JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 15, 2024) – The ETSU baseball team rallied from six runs down in the seventh inning for a walk off victory over Villanova on Friday by a score of 12-11. With Friday's win, the Bucs have now won three straight games and improve to 13-4 on the 2024 season that includes a 13-3 mark at Thomas Stadium.
Every member of ETSU's starting lineup reached base at least once and five reached more than once.
Nick Iannantone (2-for-2, three walks) and
Cameron Sisneros (2-for-2, three RBI, three walks) both reached base five times on Friday.
Noah Webb had an impressive day going 4-for-5 with a home run, two RBI, two more runs scored. It marks the first four-hit game by a Buccaneer this season. Finally,
Cody Miller went 3-for-6 and drove in four runs, including the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to give ETSU its second consecutive walk off win.
Starting pitchers Rian Schwede (Villanova) and
Jace Hyde (ETSU) both pitched two scoreless innings to start Friday's contest. The first runs in the game came in the third inning. With two outs in the frame, the Wildcats went double, double, and home run to put them on top 3-0. It marks just the third time all season that ETSU has not scored first.
ETSU would rapidly answer in its half of the third. Iannantone reached with a single and
Tommy Barth reached on a fielding error by Villanova to give ETSU a pair of runners on with one out. Sisneros was next and delivered a two-run double to bring the Bucs within a run, 3-2. Miller would later add an RBI single, and Webb lined a ground-rule double to score another run. After three innings, ETSU held a 4-3 lead.
The two teams scored again in the fifth with the Wildcats scoring two and Bucs plating one to bring the score to 5-5 after five. With both teams turning to their respective bullpens by the sixth, Villanova got an unearned run to break the tie and get back in front, 6-5.
Both squads had big offensive innings in the seventh. Villanova built its lead all the way out to six runs, 11-5, after three hits and the last being a big three-run home run. Facing a six-run hole, ETSU quickly closed the gap in the bottom of the seventh. Helped by four walks by Wildcat relievers, the Bucs scored five times with the biggest and final hit again coming from Miller (two-run single) to get ETSU back within a run, 11-10, going to the eighth.
Webb would launch a no-doubt home run to left to start the eighth to pull the score back even, 11-11. In the bottom of the ninth, Iannantone lined a single off the pitcher's foot to start the inning before being lifted for Jones as a pinch-runner. A one-out walk by Sisneros brought Miller up again with another run-producing opportunity and he cashed in yet again. A single through the right side of the infield was enough to score
Brogan Jones and give ETSU the 12-11 victory.
It marks the first time this season that ETSU has won a game when not scoring first. Furthermore, it is ETSU's largest comeback win of the season (six in the seventh) and its biggest since March 26, 2023, when it overcame a 7-0 deficit against Samford to ultimately win, 17-12. As mentioned earlier, Webb's four-hit day is the most by an ETSU player this season, and Miller set a new career-high with four RBI in the win.
ETSU, now with its best record through 17 games since 2019 (also 13-4), will look to notch its fourth series win of the season tomorrow in game two. First pitch for that contest is set for 2 p.m. at Thomas Stadium.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
