Bucs split doubleheader with Ospreys

Bo Burton

Saturday, April 03, 2010

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 3, 2010) - The ETSU baseball team overcame a nine run deficit to split the doubleheader with North Florida, coming back to win the nightcap 20-19 after dropping the first game 8-4 Saturday at Cardinal Park.

Bo Reeder (Cookeville, Tenn.) went 8.0 innings for the Bucs (17-9, 6-3 A-Sun) in game one suffering the loss after giving up six runs (three earned) on ten hits. Junior Bo Burton (Kingsport, Tenn.) picked up the win for ETSU in the second game to improve to 2-1 on the year.

Michael Kelly earned the win for the Ospreys (16-14, 6-3 A-Sun) in the first game, while Josh Patton was tabbed with the loss in game two.

Offensively, centerfielder Matthew Scruggs (Knoxville, Tenn.) led the way for ETSU going 6-for-9 on the day, while junior Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) was 6-for-10 with three doubles and a home run. Scruggs was a triple short of the cycle in game two driving in a career-high seven runs.

Hoilman's six RBI on the day moves him into a tie for fourth on the ETSU career RBI list, while his 39th career home run placed him one back of Rod Walker for second place on the Buccaneer career home run list.

In the first game, the Bucs grabbed an early 3-0 lead. After a Scruggs single and a Chas Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) walk, Hoilman crushed a double down the left field line scoring Scruggs and Byrne. Hoilman then came around to score on a ball hit to short by Reeder.

UNF evened the game at 3-all in the top of the third scoring three runs on three hits including RBI doubles by Michael Smith and Andrew Karmeris.

The Ospreys took a 4-3 lead in the fourth as David Eldredge came in to score on a Buccaneer error. UNF would score two more in the inning on a two-run double by Smith to go in front 6-3.

ETSU cut the lead to 6-4 in the seventh as Byrne drew a bases loaded walk to score right fielder Corey Betterson (Atlanta, Ga.).

North Florida got a couple insurance runs in the ninth on RBI singles by Karmeris and Justin Preckajlo to make the final 8-4.

UNF jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning of the second game scoring five runs on five hits highlighted by a two-run double by Corey Bass.

The Ospreys added two runs in the second inning on a RBI ground out to second by Hale and a RBI single by Eldredge to make the score 7-0.

In the UNF fourth, Karmeris led off with a solo home run to left center to extend the Osprey lead to 8-0. Later in the inning, Eldredge singled in a run to give North Florida a 9-0 lead.

The Buccaneer bats came alive in the bottom of the fourth scoring eight runs on seven hits to cut the UNF lead to one run, 9-8. ETSU sent 14 batters to the plate in the inning highlighted by two-run singles by Jamie Crawford (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Derek Trent (Kingsport, Tenn.).

Karmeris increased the North Florida lead to 10-8 in the top of the fifth as he singled in T.J. Gavlik.

ETSU answered in the bottom half of the inning as Scruggs brought the Bucs within a run singling in Kerry Doane (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.). After a Michael Gonzalez (Jupiter, Fla.) single, the Bucs tied the game at 10-all as Scruggs came around to score on a Hoilman double to left. Gonzalez came in to score on a Trent sac fly to center to give ETSU an 11-10 lead, its first of the game.

North Florida jumped back in front 14-11 in the sixth as the Ospreys scored four runs on five hits highlighted by a two-run single by Smith.

The lead was short lived for UNF as ETSU again answered scoring five runs on five hits in the bottom of the sixth to go ahead 16-14. After a Done RBI single, Scruggs doubled to right center scoring two runs. Hoilman capped off the scoring for the Buccaneers in the inning driving a two-run home run over the fence in right for his 13^th home run of the season.

In the seventh, UNF took the lead for third time in the game scoring four runs on four hits to make the score 18-16. Eldredge had a two-run home run for the Ospreys in the inning.

The ETSU seventh saw the Bucs go back in front 19-18 with one swing of the bat as Scruggs hammered a 3-2 pitch over the left field fence for a three-run home run. The homer was the fourth of the season for Scruggs.

After a scoreless eighth for North Florida, the Buccaneers got an insurance run as Andrew Green (Powell, Tenn.) came in to score on a Crawford single back up the middle to make the score 20-18 ETSU.

The Ospreys threatened in the ninth as Eldredge led off the inning with his second home run of the game cutting the Buccaneer lead to 20-19. After Burton recorded an out, UNF got two aboard before Smith grounded into a double play to end the game.

The Bucs are back in action Tuesday at 7 p.m. as they host Eastern Kentucky in two-game mid-week series. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU baseball and all other Buccaneer athletic news.

Game 1: UNF 8, ETSU 4 (April 3, 2010 at Johnson City, Tenn.)
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UNF............... 003 300 002 - 8 12 1 (16-13, 6-2 A-Sun)

ETSU............ 300 000 100 - 4 6 3 (16-9, 5-3 A-Sun)

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Pitchers: ETSU - Bo Reeder; Bo Burton (9)

UNF - Michael Kelly, Clayton Schulz (7); Casey Medlen (7)

Win - Michael Kelly (3-4) Loss - Bo Reeder (2-1) Save - Casey Medlen (2)

Game 2: ETSU 20, UNF 19 (April 3, 2010 at Johnson City, Tenn.)
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UNF............... 520 214 401 - 19 26 0 (16-14, 6-3 A-Sun)

ETSU............ 000 835 31x - 20 23 2 (17-9, 6-3 A-Sun)

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Pitchers: ETSU - Ben Booker; Scott McNally (5); Josh Means (6); Bo Burton (7)

UNF - Robbie Collier; Kyle Finch (4); Kris Linster (5); Trey Ferrano (6); Josh Patton (6); Clayton Schulz (7); Kyle Westwood (8)

Win - Bo Burton (2-1) Loss - Josh Patton (0-1)

HR - ETSU - Paul Hoilman (13); Matthew Scruggs (4)

UNF - Andrew Karmeris (5); David Eldredge 2(2)