JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 27, 2024) – The ETSU baseball team dropped its first home game of the season on Tuesday as Appalachian State rallied to knock off the Buccaneers, 9-6. With Tuesday's loss, the Bucs move to 6-2 on the 2024 campaign.
All nine players in ETSU's starting lineup either had at least one hit or drove in a run Tuesday.
Jackson Green tallied the lone multi-hit game for the Bucs going 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run scored.
Ashton King connected on his first home run of the season and drove in two of ETSU's six runs.
Nick Iannantone also drove in two runs for the Bucs, while
Cody Miller was the lone ETSU player to score twice on the day.
The Bucs used six different pitchers on Tuesday.
Derek McCarley made his second start of the season and worked the first 2.1 innings. McCarley struck out three and allowed one run (not earned) on two hits in the outing.
Andrew Cotten (0.2 innings) and
Kenny Keller (two innings) both had scoreless appearances out of the bullpen for the Bucs.
For seventh time in eight games this season, the Bucs scored first. Iannantone scored the first run of the game on an RBI groundout by
JD Yakubinis. King then made the score 3-0 ETSU with a two-run home run over the left field wall to score
Noah Gent, who had reached earlier on a single.
App State would get a run back in the second, but the Bucs answered with a sacrifice fly by Iannantone to make the score 4-1 after two innings. The Mountaineers tied the score at 4-4 with three runs on three hits in the third inning. After hitting the first batter he faced, Cotton retired the two batters to keep the score tied at four.
Neither team scored again until the bottom of the sixth. Green got things started with a double followed by a walk from Miller and a single from
Jamie Palmese to give ETSU the bases loaded with one out. A wild pitch gave ETSU the lead back, 5-4, before an RBI groundout by Iannantone made it 6-4 Bucs heading to the seventh.
After being held off the scoreboard for three straight innings, the Mountaineers took their first lead of the day in the seventh. Following a hit batter, a two-run home run tied the game at 6-6. An RBI double and a wild pitch later in the inning pushed App State out in front, 8-6. App State would add some insurance in the top of the ninth with a solo home run before the bullpen closed out the 9-6 win.
ETSU will remain at home this weekend when it hosts Wagner for a three-game series at Thomas Stadium. Game times for the series are 3 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
