Friday, May 21, 2004

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (May 21, 2004) -- ETSU Baseball is set to host SoCon rival Furman in the final series of the regular season this weekend from Cardinal Park in Johnson City, Tenn. The Bucs and Paladins will play Friday night at 7 p.m., Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. East Tennessee State is 27-26 on the season, having won six of its last 10 games after defeating Tennessee Tech and falling to Virginia Tech thie week from Cardinal Park. The Bucs are led by junior catcher Caleb Moore (Knoxville, Tenn.) who leads the nation with a .478 batting average and 26 doubles. Sophomore first baseman Blake Church comes into tonight's game with a .362 batting average while senior shortstop Andy Howdeshell (Maryville, Tenn.) is hitting .342. the Bucs have clinched a berth in the 2004 SoCon Baseball Tournament sponsored by the Virginia-Carolina Peanut Growers and the National Peanut Board, May 26-29 from Joe Riley Park in Charleston, S.C. Furman is 19-32 on the season, 9-18 in conference play. The Paladins are battling Western Carolina (24-27, 11-16) for the eighth and final spot in the SoCon Tournament. A.J. Davidiuk leads the team with a .330 batting average while Derek Norman leads the Paladins with seven home runs, 40 RBIs and 39 runs scored. Friday and Saturday's games can be heard live in the Tri-Cities area on 910-AM WJCW. The broadcasts for this weekend's series as well as live stats will be available on the ETSU Athletic Department website, www.ETSUBucs.com.