Sunday, March 06, 2005

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Mar. 6, 2005) - East Tennessee State had its season-opening eight-game win streak come to a close as West Virginia defeated the Bucs, 8-5, Sunday afternoon from Cardinal Park in Johnson City, Tenn. The Bucs fall to 8-1 while the Mountaineers raise their record to 3-7 on the season.

            West Virginia took the early lead, scoring two runs in the top of the first. Casey Bowling led off the inning with a double to left-center and moved to third as the next batter, Justin Jenkins, singled up the middle. Bowling scored on an RBI single by Lee Fritz while Jenkins crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Stan Posluszny.

            The Mountaineers added three more runs in the top of the third to make the score 5-0. Jenkins reached on an error with one out and scored as Fritz hit a triple to right field. Chad McKown followed with a towering two-run homer over the left-field wall.

            ETSU began to chip away at the WVU lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Senior infielder Justin Clear (Lafollette, Tenn.) hit a two-out solo home run over the right field wall.

            The Bucs rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut West Virginia's lead to one. Junior designated hitter Josiah Glafenhein (Knoxville, Tenn.) reached on an error to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a double by junior centerfielder Matt Traylor (Knoxville, Tenn.). Junior shortstop Chuck Hargis (Powell, Tenn.) then laced a double to right-center to bring home both runners. Hargis would later cross the plate as he beat out a throw to home on a bunt by junior third baseman Greg Roberts (Douglas, Ga.). WVU pitchers Shawn Miller and Ryan Hill pitched well to avoid any further damage, as the Bucs left the bases loaded in the inning.

            "I am proud of our guys," said ETSU head coach Tony Skole following the game. "We made adjustments to get back into the game."

            East Tennessee State loaded the bases again in the bottom of the eighth with one out, but Hill worked out of a jam again, striking out the next two batters.

            West Virginia iced the game in the top of the ninth, putting three more runs on the board. Trent Ridgely hit an RBI single to center and David Carpenter hit a two-run homer over the left field wall.

            The Bucs scored their final run of the day in the bottom of the ninth as senior catcher Caleb Moore (Knoxville, Tenn.) belted his third home run of the season, a solo shot over the left field wall.

            Miller earned the win (1-2) for the Mountaineers, going 6.2 innings and allowing three earned runs on six hits. It is the second time Miller has defeated ETSU, as he shut out the Bucs, 4-0, last May 15 in Morgantown, W.Va.

            Dunham allowed a run on two hits in 1.2 innings of work to earn his second save of the season.

            Buccaneer junior lefty Steven Calicutt (Spartanburg, S.C.) was charged with his first loss of the season (2-1), allowing four earned runs on eight hits in six innings of work. He also walked one and struck out five. ETSU sophomore righty McCay Green (Orlando, Fla.) kept the Bucs in the game, working two innings of hitless relief, striking out three Mountaineers.

             Clear went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI while Hargis had his second-straight strong day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs.

            McKown led WVU at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Fritz also had a solid afternoon, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

            "We had so many chances today, but we were not very opportunistic," commented Skole.

ETSU returns to action on Tuesday as the Bucs host Samford at 2 p.m. from Cardinal Park in the opener of a two-game midweek series. The game time was originally set for 7 p.m. but has been moved earlier due to possible inclement weather.