Bucs look for their first win in Columbia  

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Feb 15, 2023) – The ETSU Softball team will spend the weekend in Columbia, S.C. competing in the Carolina Classic, playing four games at the Carolina Softball Stadium starting Thursday night.

Game one of the tournament will feature ETSU taking on host South Carolina – a matchup that was cancelled last weekend in Charlotte, N.C. because of inclement weather. The game with the Gamecocks is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. first pitch on Thursday. ETSU will then play twice on Friday – first against Western Kentucky at 12:30 p.m. – and then against George Washington at 5:30 p.m. To conclude competition, the Blue and Gold will face Campbell at 12:30 p.m., meeting in back-to-back tournaments.

WEEKEND OUTLOOK:

LIVE STATS: (G1) (G2) (G3) (G4) | WATCH (South Carolina game only)

Dates: Thursday, Feb. 16 – Saturday, Feb.18

Location: Columbia, S.C. | Carolina Softball Stadium

Weather: Thursday: Cloudy (H-80, L-64), Friday: Cloudy (H-66, L-33), Saturday: Sunny (H-54, L-36)

Twitter Updates: @ETSUSoftball

ABOUT THE BUCS

• The Bucs own an 0-3 record entering the weekend.
• Sophomore Sara Muir (Sequatchie, Tenn.) leads the team with five hits, three RBI and two home runs. Muir hit a pair of shots last weekend against Campbell and Charlotte.
• Senior Brianna Bailey (Wewahitchka, Fla.) leads the team in strikeouts with five after pitching 6.1 innings last weekend.
• After getting a start last weekend, Muir controlled the circle for 5.1 innings, while recording three strikeouts and posting a team-leading 1.31 era on five hits.
• As a team, the Bucs are averaging seven hits a game in the first three games of the year.

ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA

• The tournament host enters the weekend with a 2-1 record, after dropping their opening game 9-1, against Charlotte.
• As a team South Carolina posts a .303 batting average with Giulia Desiderio leading the way with a .625 clip.
• Karsen Ochs has made an appearance in every game for South Carolina, allowing seven runs and seven hits in five innings worth of work.
• The Bucs are 0-6 all-time against the Gamecocks and Thursday night will be the third consecutive game ETSU plays at the Carolina Softball Stadium.

ABOUT WESTERN KENTUCKY

• Western Kentucky enters the matchup 1-4 overall, defeating Butler 10-0 in the Florida Spring games in Leesburg, Fla.
• Brylee Hage leads WKU in hits (9) and at-bats (18), while also adding a triple.
• As a team, Western Kentucky is averaging a .299 batting average in 134 at-bats.
• The Bucs are 1-1 all-time against WKU, winning the previous matchup, 6-2 at Bowling Green, Ky.

ABOUT G. WASHINGTON

• George Washington enters then weekend 2-1 overall, defeating Bucknell 2-1 and Maine 9-4 last weekend at the Upstate Classic.
• As a team, George Washington comes in hitting .203 batting average through the first three games.
• Sidney Torres leads George Washington with a .500 batting average, while hitting a homer and producing two RBI.
• Friday night will be the second meeting all-time between the teams with the Bucs winning the only matchup, 2-0 in 2009.

ABOUT CAMPBELL

• The Fighting Camels are 2-2 entering the weekend, dropping matches to Miami (Ohio) 10-2 and South Carolina, 10-9 at the Charlotte Invitational.
• As a team Campbell hit .297 to open the year with 118 at-bats.
• Alyssa Henault leads the team with a .615 batting average on eight hits, two runs and one RBI.
• ETSU is 4-16 all-time against Campbell, dropping the previous matchup 8-4, last Friday, Feb. 10 at the Charlotte Invitational.

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