This will be ETSU’s seventh appearance in the SoCon Tournament

GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 10, 2016) – The ETSU softball team will be making its seventh appearance all-time in the SoCon Tournament Wednesday when it takes on No. 4 seed UNCG in Greensboro, N.C. The Bucs, who drew the tournament’s No. 5 seed after finishing 9-9 in SoCon play, and Spartans are scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m.

Bullets on the Bucs

• ETSU won its final regular season series at Chattanooga over the weekend by taking two of the three games against the Mocs. The Bucs knocked off UTC in the first two games by scores of 6-4 and 6-3 but dropped the finale 11-3 in five innings.
• Junior Taylor Carter (Brazil, Ind.) was the Bucs’ top offensive player last week as she hit .462 with two home runs and four RBI. Carter currently leads the team with a .320 batting average and 25 RBI, while being tied for the team-lead in home runs with nine.
• Maryville, Tenn. native Madison Ogle was the team’s top pitcher in Chattanooga compiling a 2.74 ERA in 7.2 innings. Ogle picked up a win in one of the victories over UTC and notched a save in the other.

Bucs by the numbers

47 – ETSU has hit 47 home runs this season, which is the most by any squad in a single season in the program’s history. In addition, ETSU has averaged 1.18 home runs per game (47 home runs/40 games played), which is the top mark in the SoCon and ranks 19th nationally.

18-9 – ETSU is 18-9 when it holds opponents to five runs or fewer this season. On the flip side, when their opponents score more than five runs, the Bucs are 2-11.

3.99 – The Bucs’ pitching staff owns a team ERA of 3.99 this season, which is nearly a run and a half lower than the team’s mark last season (5.45). The 3.99 ERA is the lowest for ETSU since 2010 when its pitchers posted a 3.87 ERA.  

Scouting the Opponent

UNCG: The Spartans enter the conference tournament with a record of 32-24 overall and 9-9 in league play. UNCG boasts one of the top offenses in the conference ranking second in batting average (.307), home runs per game (1.09), scoring (5.48) and slugging percentage (.494).

On Tuesday, six different UNCG players received All-SoCon accolades, including Lindsay Thomas and Nicole Thomas who earned spots on the First Team. Additionally, Stephanie Bryden was tabbed the league’s Freshman of the Year.

Series History vs. Opponent

The Bucs and Spartans have met a total of 24 times since 2001 with UNCG holding the lead in the series, 18-6. UNCG took two of three from ETSU when the two squads matched up earlier this season in Johnson City. The Bucs hold a record of 2-7 all-time in Greensboro.

Following options for the tournament

The entire SoCon Tournament will be streamed on the SoCon Digitial Network and will have live stats available. The links can be found on the Bucs’ schedule page. Fans can also follow @ETSUSoftball on Twitter for in-game updates.

FOLLOW THE BUCS

• Receive live game updates and behind-the-scenes access of ETSU Softball by following @ETSUSoftball on Twitter or ETSU Softball on Facebook
• ETSU fans wanting to receive Buccaneer news, score updates, in-game promotions and much more sent to their mobile device can do so by signing up for “Buc Updates.” Click hereto sign up today!