Saturday, April 19, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 19, 2008) - The ETSU baseball team defeated Belmont in game two of a three-game series Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Park, 9-2.

ETSU (11-28, 8-15) out hit the Bruins 15-10 as both teams combined to strand 17 runners on the game. Dustin Plumlee (Powell, Tenn.) had a great outing for the Bucs as he went seven innings allowing two runs (one earned) on nine hits and stuck out one while walking one.

Belmont started the scoring in the top of the first as Daniel Wagner singled in two runs to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead. The Bucs answered in the bottom of the first as Troy Mendez (Roswell, Ga.) blasted a two-run home run over the right field fence to tie the game.

After a Jacob Fabry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) triple in the bottom of the eighth, the Bucs took a 3-2 lead on a Mendez single through the ride side as Fabry scored on the play. Later in the inning the Bucs added to their lead as Mendez came in to score on a Derek Trent (Kingsport, Tenn.) sacrifice fly to center to make the score 4-2. Danny Petro (Atlanta, Ga.) drove in Anthony Russell (Waldorf, Md.) on a grounder to third to make the score 5-2. Nick Belcher (Abingdon, Va.) then doubled in Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Petro to give the Bucs a 7-2 lead. The Bucs scored two more in the inning on a Chris Rankhorn (Gallatin, Tenn.) double down the left field line driving in Bart Roark (Mountain City, Tenn.) and Belcher to make the score 9-2.

Drew Story (Jefferson City, Tenn.) and Chas Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) pitched well in relief as they combined to throw two scoreless innings to wrap up the game for the Bucs.

Belcher led the team as he went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Mendez and Rankhorn also had good days as Mendez was 2-for-5 with three RBI and a home run, and Rankhorn was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a double. Petro extended his hit streak to 16 games with his double in the seventh inning.

The Bucs are back in action tomorrow at 1 p.m. as they host Belmont in the rubber match of the series.

ETSU 9, Belmont 2 (April 19, 2008 at Johnson City, Tenn.)
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BU..............200  000  000   -  2  10  0  (14-24, 10-13 A-Sun)

ETSU..........200  000  70x   -  9  14  1   (11-28, 8-15 A-Sun)

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Pitchers: ETSU - Dustin Plumlee; Drew Story (8); Chas Byrne (9)

BU - Josh Moffitt; Logan Simmons (7); Chris Manning (7)

Win - Dustin Plumlee (2-2) Loss - Josh Moffitt (2-5)