2022 Baseball season begins at Thomas Stadium

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 17, 2022) – Buccaneer baseball is back.

The 2022 baseball season kicks off this weekend as the Bucs host Northern Kentucky for a three-game set for the second consecutive season and the third time in five years.

Records: ETSU (0-0, 0-0 SoCon) | NKU (0-0, 0-0 Horizon)

Twitter Updates: @ETSU_Baseball

Weather Forecast: Friday (low 40s, cloudy) | Saturday (high 40s, partly cloudy) | Sunday (low 60s, sunny)

Game 1: Friday, Feb. 18 | 3:00 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+

Probable Starters:

East Tennessee State – RHP Matt Bollenbacher (0-0 | 0.00 ERA | 0.0 IP | 0 K | 0 BB)

Northern Kentucky – LHP Ben Gerl (0-0 | 0.00 ERA | 0.0 IP | 0 K | 0 BB)

Game 2: Saturday, Feb. 19 | 2:00 p.m. | Live Stats

Probable Starters:

East Tennessee State – LHP Colby Stuart (0-0 | 0.00 ERA | 0.0 IP | 0 K | 0 BB)

Northern Kentucky – RHP Kyle Klingenbeck (0-0 | 0.00 ERA | 0.0 IP | 0 K | 0 BB)

Game 3: Sunday, Feb. 20 | 1:00 p.m. | Live Stats

Probable Starters:

East Tennessee State – RHP Hunter Loyd (0-0 | 0.00 ERA | 0.0 IP | 0 K | 0 BB)

Northern Kentucky – RHP Noah Richardson (0-0 | 0.00 ERA | 0.0 IP | 0 K | 0 BB)

ETSU QUICK HITTERS

• The Bucs have a record of 22-9 in the opening weekend series since 2011, all of which since then have been at home. The Bucs have won nine of those 11 series.
• Since 2017, the Bucs are outscoring their opponents 44-16 on opening day.
• Southpaw Colby Stuart (Elon, N.C.) was tabbed SoCon Preseason Pitcher of the Year and is expected to make his season debut on the mound Saturday after leading the Bucs with a 6-1 record last season.
• Senior Bryce Hodge (Knoxville, Tenn.) was named Preseason First-Team All-Conference as a DH after smashing ten home runs and batting .295 over 38 games last season. Eight of Hodge’s ten home runs last season came in conference play.
• Sophomore Ashton King (Knoxville, Tenn.) was named Preseason Second-Team All-Conference after leading the Bucs in numerous categories: hits (57), doubles (17), and at bats (202) while being the only Buccaneer last season to play and start in all 49 games.
• King enjoyed the season opening weekend against the Norse last season, batting .400 over the weekend with two doubles, two home runs, and five RBI’s. All of King’s hits last season against NKU were extra-base knocks.
• The Bucs are bringing back 19 lettermen while losing 27. 12 of those 19 returners are pitchers, including Bollenbacher, Stuart, and Loyd.
• The Bucs were picked to finish fourth in the coaches’ poll and fifth in the media poll.

ABOUT NORTHERN KENTUCKY

• NKU went 17-31 last season and 14-15 in Horizon League play.
• Griffin Doersching led the Norse last season in a slew of batting categories: batting average (.316), on-base percentage (.488), slugging (.772), ops (1.260), hits (50), doubles (12), home runs (20), and RBI’s (48).
• Treyvin Moss is the team’s returning batting-average leader after he hit .297 over 47 games.
• Kyle Klingenbeck returns as the team’s wins leader with five, going 5-6 last season with a 6.50 era.
• This weekend’s project rotation for NKU combined for 32 of the team’s 48 starts last season as Gerl started 13, Klingenbeck started 11 and Richardson got the nod for eight.
• Head Coach Dizzy Peyton enters his first season at the helm of the Norse baseball program after serving as an assistant coach for the Norse for 17 seasons.
• NKU was picked to finish fifth in the Horizon League preseason poll.

HOT STARTS

Under Pennucci, the Bucs have started red hot in their first 15 games, going 10-5 in 2018, 11-4 in 2019, 12-3 in 2020, and 10-5 in 2021, good for a combined record of 43-17. Last season, ETSU didn’t give up double-digit runs until the 21st game of the season in a 10-2 loss against reigning-SoCon champion Samford but didn’t score less than three runs until the 15th game of the season in a 3-2 loss against North Carolina Central.

LUCKY NUMBER SIX

The Bucs will be going for their sixth straight opening day victory against Northern Kentucky Friday afternoon after making it five straight last season with a 10-3 victory against the Norse. The streak, which started in 2017 with an 18-6 rout over Central Michigan, has seen Northern Kentucky twice and faced the likes of Iona and Toledo, both of which ETSU swept the series. ETSU is outscoring their opponents 44-16 on opening day, a +28 margin for the Blue and Gold.

LEAVING IT ALL OUT ON THE MOUND

Last season, ETSU dominated the conference on the pitching front all season, leading the SoCon in numerous team-pitching statistics such as ERA (4.63), hits allowed (426), runs allowed (251), earned runs allowed (219), home runs allowed (34), and lowest stolen bases against (36).

TICKET INFORMATION

Season tickets, single-game tickets, and flex pack ticket options are all currently available at ETSUtickets.com or by calling 423-439-3878.

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