Sunday’s rubber match moved back to 3 p.m.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (March 18, 2023) – After a close loss in the series opener at Tennessee Tech, the ETSU baseball team struck back with a vengeance in the form of a lopsided 13-4 win over the Golden Eagles to even the series at Bush Field in Cookeville.

With the series now level, the rubber match will take place tomorrow at 3 p.m. — an hour later than previously scheduled due to expected weather.

Both teams recorded 10 hits on the day, but ETSU (9-8) made the most of their opportunities and tallied 10 runs over a stretch of four innings to take a comfortable lead. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles (8-10) were plagued by seven errors and 10 runners left on base.

Four of those ETSU runs came from shortstop Justin Hanvey (Purcellville, Va.), who set a new career-high and scored every time he reached. He went 1-for-2 with three walks, as did senior Garett Wallace (Sanford, Fla.) who went 1-for-2 with three walks and three RBIs on a single and a sac fly.

Leading the Bucs with multi-hit days were Nick Iannantone (Plainfield, Ill.) and leadoff man Tommy Barth (Brecksville, Ohio) as each had two hits and a walk while combining for four runs scored and three RBIs.

On the mound, ETSU was led by left-handed starter Austin Emener (Macon, Ga.) with 4.2 innings on a pitch count. He allowed just one run — unearned — while scattering five hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Right behind him was Leif Bigelow (Brattleboro, Ver.) who earned his first win with ETSU with one inning of work.

Finishing the job were relievers Derek McCarley (Seymour, Tenn.) and Cade Carlson (Carmel, Ind.), followed by fifth-year senior Joseph Acosta (Vineland, N.J) making his first appearance of the season and tossing a scoreless inning. The five pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts and just four walks.

ETSU plated an early run as Barth drew a leadoff walk and worked his way over to third, then later scored on a wild pitch. Tennessee Tech answered with a run in the third, but ETSU regained the lead as Iannantone singled home Ethan Plyler (Lexington, S.C.) in the fourth.

That 2-1 lead later grew to 7-1 with five unanswered runs the next two frames. Noah Gent (Corryton, Tenn.) started the rally with a two-run double to the left-center gap, bringing home Barth and Hanvey to make it 4-1. Barth then drove home Hanvey and Ryan McCarthy (Knoxville, Tenn.) in the sixth inning with a single, then Hanvey crossed on a failed pickoff.

TTU added two runs in their half of the inning, but the Bucs pulled away even more with four runs before the stretch. After a wild pitch with the bases loaded brought home Plyler, true freshman Cody Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y.) tacked on more insurance with an RBI single to once again score Hanvey and McCarthy at the bottom of the lineup.

The final runs were driven home by Wallace. His sac fly came in the seventh inning to score Barth to make it 11-3. He followed that up in the ninth with a two-RBI single to score Miller and Hanvey — a duo that combined for seven runs.

PITCHERS OF RECORD

Win – Leif Bigelow (1-0)

Loss – Hunter Mann (0-2)

Save – None

TEAM RECORDS

ETSU: 9-8

Tennessee Tech: 8-10

NEXT GAME

The series will be decided at 3 p.m. tomorrow. 

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