Buccaneers held Wofford 0-for-8 on leadoff batters 

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (April 14, 2022) – ETSU’s five-run comeback fell short against the 25^th-ranked Terriers despite scoring in more innings.

Wofford took game one of a three-game series in Spartanburg 5-3 thanks to a five-run second inning that saw ETSU’s comeback bid fall a pair of runs short. The Bucs fall to 5-4 in games decided by two or three runs.

The Terriers got on board first with five runs on four hits, all with just one out. It would be the only runs scored as the Terriers only strung four hits in the other seven offensive innings as Zach Kirby (Upland, Calif.) continued to keep the Bucs in it despite the second inning.

The Bucs struck back in the fifth with a David Beam (Knoxville, Tenn.) sacrifice fly to plate Noah Webb (Kodak, Tenn.), who got aboard with one out on the game’s only error. Two runs on three doubles from Ryan McCarthy (Knoxville, Tenn.), Ashton King (Knoxville, Tenn.), and Bryce Hodge (Knoxville, Tenn.) came in the following inning to cut ETSU’s deficit in half. King’s RBI-double in the sixth was his 100^th career hit as a Buccaneer.

Kirby, especially after the five-run second, settled down extremely well to keep ETSU within striking distance, retiring ten consecutive Terriers from two outs in the fourth to the seventh before giving way for Landon Smiddy (Knoxville, Tenn.) to finish out the game.

Even with getting a runner on in five of the final six innings, the Bucs couldn’t break through. Wofford left four runners on base compared to ETSU’s three even with the game seeing just one walk and 16 total hits.

Six of ETSU’s nine losses of the season have been decided by two runs or less.

Pitchers of Record

• Win: Matthew Marchal 3-2
• Loss: Zach Kirby 2-1
• Save: Dalton Rhadans (8)

Game Leaders

ETSU

• King | 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, R
• Barth | 2-for-4, 2B
• Hodge | 1-for-4, 2B, RBI
• McCarthy | 1-for-3, 2B, R
• Kirby | 7.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 101 P

WOF

• Hill | 3-for-4, 2B, R
• Marchal | 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 70 P
• Rhadans | 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 31 P

Notables

• Webb extended his on-base streak to a team-high 15 games after going 1-for-4 with a run scored.
• The Blue & Gold go to 1-1 on the season when matching their opponent in hits, with the lone win coming in the first game of the doubleheader against Rider 2-1, a game that gave Kirby his second win on the season and later his first SoCon Pitcher of the Week award.
• Both of ETSU’s ranked games this season, occurring on the road, have been decided by three or fewer runs.
• ETSU is 1-1 in weekend series this season when dropping the first game, taking two of three against Winthrop while dropping the series to Baylor.
• The Bucs fall to 3-5 when their opponent scores first, getting their third win in such a scenario in the first game of the series last weekend against Western Carolina.

Record Update

• ETSU: 20-9 (3-1 SoCon)
• WCU: 25-9 (4-0 SoCon)

Up Next

The two squads will play game two of this three-game set in Spartanburg with first pitch set for 6:00 p.m. The game will be streaming on ESPN+.

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