved to 1 p.m. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Bucs, who were held to two runs in their last 19 innings coming into the series opener, sprinted out of the gates as they pounded 14 hits en route to capturing the nine-run victory. 

Eight different players accounted for the hits, while Jeremy Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.) and Christian Bailey (Kingsport, Tenn.) paced the Blue and Gold with three hits each … Hagen Owenby (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Aaron Maher (Brentwood, Tenn.) also provided the Bucs with multi-hit games. 

Taylor – who singled in his first three at-bats – posted his 250th career hit on Friday, while he played in his 219th career game tying him with Paul Hoilman (2008-11) for second all-time … To go with his three hits, Taylor also scored three runs, drove in one, walked and posted his 71st career stolen base … Taylor is four stolen bases shy of passing Tony Martin (1980-83) for second all-time. 

Bailey tied a career-high with his three-hit performance and scored two runs. 

Maher went 2-for-5 with one home run, two RBI and a run scored en route to moving his SoCon hit streak to 17 straight games. 

Following his two-hit effort, Owenby registered his 81st hit of the season, marking first time a Buccaneer reached the 80-hit plateau since Clinton Freeman accomplished the feat in 2013 … Owenby also drove in three runs, walked once and scored a run. 

Lee Haeberle earned the win (4-3) after allowing the two runs on seven hits with the eight strikeouts in 5.2 innings … The Hendersonville, Tenn. native left to a standing ovation with two outs in the sixth after making his final start at Thomas Stadium … Haeberle – who has 17 strikeouts in his last 12.2 innings, has 140 career punch outs in two seasons with the Bucs. 

Junior right-handers Blake Smith (Ninety Six, S.C.) and Connor Bartow (Jonesborough, Tenn.) combined for 3.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen … Smith struck out four and issued a hit in 2.1 innings, while Bartow fanned two of the four hitters he faced to finish the game. 

In total, the Buccaneer pitching staff struck out 14 hitters on Thursday night, marking the 11th time this season ETSU has registered double-digit punch outs … For the season, the Bucs have 388 strikeouts, which ranks second all-time in program history. 

Citadel left-hander JP Sears – who struck out a 2016 NCAA-best 19 hitters earlier this season – suffered the loss (5-7) as he was tagged for six runs on seven hits in 1.1 innings … Jason Smith, Mike Deese and Bret Hines all had two-hit games … Deese and Barrett Charpia accounted for the Bulldogs’ offense as they both hit solo homers. 

With the win, ETSU improved to 24-28 overall, 11-11 in SoCon play, while The Citadel dipped to 16-38, 6-16. 

HOW THEY SCORED

The Bulldogs jumped to an early 1-0 lead as Mike Deese belted a two-out solo home run to right-center in the top of the first, but ETSU responded with runs in each of the first three innings to go ahead, 9-1. 

Jeremy Taylor led off the bottom of the first inning with a single up the middle, stole second and scored on Hagen Owenby’s RBI single to left-center. 

In the second, the Blue and Gold plated five runs on five hits to take a five-run lead. Following a deep fly out to center by Robby McCabe (New Port Richey, Fla.), six straight Buccaneers reached (five singles and a walk), which led to JP Sears being pulled. Christian Bailey started the hit parade with an infield single and later scored on Jammer Strickland’s (Knoxville, Tenn.) RBI single, while Taylor came through with his second straight hit to put runners on first and second. From there, both Strickland and Taylor scored when York singled to center and Jason Smith booted the ball, allowing the Buccaneer second baseman to advance all the way to third. York later scored on an RBI single by Aaron Maher and Owenby – who walked earlier in the inning – scored the final run on a sacrifice fly RBI from Kevin Phillips (St. Louis, Mo.). 

After Haeberle worked another scoreless inning in the top of the third, the first three ETSU hitters reached to load the bases, which allowed Taylor to come through with his third straight hit marking the 250th of his career. His single to right-center scored McCabe, while York’s RBI ground out plated Bailey and Owenby’s sac fly to left brought home Strickland giving the Blue and Gold an eight-run advantage. 

The Citadel led off the fifth inning with a solo homer by Barrett Charpia, but after putting runners on second and third with one out, Haeberle struck out the next two Bulldog hitters keeping it a 9-2 game. 

ETSU got the run back by plating solo runs in the sixth and seventh innings, extending its lead to 11-2. Maher’s solo home run to right hit the train in the sixth, while Owenby’s two-out RBI single to center scored Taylor an inning later. 

Smith and Bartow kept the Bulldogs scoreless from the sixth inning on to cap off the victory. 

WHAT’S AHEAD?

The Bucs will look to clinch the series win on Friday afternoon as sophomore right-hander Logan Gentry (Kingsport, Tenn.) gets the start for ETSU, while The Citadel counters with righty Jacob Watcher … First pitch has been moved to 1 p.m. 

COVERAGE

This weekend’s series will be streamed live on the SoCon Digital Network, while live stats will be available via StatBroadcast on ETSUBucs.com.   

Live updates will also be available via Twitter by following @ETSU_Baseball. 

TEXTCASTER

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