Tate strikes out eight; Sisneros delivers walk-off hit

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 8, 2023) – Following a lengthy weather delay, it was worth the wait for the Buccaneers.

Nathaniel Tate (Manchester, Tenn.) pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts and Cameron Sisneros (Littleton, Colo.) came through with the walk-off single as ETSU baseball split a doubleheader with Wofford following a 2-1 win in the nightcap on Saturday from Thomas Stadium. In game one, the Terriers held on for an 8-5 victory.

With the split, ETSU moved to 14-15 overall and 2-4 in Southern Conference play, while Wofford moved to 23-8, 4-2.

As Mother Nature forced the teams to take Friday off due to heavy rain in the region, the clubs combined for 13 runs on 21 hits in the opener; however, ETSU was unable to complete the comeback. The second game of the twin bill was a classic pitchers’ duel as Tate and Wofford’s Coulson Buchanan combined for three runs and 17 strikeouts in the seven-inning affair.

The pair of right-handers took a shutout into the fifth inning, but the Terriers scratched across the first run when pinch-runner Shane Lussier stole home with two outs in the frame to take the 1-0 lead.

The Buccaneers continued to battle and after being held to five hits in the first six innings, ETSU’s offense came to life under the pressure in the final inning.

Noah Gent (Corryton, Tenn.) – who belted his first home run as Buccaneer in game one on Saturday – reached via a wild pitch on a strikeout. From there, Ryan Enos (Oriskany, N.Y.) entered as a pinch-runner and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Ryan McCarthy (Knoxville, Tenn.). With one out and the tying run at second, Tommy Barth (Brecksville, Ohio) came through with his second hit of the game – an infield single to second – while Enos scored the tying run on Cody Miller’s (Rocky Point, N.Y.) RBI single to right. Barth moved to third on the play after David Wiley booted the ball in right and Sisneros followed with the heroics. On the first pitch from Buchanan, Sisneros sent a chopper of the head of Ryan Galanie at first, scoring Barth for the winning run.

Barth and Sisneros led the Bucs with two-hit games. Miller extended a pair of streaks on Saturday. He has now reached base in 19 straight games and has a hit in 13 consecutive contests. Sisneros and Nick Iannantone (Plainfield, Ill.) have also reached base safely in 13 straight games.

Tate improved to 4-2 with the win as he limited Wofford to the one run on three hits in seven innings. The Manchester, Tenn. native matched a season-high with eight strikeouts and set a season high in innings pitched.

Buchanan moved to 3-2 as he was tagged for the two runs on eight hits with nine strikeouts in 6.1 innings.

In game one on Saturday – following another weather delay where the doubleheader was moved for a 2 p.m. start to 5 p.m. first pitch – Wofford jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the Buccaneers battled.

ETSU scored two runs in the second and tied the game at 3-3 following Gent’s home run to left in the third.

However, the Terriers struck for four runs in the fourth to take momentum and a 7-3 advantage.

The Bucs answered with a run in the fourth and had the tying run at the plate in the seventh, along with the bases loaded in the eighth but couldn’t come through with the clutch hit.

Both teams scored a run in the ninth and Wofford earned the series with following the three-run victory.

Sisneros, Iannantone, Gent and Ashton King (Knoxville, Tenn.) all had two-hit games in Saturday’s opener.

Austin Emener (Macon, Ga.) took the loss (1-3) after allowing seven runs (four earned) on five hits in 3.1 innings; however, Cade Carlson (Carmel, Ind.) was stellar in relief. Carlson tossed 4.2 scoreless innings and issued just two hits.

Wofford’s Lucas Mahlstedt earned the win (4-0) after allowing one run on six hits in 5.1 innings.

The Bucs are back in action on Tuesday as ETSU hosts Radford at 5 p.m.

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