JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 15, 2024) – The ETSU baseball team will open its 2024 season this weekend with a three-game series against Lafayette. Game times for the series are set for 3 p.m., 2 p.m., and 1 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively from Thomas Stadium.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game 1 – RHP Luke Craytor (LAF) vs. RHP Landon Crumbley (ETSU) – Friday @ 3 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 2 – RHP James Reese (LAF) vs. RHP Andrew Ronne (ETSU) – Saturday @ 2 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 3 – TBD (LAF) vs. RHP Brian Crooms (ETSU) – Sunday @ 1 p.m. | Live Stats
Quick Look Back at 2023 – The 2023 Buccaneers went 26-29 overall and recorded a 10-11 mark in conference play. ETSU won its first postseason game since 2019 when it downed The Citadel 12-0 in its first game of the SoCon Tournament. Additionally, five Buccaneers earned All-SoCon honors in
Nathanial Tate (First Team),
Cameron Sisneros (Second Team),
Nick Iannantone (Second Team),
Cade Carlson (Second Team) and
Cody Miller (Freshman).
About the 2024 Bucs – ETSU will have several new players on the diamond in 2024. The Bucs have 16 players on the roster that were with the program a season ago and they have welcomed in 20 newcomers. Among the newest Buccaneers are 11 freshmen and nine transfers.
Preseason Honors/Predictions – In the annual preseason poll, the Buccaneers were picked to finish fifth. Furthermore, ETSU had five players land Preseason All-SoCon honors in Sisneros (First Team),
Tommy Barth (Second Team),
Ashton King (Second Team), Iannantone (Second Team), and Miller (Second Team). The five Preseason All-SoCon honorees are tied for the second-most in the conference behind only projected league favorite Samford and its seven honorees.
At the Plate – ETSU returns most of its starting lineup from 2023 for 2024. In addition to the five Preseason All-SoCon picks listed above, the Bucs also return two veteran catchers in
Ryan McCarthy and
Noah Webb along with infielder
Noah Gent and outfielder
Jackson Green. In 2023, these Bucs played a key role in ETSU batting .302 as a team, which ranked 30
th in the nation.
On the Mound – The Buccaneer pitching staff will look quite a bit different in 2024 after the departures of
Colby Stuart,
Landon Smiddy,
Austin Emener, Tate and Carlson among others.
Owen Kovacs leads the group of ETSU returners after tossing 30 innings in 2023. The Bucs also return
Andrew Ronne, who is scheduled to start game two on Saturday, and
Derek McCarley. McCarley struck out 39 hitters in 25 innings as a freshman last season.
Starting the Season at Home – This weekend's series vs. Lafayette will mark the 14
th consecutive season that ETSU has started the season at Thomas Stadium. In those opening series, the Bucs are a combined 26-8 with 11 series wins along with four sweeps.
About Lafayette – Lafayette posted an overall record of 15-37 in 2023. The Leopards reached the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament before bowing out to Army. A player to watch for Lafayette is Michael Zarrillo. Zarrillo is a Preseason All-Patriot League selection after hitting .280 to go with 10 home runs.
Series History vs. Lafayette – ETSU and Lafayette have met just once previously and that was in 2022. The Buccaneers won that contest 13-4 with all nine starters reaching base at least once.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
