JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (May 19, 2022) – In a night where offense arrived late, Bryce Hodge (Knoxville, Tenn.) headlined ETSU’s bats with his 100^th career base hit as a Buccaneer. Hodge joined David Beam (Knoxville, Tenn.), Cam Norgren (Cary, N.C.) and Ashton King (Knoxville, Tenn.) as one of four active Bucs with 100 career hits in the Blue & Gold uniform. However, Hodge’s 100^th career hit was overshadowed by ETSU’s 9-2 defeat at the hands of The Citadel to open the final three-game series of the regular season at Thomas Stadium.

The Bulldogs struck first in the opening inning, scoring on a fielder’s choice ground out. The Citadel doubled its lead to 2-0 in the second inning following a single by Sawyer Reeves that unfortunately took a bounce off Zach Kirby’s (Upland, Calif.) and into the outfield. From that point on, the Bulldogs remained in front, scoring seven more runs to take a 9-0 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.

King provided ETSU with its first run of the game in the bottom of the eighth frame with a double in the right center gap, bringing home Ryan McCarthy (Knoxville, Tenn.) from second after McCarthy led off the inning with a double himself. Two batters later, Norgren plated King with a single to right field to trim the deficit to 9-2.

Pitchers of Record
Win: Cameron Reeves (3-7)
Loss: Zach Kirby (3-3)
Save: Devin Beckley (2)

Game Leaders
ETSU

• Norgren | 2-for-4, 1 RBI
• King | 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
• Kirby | L, 6.0 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 5 K, 1 BB, 99 P

The Citadel

• Skole | 3-for-4, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Mitchell | 3-for-5, 1 RBI
• Reeves | W, 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 K, 1 BB, 62 P

Notables

• Hodge knocked an 0-1 double to deep right center to lead off the bottom of the seventh for his 100^th career hit in a Buccaneer uniform.
• King roped his 22^nd double of the season, leading the Southern Conference in said category and is now in a five-way tie for the fifth-most doubles in a single season in program history.
• Noah Webb (Kodak, Tenn.) extended his SoCon-best on-base streak to 28 games with an infield single to shortstop in the bottom of the eighth inning.
• Norgren broke up Reeves’ perfect game in the bottom of the fifth frame with a one-out single to left field.
• Freshman phenom Tommy Barth (Brecksville, Ohio) saw his on-base streak of 25 games come to an end on Thursday night.
• First pitch was thrown at 9:05 p.m. following an hour-long lightning delay, sending the game into the wee hours of the next morning.

Record Update

• ETSU: 28-20 (9-10 SoCon)
• The Citadel: 25-27 (5-14 SoCon)

Up Next
The Bucs will look to even the series against the Bulldogs on Friday with game two starting at 6 p.m. Friday will also be Fan Appreciation Day and Kid’s Day at Thomas Stadium.

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