Saturday, March 27, 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 27, 2010) - The ETSU baseball team got stellar outings from pitchers Scott McNally (Marietta, Ga.) and Ben Booker (Knoxville, Tenn.) as the Bucs swept the doubleheader Saturday against the Bisons at Dugan Field in Nashville, Tenn.

The Bucs (16-5, 5-1 A-Sun) took game one of the doubleheader 15-6 powered by a 3-for-5 performance by centerfielder Matthew Scruggs (Knoxville, Tenn.). McNally earned the win throwing 6.0 scoreless innings of relief scattering three hits with two strikeouts to go to 4-0 on the year.

Booker got a complete game win, 6-3, in game two as he limited the Bisons (7-17, 2-4 A-sun) to three runs on six hits with a season-high eight strikeouts to improve to 3-0.

With the two wins, the Bucs are off to the best start in school history through 20 games, and are in sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Sun. ETSU is also a perfect 5-0 in weekend series.

Offensively ETSU was led by first baseman Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Scruggs as they each had four hits on the day. The Bucs saw all ten batters used in the doubleheader drive in at least one run.

In the first game, Trent sent his second home run of the series and sixth of the year over the fence in right for a solo home run in the top of the second to give the Buccaneers a 1-0 lead.

The Bisons evened the game at 1-all in the bottom half of the inning as Andrew Nickerson came in to score on a Tyler Wilson single up the middle.

In the bottom of the third, Lee Wilson came in to score on a single through the left side by Zach Messer to put Lipscomb in front 2-1.

ETSU exploded for eight runs on eight hits including doubles by Trent, Bo Reeder (Cookeville, Tenn.) and Garrett May (Marietta, Ga.) to make the score 9-2 Bucs.

Lipscomb cut the ETSU lead to 9-6 in the bottom of the fourth scoring four runs on two hits a couple Buccaneer wild pitches.

Scruggs tripled in two runs in the fifth driving a ball to deep left center to increase the ETSU lead to 11-6. Scruggs then came in to score on a wild pitch to put the Buccaneers ahead 12-6.

In the next inning, Reeder came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Derek Niesman (Wellington, Fla.) to bring the score to 13-6.

ETSU capped off its scoring in the ninth scoring two runs on RBI singles by Scruggs and Hoilman to make the final of the first game 15-6.

The Bucs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second in game two as Reeder came in to score on an Andrew Green (Powell, Tenn.) single to left.

The Bisons grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third as Messer hit a bases loaded triple to put Lipscomb in front 3-1.

ETSU answered in the top of the fourth as they retook the lead 5-3, scoring four runs in the inning. With the bases loaded, freshman Michael Gonzalez (Jupiter, Fla.) brought in Trent with a sac fly to right. Later in the inning, Green scored Reeder on a double to right center.  Scruggs brought in two more runs on a single to left center to round out the ETSU scoring in the fourth.

Hoilman added a run for ETSU in the seventh inning as he crushed his league leading 11^th home run of the season over the fence in left to make the final 6-3.

The Bucs are back in action Tuesday at 3 p.m. as they head to Boone, N.C. to take on former SoCon rival Appalachian State. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU baseball and all other Buccaneer athletic news.

Game 1: ETSU 15, Lipscomb 6 (March 27, 2010 at Nashville, Tenn.)
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ETSU............ 010  831  002      -     15   16  3  (15-5, 4-1 A-Sun)

LU.................. 011  400  000   -  6    11     2   (7-16, 2-3 A-Sun)

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Pitchers: ETSU - Bo Reeder; Scott McNally (4)

LU - Alex Ross; Matt Bowling (4); Dannie Strable (4); Chad Fromm (5); Blake Fonfara (8)

Win - Scott McNally (4-0)  Loss - Alex Ross (1-2)

HR - ETSU - Derek Trent (6)

Game 2: ETSU 6, Lipscomb 3 (March 27, 2010 at Nashville, Tenn.)
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ETSU............ 010  400  100      -      6      7   1  (16-5, 5-1 A-Sun)

LU.................. 003  000  000   -  3      6      0   (7-17, 2-4 A-Sun)

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Pitchers: ETSU - Ben Booker

LU - Davey Hackett; Chad Fromm (8)

Win - Ben Booker (3-0) Loss - Davey Hackett (1-3)

HR - ETSU - Paul Hoilman (11)