JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (May 2, 2024) – The ETSU baseball team returns home to Thomas Stadium this weekend for a three-game series against SoCon foe VMI. The series is set to get underway on Friday with a first pitch time of Noon.
Probable Pitching Matchups
LHP Trey Morgan (VMI) vs. RHP Carter Fink (ETSU) – Friday @ Noon | Live Stats
RHP Will Riley (VMI) vs. RHP Jace Hyde (ETSU) – Saturday @ 2 p.m. | Live Stats
TBA (VMI) vs. RHP Michael Harpster (ETSU) – Sunday @ 1 p.m. | Live Stats
Last Time Out – The Bucs fell to No. 15 South Carolina on Wednesday by a score of 15-2 in seven innings. With Wednesday's loss, ETSU moves to 27-15 on the season.
Protecting the Home Field –With four home games left in the regular season, ETSU has a chance to break the program's top single season win total at Thomas Stadium. The current record for victories at Thomas Stadium is 22 set by the 2019 and 2022 Buccaneer squads.
Stretch Run in SoCon Play – ETSU currently sits in third place in the SoCon standings with six games left on its conference schedule. If the Bucs, who are 9-6 in league play, finish third or higher in the conference standings it'll mark the highest finish for the team since 2010 when it finished third in the Atlantic Sun. The last time ETSU finished third or higher in the SoCon was in 1992.
Five is the Magic Number – The magic number for ETSU this season has been five. When ETSU holds an opponent to five runs or fewer this season, the Bucs are 19-0.
About VMI – VMI comes to Johnson City sporting a 25-23 record overall that includes a 6-9 mark in SoCon play. The Keydets are just one win shy of matching their win total from all last season (26). As a team, VMI lead the SoCon in walks (263), sacrifice bunts (37), sacrifice flies (30), stolen bases (159) and walks allowed per nine innings (3.45). Their stolen base total leads all of Division I baseball. A key player to watch for VMI is Justin Starke. Starke, who was the SoCon's Preseason Player of the Year, enters the series against the Bucs batting .390 with 12 home runs and 43 RBI to go with 16 stolen bases.
Series History vs. the Keydets – ETSU holds the edge in the all-time series against the Keydets winning 64 of the 111 matchups between the two programs. Furthermore, the Bucs have won the last five series against VMI that have been played in Johnson City. The Keydets last took at least two-of-three from ETSU on its home field in 2000.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
