Sunday, March 02, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 2, 2008) - A pair of homeruns by Nick Belcher (Abingdon, Va.) and Derek Trent (Kingsport, Tenn.) lifted the Bucs to their first win of the season as ETSU crushed USC Upstate, 12-5, at Cardinal Park on Sunday.

"It was a great win for the team, "said head coach Tony Skole. "I was glad to see our players come out and play with energy and intensity. This win is good for us with all the adversity we have faced so far in the season. I am proud of the team."

ETSU (1-6, 1-2) had a season high 12 runs on 15 hits. Starter Ty Sarchet (Honolulu, Hawaii) pitched five good innings as he was able to keep the Spartan batter in check only giving up four runs on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks. USC Upstate (4-4, 2-1) was held to just five runs on nine hits.

The Spartans jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on RBI singles by Casey Rivers and Phillip Morgan. The Bucs would even things up in the bottom of the second on a two-run shot by Belcher.

In the fourth inning, USC Upstate would scratch across another run on a Kyle Simpson RBI single, but ETSU would answer in the bottom of the fourth with three runs. With two outs senior Anthony Russell (Waldorf, Md.) singled up the middle driving in Ben Allen (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Danny Petro (Atlanta, Ga.), and Troy Mendez (Roswell, Ga.) would score on a wild pitch.

The Spartans would score again in the sixth on a Morgan home run to make the score 5-4. The Bucs would extend their lead in the bottom of the sixth as they would explode for four more runs. Petro, Allen and Mendez each had an RBI single in the inning while Chas Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) would score on a Trent grounder to second.

USC Upstate would again cut into the ETSU lead in the seventh on an RBI double by Rivers, but the Bucs would put things out of reach in the bottom of the eighth on another RBI single by Mendez and a Trent two-run blast to right to make the final 12-5.

Dustin Plumlee (Powell, Tenn.) pitched four solid innings of relief as he only allowed one run on three hits with four strikes and one walk.

The Bucs will be back in action on Tuesday at Cardinal Park as they will host the Austin Peay Governors at 3 p.m. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU baseball and all other Buccaneer athletic news.

Game 3: ETSU 12, USC Upstate 5 (March 2, 2008 at Johnson City, Tenn.)
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USC Upstate.............200  011  100  -  5  9  1     (4-4, 2-1 A-Sun)
ETSU………............ 020  034  03x  -  12 15 3     (1-6, 1-2 A-Sun)
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Pitchers: ETSU - Ty Sarchet; Dustin Plumlee (6)
USC - Scott Eckard; A.J. Clark (6); Dennis McCraney (6); Robert Stegbauer (8); Tyler Oliver (8)
Win - Ty Sarchet (1-1) Loss -   Scott Eckard (0-2)

HR: ETSU -   Nick Belcher (1), Derek Trent (1)

USC - Phillip Morgan (2)