Tuesday, February 20, 2007

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 20, 2007) - Freshman Justin Tramble (Marietta, Ga.) drew a two-out bases loaded walk in the ninth inning, driving in fellow freshman Ryan Self (Mount Juliet, Tenn.), and completing an improbable comeback against Eastern Michigan for an 8-7 victory Tuesday afternoon at Cardinal Park.

The Bucs (4-2) trailed by five runs at 7-2 entering the seventh, but the ETSU bullpen held the Eagles scoreless and the dormant bats finally came to life, banging out six runs on eight hits over the final three frames.  The Bucs bullpen threw five innings of one run baseball in the game, striking out six, walking only one and stranding eight runners on base.

Senior catcher John Weddle (Knoxville, Tenn.) started the rally in the seventh with a one-out, solo home run to left field, his first of the season.

Sophomore Darren Caldwell (Spartanburg, S.C.) stranded two runners in the top of the eighth to maintain the deficit, and junior Anthony Russell (Waldorf, Md.) and senior C.J. Lee (Bristol, Va.) opened the bottom half with singles.  Weddle drove in his second run of the game with a sacrifice fly, and sophomore Troy Mendez (Roswell, Ga.) pulled the Bucs within a run with a bases loaded, two RBI, bloop single to center field.

Freshman Tanner Moore (Chattanooga, Tenn.) singled to left, starting the ninth, and after advancing to second on a Lee groundout, tied the game on sophomore Ben Allen's (Kingsport, Tenn.) single down the left field line.

Caldwell picked up his first win of the season, pitching two scoreless innings to finish the game.  Dan Puls pitched the final inning-plus for the Eagles, falling to 0-1.

Weddle finished the day 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and two RBI.  Mendez also drove in two runs, finishing 2-for-5 at the dish. The sophomore has now hit safely in each of his last five contests.

The Bucs return to action Friday afternoon, opening a three game series with Rider.  First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Cardinal Park.