Split season series 3-3, Bucs won two of three on the road

GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 12, 2022) – With two conference series left to play, the Bucs stay on the road for the second consecutive weekend against a similar team looking for a top-four seed.

ETSU will travel to UNCG for a three-game set at UNCG Baseball field this weekend as the Spartans are only one game back from the Bucs for the No. 4 seed in the conference standings. The Bucs swept a Saturday doubleheader (4-1, 6-3) en route to a series win last season. That came the week after ETSU dropped two of three from Samford on the road.

First pitch 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 (27-17, 8-7 SoCon) | UNCG (23-25, 7-8 SoCon)

Twitter Updates: @ETSU_Baseball

Weather Forecast: Friday (mid-60s, cloudy, chance for thunderstorms) | Saturday (low-70s, scattered thunderstorms) | Sunday (high-70s, cloudy, afternoon rain)

Game 1: Friday, May 13 | 6:00 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+

Probable Starters:

East Tennessee State – RHP Zach Kirby (2-1 | 3.62 ERA | 54.2 IP | 40 K | 15 BB)

UNCG – RHP Sam Murchison (1-1 | 7.00 ERA | 36.0 IP | 30 K | 18 BB)

Game 2: Saturday, May 14 | 2:00 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+

Probable Starters:

East Tennessee State – RHP Hunter Loyd (3-3 | 2.92 ERA | 61.2 IP | 71 K | 23 BB)

UNCG – RHP Austin Parsley (7-4 | 4.09 ERA | 81.1 IP | 72 K | 12 BB)

Game 3: Sunday, May 15 | 1:00 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+

Probable Starters:

East Tennessee State – TBD

UNCG – LHP Jared Mathewson (4-5 | 4.52 ERA | 75.2 IP | 53 K | 21 BB)

ETSU QUICK HITTERS

• ETSU took a trip to Samford last weekend and dropped the first two of the weekend but salvaged the series in a big way with a 12-8 slugfest win.
• Tommy Barth (Brecksville, Ohio) continues to wreak havoc, extending his hitting streak to 21 games after a 2-for-4-night Tuesday night with a double, a run, an RBI, and a walk. Barth’s hitting streak continues to extend as the longest hitting streak by a freshman in program history.
• Getting on base consistently has also been Noah Webb (Kodak, Tenn.) who extended his on-base streak to 24 games after a 1-for-4 night against UNC Asheville. Webb and Barth are the second pair of teammates in as many seasons to have an on-base streak of 20+ games in the same season (Ethan Cady and Ashton King).
• Celebrating the seniors on Tuesday saw Bryce Hodge (Knoxville, Tenn.), one of the celebrated seniors, steal the show. Hodge when 2-for-5 with an RBI double and a two-run laser to left field and spark a late offense that scored all seven runs in the final three offensive innings.
• Just inside the top-10 in the nation, Ashton King’s (Knoxville, Tenn.) 20 doubles on the season puts him 10^th in the country and his 0.49 doubles per game has him fifth. King, who leads the team by more than six doubles, looks to be the sixth Buccaneer since 2005 to lead the team in doubles. Clinton Freeman (2012-14) is the lone Buccaneer to lead the team in that category for three consecutive seasons.
• Nathanial Tate (Manchester, Tenn.) has picked up three wins in his last five appearances with two saves. During that stretch, Tate has allowed more than one earned run just once and has gone only one appearance all season without striking out a batter.
• The other dominant arm out of the bullpen has been Andrew Ronne (Athens, Tenn.). Ronne, who hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last five appearances, has surrendered just two earned runs in his last 15.1 innings pitched to go with a perfect 5-0 record. Ronne would become the second Buccaneer in program history to maintain a perfect record with at least five decisions.
• Entering the weekend, ETSU sits 12^th in the nation in doubles per game (2.36), 18^th in slugging percentage (.509), 20^th in doubles (104), 23^rd in home runs per game (1.59), 27^th in home runs (70), 40^th in batting average (.298), and 47^th in scoring (7.6)
• The Bucs, tied with Western Carolina for the No. 4 seed in the conference standings, sit one game back from Mercer and Samford (9-6) and lead UNCG (7-8) by just one game.
• Last season, Tate and Colby Stuart (Elon, N.C.) combined for 15.0 innings surrendering just one earned run to win a pair of three-run games that saw Joe Acosta (Vineland, N.J.) and Matt Bollenbacher (Powder Springs, Ga.) each earn saves.

ABOUT UNCG

• The Spartans end a seven-game homestand this weekend after taking two of three from VMI and taking down Coastal Carolina 14-2 in seven innings last night. UNCG has also picked up series wins over The Citadel and Samford while being swept by Wofford and Mercer.
• Offensively, Hogan Windish, whose 14^th in the nation in batting average (.407), is the spark in an offense that has three players with 60 hits, three with at least 13 doubles, four with at least 20 walks, and five with at least 30 runs.
• While only stealing 48 bases, UNCG has given up 76 stolen bases on 103 attempts. Dallas Callahan, UNCG’s primary catcher, has thrown out 21 runners and allowed 63 stolen bases.
• Alex Hoppe leads the Spartans with a 2.40 ERA in over 56 innings in 22 appearances, all coming out of the bullpen. Hoppe and Austin Parsley each have a team-high seven wins on the season.
• UNCG was picked to finish fifth in the coaches’ poll, just behind ETSU, and sixth in the media poll. UNCG placed two players on the preseason second-team in Austin Parsley, Saturday’s expected starter, and Hogan Windish.

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.