Awtry, Jiminian belt two-run homers; Buccaneer pitchers record 13 strikeouts

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 3, 2023) – Marshall Awtry (Wilmington, Del.) and Leo Jiminian (Saint-Lo, France) belted two-run home runs and ETSU’s pitching staff struck out 13 Marist batters as the Buccaneers powered their way to a 7-4 win over the Red Foxes in the series opener on Friday afternoon in Thomas Stadium. 

Awtry, who blasted his second home run of the season, capped off a three-run second inning when his shot hit off the top of the scoreboard in left-center, giving the Blue & Gold a 3-0 lead. Jiminian connected on his first homer of the year in the fourth inning, extending the lead to, 6-1. The Bucs finished the scoring with an RBI single in the eighth and Derek McCarley (Seymour, Tenn.) worked a scoreless ninth inning with three strikeouts to earn his first collegiate save. 

As a team, ETSU pounded out 11 hits – five going for extra bases – while four Bucs registered multi-hit games. Garett Wallace (Sanford, Fla.) finished with a pair of doubles and a run scored, Ashton King (Knoxville, Tenn.) went 2-for-5 with an RBI and Cameron Sisneros (Littleton, Colo.) reached base three times as he tallied two hits, an RBI and a walk. Jiminian rounded out the multi-hit games as he homered and tripled. 

Landon Smiddy (Knoxville, Tenn.) got the starting nod on Friday and earned the win (3-1) as he allowed one run on three hits with three strikeouts in three innings of work. Colby Stuart (Elon, N.C.) was the first Buccaneer used out of the bullpen and the lengthy left-hander was solid as he tossed 4.2 innings with seven strikeouts. Andrew Cotton (Lexington, S.C.) recorded the final out in the eighth inning and McCarley shut the door in the ninth for the first Buccaneer save of the year. 

With the win, ETSU improved to 5-4 on the season, while Marist dropped to 0-7. 

After Smiddy worked a pair of perfect innings to start the game, the Buccaneer bats came to life as ETSU plated the three second-inning runs to jump out to the 3-0 lead. Jared Paladino (Levittown, N.Y.) started the hitting with a one-out single to center – and after reaching second on a passed ball – he came around to score on Ethan Plyler’s (Lexington, S.C.) RBI single to center. With two outs and Plyler on second, Awtry lifted a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left-center, pushing ETSU’s advantage to three. 

Marist got on the board in the third, but the Bucs responded in the bottom half of the inning when Wallace doubled and scored on Sisneros’ single to center, making it 4-1. 

The Bucs continued swinging the hot bat an inning later when Jiminian smashed his first dinger of the year, giving ETSU a five-run lead, 6-1. 

The Red Foxes cut their deficit in half with a two-run home run in the top of the fifth, but Stuart zoned in and retired the final 11 Marist hitters he faced to keep the 6-3 lead intact. 

Marist scratched across a run in the top of the eighth when Cotton issued an RBI single to right, but with the go-ahead run at the plate and two outs, the Buccaneer right-hander got out of the frame with an inning-ending fielder’s choice.

ETSU got the run back in the bottom of the inning on King’s RBI single and McCarley tossed the scoreless ninth to secure the win. 

John Hacker (0-2) suffered the loss for Marist as he allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits in five innings of work. Drake Quinn tossed the final three innings of one-run ball for the Red Foxes. 

Bayram Hot hit the two-run home run in the fifth inning for the Red Foxes. 

TEAM RECORDS

ETSU – 5-4

Toledo – 0-7 

PITCHERS OF RECORD 

Win – Landon Smiddy (3-1)

Loss – John Hacker (0-2)

Save – Derek McCarley (1) 

NEXT GAME 

ETSU will go for its second series win of the season when the Bucs host Marist Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. 

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