Friday, March 19, 2010

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 19, 2010) - A five run seven was the difference as the ETSU baseball team defeated USC Upstate 13-4 in the conference opener Friday night at Cardinal Park.

Junior Chas Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) picked up his third win of the season for the Bucs (11-4, 1-0 A-Sun) striking out a season-high seven batters.

ETSU hammered out six extra base hits and out hit USC Upstate 11-10 in the contest. Phillip Brannon was tabbed with the loss for the Spartans (7-12, 0-4 A-Sun) after surrendering five runs on five hits in 6.1 innings of work.

First baseman Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) was a perfect 4-for-4 on the night with two doubles and a RBI, while freshman Kerry Doane (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) drove in five for the Buccaneers going 2-for-4 with a double and a home run.

The game remained scoreless going into the bottom of the sixth as it was a pitcher's duel early. Doane gave ETSU a 1-0 lead in the sixth as he doubled down the left field line scoring Hoilman. The Bucs added another run in the inning as third baseman Bo Reeder (Cookeville, Tenn.) came in to score on a ball hit up the middle by freshman Derek Niesman (Wellington, Fla.) to make the score 2-0.

The Spartans answered in the top of the seventh tying the game at 2-all after a RBI triple by Joe Barnes and a RBI single by Jeff Medley. Later in the inning, USC Upstate went in front 3-2 as Medley came in to score on a sacrifice fly by left fielder Andre Harris.

Freshman Andrew Green (Powell, Tenn.) put the Buccaneers back in front in the bottom of the seventh as he drove a two-run shot over the fence in left to make the score 4-3 ETSU. The Bucs would add three more runs in the inning on a two-run triple to center by Reeder and a sac fly by Doane to go ahead 7-3.

The Spartans cut the lead to 7-4 in the top of the eighth, but ETSU would put the game out of reach scoring six runs in the bottom half of the inning. ETSU pounded out five hits in the inning including Doane's fifth home run of the season to make the final 13-4.

The Bucs are back in action tomorrow at 3 p.m. as they take on USC Upstate in a doubleheader to close out the series. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU baseball and all other Buccaneer athletic news.

ETSU 13, USC Upstate 4 (March 19, 2010 at Johnson City, Tenn.)
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USCU........... 000  000  310  -  4    10     4   (7-12, 0-4 A-Sun)

ETSU............ 000  002  56x    - 13   11     2   (11-4, 1-0 A-Sun)

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Pitchers: ETSU - Chas Byrne; Scott McNally (8), Derek Bushey (9)

USCU - Phillip Brannon; Gaither Bumgardner (7); Chris Knauff (8); Ryan Fern (8)

Win - Chas Byrne (3-2) Loss - Phillip Brannon (1-3)

HR - ETSU - Andrew Green (2); Kerry Doane (5)