JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 6, 2024) – The ETSU baseball team saw its three-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday as Mercer knocked off the Buccaneers by a score of 8-5. With Saturday's loss, ETSU moves to 19-10 overall and 4-4 in SoCon play.
 
ETSU had no shortage of offense on Saturday with eight of the nine members of the starting lineup picking up at least one hit and all nine reaching base once. Tommy Barth, Cody Miller, Noah Gent, and Ashton King all had two-hit days. Barth, Miller, King, and Cameron Sisneros also reached base three times each on the day.
 
Andrew Ronne started Saturday's game on the mound for the Bucs. Ronne tossed six innings and allowed five runs (three earned) on seven hits. It marks the third time this season that Ronne has pitched six or more innings in a start. Furthermore, he matched a career-high with those seven strikeouts. The Bucs also used five relievers on the day. Of the bullpen arms, Derek McCarley had the best outing tossing a scoreless inning and struck out two.  
 
Saturday's game started well for the Bucs. Ronne struck out the side in the top of the first and the Bucs were able to gain the early lead in the bottom half. After a groundout to start the frame, ETSU went single, walk, and single before JD Yakubinis was hit by a pitch to force in the first run of the contest. With the score 1-0 ETSU, Noah Gent doubled the Buccaneer lead with a sacrifice fly to score Sisneros to push the score to 2-0 Bucs.
 
Mercer gained its first lead of the day in the third. A Buccaneer error helped score two unearned runs for the Bears. Mercer, which scored three runs overall in the third, pulled in front of ETSU, 3-2. The Bears tacked on two more runs in the fourth with a pair of hits and sacrifices (one bunt, one fly) to push their lead to 5-2.  
 
The Bucs trimmed the deficit to a run in the fifth. Yakubinis drove in Sisneros, who reached on a double, with his team-leading sixth sacrifice fly to make it a two-run game. Gent followed and drove in his second run of the game with a single to make the score 5-4. The Bucs would tie the game at five an inning later. Jamie Palmese started things with a walk. A single from Barth and an intentional walk to Sisneros gave ETSU a bases loaded chance with one out. A wild pitch by Mercer brought home the tying run. Another walk by Miller reloaded the bases for the Bucs with one out. However, the Bears brought in another reliever, and he retired the next two Bucs to keep the score tied at five.
 
Mercer broke the tie with two runs in the seventh and another in the ninth to make the score 8-5. ETSU had its scoring chances as well with at least one runner reaching base in the final three innings. None of these opportunities resulted in runs for the Blue and Gold though as the Bears held on for the 8-5 win. Overall, the Bucs left 15 runners on base on Saturday.
 
The rubber match between the Bucs and Bears will be on Sunday. First pitch for the series finale is set for 1 p.m. from Thomas Stadium.

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