ASHEVILLE, N.C. (April 2, 2024) – The ETSU baseball team closed out a seven-game road trip with a 5-2 win over UNC Asheville on Tuesday night. With Tuesday's victory, the Buccaneers improve to 18-9 this spring and have now won 11 of the last 12 games against Asheville.
The Buccaneer offense totaled 13 hits in the win and six different Bucs had two-hit games. Furthermore,
Noah Webb and
Cameron Sisneros both launched home runs on Tuesday, while
Noah Gent and
Jackson Green both went 2-for-5 with a run batted in. Nick Iananntone,
Cody Miller, and
Blake Jacklin also had two-hit days for ETSU.
The two runs allowed by the Bucs are the fewest in the game for the team since March 2 vs. Wagner. ETSU used nine pitchers on Tuesday and seven of them tossed scoreless outings.
Nathan Hickman threw a team-high 1.2 innings against the Bulldogs and got the win. It is Hickman's first win since April 24, 2022 vs. VMI.
Owen Kovacs finished off the win and collected his fifth save of the season.
Asheville got the first lead of the game as it scored a run on a balk in the first inning. The Bulldogs remained in front until Sisneros tied the game with solo home run in the third inning. The Buccaneer offense was not done there, however, as Miller followed with a single before Gent drove him in with a double to give ETSU a 2-1 lead.
A two-run home run from Webb in the top of the sixth grew ETSU's lead to three, 4-1. The Bucs added an insurance run in the seventh. Miller started the rally with a single. He then stole both second and third base to give ETSU a scoring chance with two outs. Green then came through with an RBI single to score Miller and move the score to 5-1.
Asheville got a run back in the top of the ninth. However, with the Bulldogs within three runs, the Bucs turned to Kovacs to finish off the win and he did just that. Kovacs now has five saves in 2024, which ranks second among SoCon relievers.
ETSU will return home to Thomas Stadium this weekend for a three-game series against Mercer. The series will open on Friday with first pitch set for 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
