Tuesday, April 19, 2005

BLACKSBURG, Va. (Apr. 19, 2005) - With two outs in the top of the ninth, East Tennessee State sophomore centerfielder Stephen Douglas (Kennesaw, Ga.) belted a three-run home run to tie Tuesday night's game against Virginia Tech from English Field in Blacksburg, Va. Junior left fielder Josiah Glafenhein (Knoxville, Tenn.) then scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the top of the 10^th to give the Bucs a 5-4 victory over the Hokies.

            The game was scoreless through the first six innings as Buccaneer freshman lefty Joey McCown (Alcoa, Tenn.) and Hokie sophomore starter Greg Fryman both were dominant from the outset. The Bucs had six hits through the first six frames, but Fryman kept them off the board, stranding seven runners. McCown, in his first collegiate start, allowed just one baserunner through 6.1 innings, retiring 14-straight batters at one point.

            Virginia Tech (13-17) was able to break through in the bottom of the seventh with three runs on four hits. With one down in the inning, Matt Hacker and Jose Cueto hit back-to-back singles followed by a two-run triple by Bryan Thomas. Thomas would later cross the plate on a single by Matt Foley.

            East Tennessee State (21-11) got on the board in the top of the eighth on a solo home run by senior catcher Caleb Moore (Knoxville, Tenn.), his 11^th of the season. But the Bucs stranded two more runners as Virginia Tech reliever Adam Redd came on to record the final two outs of the inning.

            The Hokies pushed another run across in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Cueto.

            East Tennessee State began its comeback in the ninth when Shane Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) hit into what could have been a game-ending double-play grounder, but the throw to first got away and Byrne was able to reach and advance to second. Moore then singled to give the Bucs runners on first and third with two outs before Douglas' blast over the scoreboard in right field.

            ETSU then scored the winning run in the top of the tenth. With two outs, Glafenhein doubled down the left field line. He would advance to third on a wild pitch and crossed the plate as another pitch got to the backstop.

            Moore came on to pitch in the ninth and earned his fifth win (5-0), allowing one hit and striking out one in two innings of work. McCown had an impressive outing, going 6.1 innings and allowing three earned runs on five hits.

            Randy Buffington was charged with the loss (0-2) for the Hokies, giving up one run and striking out two in an inning of work.

            Douglas led the Bucs at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a run scored and three RBIs. Senior second baseman Nick Crowe (Johnson City, Tenn.) also went 3-for-5 while Moore was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.

            Cueto, Thomas and Foley led the Hokies with two hits in the loss.

The Bucs return to Southern Conference action this weekend as they travel to Boone, N.C. for a three-game weekend series with rival Appalachian State. Friday's game is scheduled for 3 p.m., Saturday's game will be played at 2 p.m. while Sunday's first pitch will be at 1 p.m.