Seven runs on nine hits with two home runs in the sixth

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (May 8, 2022) – The bats came alive for a Mother’s Day special for the Buccaneer faithful.

The Bucs took the third and final game of the three-game series against Samford 12-8 for the 17^th double-digit run game this season, their first in the last seven games. ETSU’s 17 hits are the most in a game since racking up 19 in the final game of the series in Western Carolina that saw the Bucs put up 19 hits in eight innings.

Starting strong for the third time this weekend, Tommy Barth (Brecksville, Ohio) began the afternoon with a double and Bryce Hodge (Knoxville, Tenn.) would get on with a hit-by-pitch two at-bats later. Enter Noah Webb (Kodak, Tenn.), who was playing in his first game since the series finale against VMI. Webb took his first at-bat in two weeks and blasted a two-RBI double to score Barth and Hodge.

Colby Stuart (Elon, N.C.) got the start for the series finale and despite only working three innings of work, Stuart surrendered just one run but enforced six groundouts in three innings. Nathanial Tate (Manchester, Tenn.) followed Stuart in the fourth and gave Samford their third scoreless inning through four.

After Webb brought in another run in the fifth, the Bulldogs used a two-out rally to plate three runs on three hits and take the lead in the fifth. However, the Bucs weren’t going to let that same script write itself in the series finale.

The Bucs used a seven-run sixth on nine hits to retake and patten their lead. David Beam (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Justin Hanvey (Purcellville, Va.) started the inning with back-to-back singles and reached an extra base on a sacrifice bunt. Barth brought in Beam on his RBI single and Ashton King (Knoxville, Tenn.) cleared them all with his fifth homer of the season. Hodge homered right after for his 12^th of the campaign, then Webb, Cam Norgren (Cary, N.C.), Beam, and Hanvey corralled four consecutive singles before Samford finally got out of the inning.

Samford outscored ETSU 4-2 in the final three innings, but the damage was done. The ninth inning saw Ryan McCarthy’s (Knoxville, Tenn.) first career home run to end ETSU’s scoring. Since April 23, McCarthy has raised his batting average nearly 50 points (.158 to .207).

After taking the series finale, ETSU has been swept just once this season by Baylor in Waco on the first weekend of April. All of ETSU’s starters recorded at least one hit in the slugfest.

Pitchers of Record

• Win: Nathanial Tate 4-3
• Loss: Alex Goff 4-2
• Save: N/A

Game Leaders

ETSU

• Hodge | 3-for-4, HR, RBI, 4 R, BB
• Webb | 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, R
• Barth | 2-for-5, 2B, RBI, 2 R, BB
• McCarthy | 2-for-3, HR, BB
• Hanvey | 3-for-5, RBI, R
• King | 1-for-6, HR, 3 RBI

SAM

• Ledbetter | 2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI, R
• Hampton | 2-for-5, RBI
• Bortak | 2-for-4, RBI, R, BB

Notables

• One his leadoff double, Barth extended his hitting streak to a perfect 20 games, matching Ethan Cady’s streak last season to give ETSU a batter in back-to-back season to have a hitting streak of 20 games or better, the only two batters since 2013 to have a hitting streak of at least 20 games in a season.
• Daulton Montagna (Pennsville, N.J.) became the first relief pitcher this season to appear in all three games of the series. Montagna allowed just one run (unearned) in 3.1 total innings with just one hit and one strikeout.
• The seven-run sixth is the fifth time ETSU has scored at least seven runs in an inning this season, the second time it has occurred in the sixth inning. The Bucs have a big inning in the first (vs. NKU, 2/18/22), fourth (at Western Carolina, 4/10/22), and the eighth (vs. NKU, 2/20/22).
• In that sixth, ETSU saw their third back-to-back homers in as many weekends as all three have involved Hodge at the tail end. Hodge’s last three homers have followed a long ball by Tommy Barth or Ashton King. Hodge scored four times in today’s game, the second time this season reaching that mark.
• With Webb’s two-RBI double in the first, Webb extended his on-base streak to 23 games while Barth sits right behind with 21. Garett Wallace (Sanford, Fla.) makes it 12 straight that he’s reached base with a 1-for-4 day.
• With a 3:57 game, today’s game marked the longest game this season and the longest since a 4:04 marathon in the opening series in 2020 against Toledo.

Record Update

• ETSU: 26-17 (8-7 SoCon)
• SAM: 22-23 (9-6 SoCon)

Up Next

The Bucs return home for a midweek against UNC Asheville on Tuesday, May 10 to celebrate ETSU’s 2022 senior class. First pitch is 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.