JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 7, 2024) – The ETSU baseball team will be back in action with a three-game series this weekend at Thomas Stadium against James Madison. The series will begin on Friday at 2 p.m. followed by games on Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).
Probable Pitching Matchup
Game 1 - RHP Todd Mozoki (JMU) vs. RHP Jace Hyde (ETSU) – Friday @ 2 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 2 – LHP Max Kuhle (JMU) vs. RHP Andrew Ronne (ETSU) – Saturday @ 2 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 3 – RHP Ryan Murphy (JMU) vs. RHP Michael Harpster (ETSU) – Sunday @ 1 p.m. | Live Stats
Last Time Out – The Bucs battled back and won a 7-5 contest against Binghamton on Tuesday. With Tuesday's victory, ETSU is now 10-2 overall and 10-1 at home this season. It is ETSU's best 12-game start to a season since 2020 when it also started 10-2.
Winning Series Streak – Dating back to 2023, the Bucs have won five consecutive series and eight of their last nine. ETSU has swept all three of its series this spring. The last time the Bucs swept three straight series was in 2019 when they swept Iona, Wagner, and LIU Brooklyn to begin that campaign.
Score First – ETSU continues to have a knack to score first. The Bucs have scored first in 11 of their 12 games this season. Dating back to last season, the Bucs have a 28-9 record when they score the first run of a game.
League Leaders in the SoCon – Thanks to its 10-2 start, ETSU currently leads the SoCon in multiple statistical categories including: walks (75), doubles (34), doubles per game (2.83), hits allowed per nine innings (6.66), home runs (19), home runs per game (1.58), slugging percentage (.576), strikeouts per nine innings (10.2), WHIP (1.18) and winning percentage (.833).
About James Madison – Like the Bucs, James Madison have gotten off to a fast start in 2024. JMU currently has an overall record of 9-3 and it has won eight straight games. Among JMU's nine wins this season are victories against No. 2 Arkansas and Virginia Tech. A player to watch for James Madison this weekend is Coleman Calbrese. Calbrese is not only the Dukes' leading hitter (.455) but he also paces the team in home runs (five), total bases (36) and on-base percentage (.510).
Series History vs. JMU – ETSU is 2-3 all-time against the Dukes. This weekend will mark the first matchups between these two programs since 2008 when JMU won a game in Johnson City, 8-4. The other four games were played at JMU and both of ETSU's wins in the series came in 1982, 3-2 and 6-1.
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