Sunday, April 03, 2005

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Apr. 3, 2005) - East Tennessee State took both ends of a key Southern Conference doubleheader from Elon, defeating the Phoenix, 17-11 and 4-3, Sunday afternoon from Cardinal Park in Johnson City, Tenn. With the wins, the Bucs move to 15-8, 6-6 in SoCon games while Elon falls to 17-14, 8-7 in conference play.

            The Phoenix took the early lead in game one, scoring two runs in the first inning and one in the second. With one out in the opening inning, Matt Hill hit a solo home run deep over the right field wall. Chris Price, Chris Vasami and Drew Davis then followed with singles, the final one bringing home Price from second. Price's hit extended his hitting streak to 16 games, but he went hitless in game two.

            Elon's Paul Bennett led off the top of the second with a single to right, then scored on a double to right-center by Gary Morris.

            The Bucs took their first lead with four runs in the bottom of the second. With two outs in the frame, junior right fielder Shane Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) hit an RBI single and senior catcher Caleb Moore (Knoxville, Tenn.) belted a three-run homer over the right-center field wall.

            The Phoenix responded in the top of the third, scoring two runs to regain the lead. Evan Erickson hit an RBI double to left-center and Chris Bost hit an RBI groundout.

            ETSU plated five runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good. Sophomore designated hitter Mike Giroud (St. Petersburg, Fla.) hit a double to right-center, scoring junior second baseman Josiah Glafenhein (Knoxville, Tenn.) who reached with one out after being hit by a pitch. After an infield single by senior third baseman Justin Clear (Lafollette, Tenn.), Giroud came home on a wild pitch. Byrne then hit an RBI double to right and sophomore left fielder Stephen Douglas (Kennesaw, Ga.) capped the inning with a two-run double down the left field line.

            The Buccaneers added to their lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Junior shortstop Chuck Hargis (Powell, Tenn.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and later scored on a sac fly by Moore.

            Elon countered with a run in the top of the sixth on an RBI infield single by Price.

            ETSU put the game away with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Clear and Byrne hit RBI singles and Moore hit his second homer of the day, a three-run shot over the right field wall.

            The Bucs put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the seventh. Clear hit a sacrifice fly and Hargis followed with an RBI single.

            The Phoenix made the game close late, scoring a run in the top of the eighth and four in the ninth. Price hit a sac fly in the eighth while Danny Miller and Price hit RBI singles in the ninth. Kevin Pratt also crossed the plate in the ninth on an error. But senior righty Michael Bauer (Kingsport, Tenn.) shut the door on Elon, coming on to strike out the final batter with the bases loaded.

            Byrne led the Bucs at the plate, going 5-for-6 with three runs scored and three RBIs. Moore had seven RBIs while Hargis had a team-high four runs scored.

            Price paced the Phoenix, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Miller and Bennett each had two runs scored in the loss.

            Buccaneer junior righty Jeremy Hall (Gray, Tenn.) earned the win (5-1) going 6.2 innings and allowing four earned runs on nine hits. He also walked two and struck out seven. Ryan Basham was charged with the loss for Elon (3-3), allowing seven earned runs in 2.1 innings of work.

            The Bucs jumped on top in game two with a run in the bottom of the first. Senior second baseman Nick Crowe (Johnson City, Tenn.) led off the inning with a double down the right field line, and would later cross the plate on a sacrifice fly by Moore.

            ETSU scored its final three runs in the bottom of the third as Douglas belted a three-run homer with two outs over the right-center field wall.

            Elon scored a run in the top of the fourth and two in the fifth to trim ETSU's lead to just one. Price walked to lead off the fourth, moved to third on a double by Davis and later scored on a sac fly by Matt Stocco.     In the fifth, Price hit a sacrifice fly to center and Morris scored from third on a passed ball. But Moore came on to pitch with two outs in the inning to get out of a jam.

            Moore went on to earn the win (3-0), pitching the final 2.1 innings and allowing just one hit while striking out four. ETSU junior lefty Brian Lovett (Knoxville, Tenn.) pitched well, but did not figure in the decision, allowing two earned runs on three hits in 4.2 innings of work. Matt Chastain (2-1) was charged with the loss for Elon, giving up four earned runs on six hits in 5.2 innings.

            Crowe, Byrne, Moore and Douglas each went 1-for-3 with a run scored for the Bucs in the win while Douglas had a game-high three RBIs.

            Adam Weaver led Elon, going 2-for-3 with a run scored.

            "I am extremely proud of our players, my coaches, our trainers and everyone associated with our program," commented ETSU head coach Tony Skole following the wins. "To come out today and win two games against a quality program is a great accomplishment. We had a lot of guys rise to the occasion and make big plays today."