Split 3-3 in all six meetings, took two of three at home last season

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 21, 2022) – For the first time in nearly a month, the Blue & Gold will play baseball in Johnson City.

ETSU hosts VMI for a three-game series at Thomas Stadium this weekend, the second-straight season that the Keydets have come to Johnson City. ETSU took two of three, taking the rubber match 7-2 after winning Friday night 4-0. Nathanial Tate (Manchester, Tenn.) threw a quality start with a six-inning gem, surrendering just two hits and no runs while striking out 11.

First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m., and the finale on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. All three games will be streaming on ESPN+.

Records: ETSU (21-12, 3-3 SoCon) | VMI (12-26, 3-3 SoCon)

Twitter Updates: @ETSU_Baseball

Weather Forecast: Friday (low-60s, clear) | Saturday (high-70s, sunny) | Sunday (low-80s, sunny)

Game 1: Friday, Apr. 22 | 6:00 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+

Probable Starters:

East Tennessee State – RHP Zach Kirby (2-1 | 3.40 ERA | 39.2 IP | 30 K | 12 BB)

VMI – LHP Trey Morgan (1-1 | 7.06 ERA | 29.1 IP | 14 K | 10 BB)

Game 2: Saturday, Apr. 23 | 2:00 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+

Probable Starters:

East Tennessee State – RHP Hunter Loyd (3-2 | 2.68 ERA | 43.2 IP | 53 K | 19 BB)

VMI – RHP Tyler Kaltreider (1-4 | 6.42 ERA | 33.2 IP | 33 K | 10 BB)

Game 3: Sunday, Apr. 24 | 1:00 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+

Probable Starters:

East Tennessee State – TBD

VMI – TBD

ETSU QUICK HITTERS

• The Bucs split a pair of midweeks, taking down UNC Asheville on the road 8-3 while falling to Clemson 12-2 in the 11-game road trip finale.
• Tommy Barth (Brecksville, Ohio) enters as one of the hottest hitters in the Bucs lineup, hitting safely in ten-straight outings, seven of which have seen the freshman post a multi-hit night. During this stretch, Barth has four doubles, one triple, and two of his three home runs on the season.
• Not to be overlooked by Barth’s stretch, Bryce Hodge (Knoxville, Tenn.) has had a hot stretch of his own, hitting safely in 17 of his last 21 games. Hodge has not failed to reach base in back-to-back games all season. In his last nine games, Hodge has six doubles and five home runs.
• ETSU’s third six-RBI performance of the season came from Kyle Richardson (Zionsville, Ind.) in the 8-3 win over UNC Asheville, Richardson went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run, bringing in three runs on both of those knocks. Richardson has delivered all eight RBIs on the season in his last two starts.
• Since the start of conference play, Garett Wallace (Sanford, Fla.) became the third Buccaneer to homer in back-to-back games. Wallace now has four home runs in his last six games.
• Combining for an 8-0 record and a 3.42 ERA, Matt Bollenbacher (Powder Springs, Ga.) and Andrew Ronne (Athens, Tenn.) have provided extended relief when called upon. Both pitched in the midweek contest against UNC Asheville, combining for 3.2 scoreless innings.
• Entering the third conference weekend, the Bucs sit tenth in the nation in slugging (.524), 12^th in doubles per game (2.42), 14^th in home runs per game (1.67), 25^th in scoring (8.0), and 28^th in batting average (.301).
• In the series-opening win last season against VMI, Hunter Loyd (Knoxville, Tenn.) went seven innings of scoreless pitching, allowing just three hits and striking out seven. Justin Hanvey (Purcellville, Va.) had a 2-for-2 day.
• In the series finale last season, David Beam (Knoxville, Tenn.) went 2-for-3 with three RBIs while Ashton King (Knoxville, Tenn.) added an RBI-double to his 3-for-4 day.
• The Bucs are an even 4-4 over their last eight games since the start of conference play.

ABOUT VMI

• VMI opened the season with a 10-5 win over Duke but have lost four of their last five weekend series. VMI is coming off a 2-1 weekend against The Citadel at home after dropping two of three from Samford in Birmingham.
• Justin Starke and Will Knight, the two offensive preseason all-conference selections for VMI, lead the offense with batting averages of .358 and .348, respectively. Starke holds the team lead with nine homers while Knight holds 49 hits, tied for fifth in the conference.
• Two VMI hurlers hold an ERA under 5.00 with at least 15 innings pitched: Jaxson Lloyd and Holden Wilkerson. Will Riley leads the team with 20 appearances on the season.
• VMI’s Tyler Bradt took home the first two SoCon Pitcher of the Week awards after starting the season 2-0 allowing just one earned run in 13 innings with 14 strikeouts to four walks.
• The Keydets were picked to finish seventh in both the media and coaches poll with Starke as the lone First-Team selection.

BIG KID BARTH

From the first base-hit of the season, Tommy Barth has been sensational all season long, generating two separate six-game hitting streaks. Entering this three-game set with a ten-game hitting streak, Barth leads the team with a .357 average and sits in the top-5 on the team in slugging, on-base percentage, runs, hits, RBIs, doubles, triples, total bases, and walks.

SWINGIN > RUNNIN

The Bucs are the only team in Division I baseball to have ten times as many home runs (55) as stolen bases (5), joining Cal Poly and Tennessee Tech as the only teams with less than 10 stolen bases on the season. However, all three teams have at least 20 wins on the season and less than 15 losses.

TICKET INFORMATION

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

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