JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (May 20, 2022) – The Buccaneers’ bats came alive Friday night at Thomas Stadium as ETSU tallied 17 hits and 13 runs to even the series behind a dominating 13-6 win over The Citadel. With the win, ETSU kept its hopes of being the No. 5 seed alive as the Bucs will look to take the rubber match Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale.

The Bulldogs scored the game’s first run in the top of the first inning when Wells Sykes plated Tilo Skole with an RBI single to shortstop. The Citadel lead was briefly enjoyed as the Bucs scored three runs in the first three at bats. Following a leadoff double by Tommy Barth (Brecksville, Ohio), ETSU pulled ahead for good after a mammoth homer from Ashton King (Knoxville, Tenn.) for the 2-1 lead. The very next at bat, Bryce Hodge (Knoxville, Tenn.) elevated an 0-2 pitch to left center field for his team-leading 14^th long ball of the season. Later in the inning, Garett Wallace (Sanford, Fla.) extended the ETSU lead to 4-1 with an RBI double.

The rout was officially on in the bottom of the second inning when Noah Webb (Kodak, Tenn.) cleared the bases for a three-run double to provide the Bucs with the 7-1 lead. In the very next at bat, Cam Norgren (Cary, N.C.) laced a single to left field and the misplayed ball allowed Webb to score from second for the 8-1 advantage.

ETSU scored three more runs in the bottom of the third inning to push the tally to 11 unanswered runs. Ryan McCarthy (Knoxville, Tenn.) brought home the first run with an RBI single and then scored in the next at bat following Barth’s triple. King plated Barth with a sacrifice fly to right field in the next at bat.

The Bucs held the 11-1 advantage until the Bulldogs scored four runs in the top of the sixth off two hits and one ETSU error. The Blue & Gold added an insurance run in the bottom of the frame following Webb’s single and later added its final run of the game in the bottom of the seventh with yet another Barth RBI base knock.

Junior right-hander Hunter Loyd (Knoxville, Tenn.) enjoyed the early cushion as he improved his overall record to 4-4 on the year. Loyd hurled 5.1 innings of work and allowed five runs, four earned, for his fourth win. Landon Smiddy (Knoxville, Tenn.) was nearly untouchable in his 3.2 innings of play, allowing just three hits and one unearned run for his second save of the campaign.

Pitchers of Record
Win: Hunter Loyd (4-4)
Loss: Fisher Paulsen (5-4)
Save: Landon Smiddy (2)

Game Leaders
ETSU

• Barth | 4-for-5, 2 RBI, 3 R
• Webb | 3-for-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 1 R
• Hodge | 3-for-4, 1HR, 1 RBI, 3 R
• King | 1-for-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI
• Loyd | W, 5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 K, 6 BB, 84 P
• Smiddy | S, 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 44 P

The Citadel

• Skole | 2-for-4, 1 R
• Lott | 2-for-4, 1 R
• Reeves | 2-for-3, 2 RBI
• Beverly | ND, 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 36 P
• Paulsen | L, 2.1 IP, 10 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 1 K, 2 BB, 58 P

Notables

• Barth was just one home run shy of the cycle in Friday’s win, finishing the game with a team-high four hits.
• Barth now has 69 hits on the year, one shy of becoming the first freshman since Bo Reeder (2009) to have 70+ hits in a single season.
• The Bucs had three batters record at least three hits in Friday night’s win.
• ETSU collected 17 hits tonight, the fifth time this season that ETSU has tallied 17 or more hits.
• Eight of the nine starters in the lineup recorded at least one base knock in Friday’s lopsided win.
• Webb extended his SoCon-best on-base streak to 29 games with his three-hit performance.
• ETSU saw a monster performance from the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 slots as the trio of Bucs (Barth, Hodge, Webb) combined for 10-for-14 at the dish with nine RBIs and seven runs scored.

Record Update

• ETSU: 29-20 (10-10 SoCon)
• The Citadel: 25-28 (5-15 SoCon)

Up Next
ETSU and The Citadel will meet in the rubber match tomorrow at noon at Thomas Stadium. First pitch has been moved up from the original start time due to inclement weather expected in the afternoon.

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