JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (May 8, 2024) – The ETSU baseball team sent its senior class out with a 6-2 win over UNC Asheville on Wednesday night at Thomas Stadium. With Wednesday's victory, ETSU has now won 12 of its last 13 games vs. UNC Asheville, while also improving to 31-15 overall on the 2024 campaign.
 
The Buccaneer offense was led on Wednesday by the tandem of Tommy Barth and Cameron Sisneros. Barth picked up his 14^th multi-hit game of 2024 with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored in the win. Sisneros, meanwhile, also had two hits and drove in three of ETSU's six runs bringing his season RBI total to 67. With three more RBI, Sisneros will be the first Buc to drive in 70 runs in a season since 2010.
 
After allowing just four runs in three games over the weekend vs. VMI, the Buccaneer pitching staff had another stellar day against the Bulldogs. Nathan Hickman made his first career start as a Buc on Wednesday and was outstanding. He pitched a career-high 5.1 innings against the Bulldogs and allowed one run on two hits. Following Hickman, Landon Crumbley, Derek McCarley, Walker Trusley, and Owen Kovacs limited Asheville to one run to finish off the 6-2 victory. Hickman, who was also the winning pitcher in ETSU's win over Asheville earlier this season, improved his record to 2-0 on the season with Wednesday's performance.
 
Neither team had much going offensively through the first four innings on Wednesday. ETSU would break through in the fifth with three runs on three hits. Ryan McCarthy got things started with a one-out single. Nick Iannantone followed with a walk before Barth brought McCarthy around to score with a single to put ETSU on top, 1-0. After an Asheville pitching change, Sisneros made the Buccaneer lead 2-0 with an RBI single of his own. ETSU would tack on one more run in the fifth thanks to an Asheville passed ball to give them a 3-0 lead to protect.
 
Asheville would get a run back in the top of the sixth, but ETSU was quick to answer in the bottom half of the inning. Cooper Torres sparked the rally with a double. McCarthy worked a walk and then Barth drove in Torres in with a double. Asheville again changed pitchers ahead of Sisneros batting with runners on base and ETSU's first baseman came through again this time with a two-run single to push the score to 6-1 Bucs after six innings of play.
 
The Bulldogs trimmed the Buccaneer lead to four with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. However, the bullpen trio of McCarley, Trusley, and Kovacs limited Asheville's offense to that one run as the Bucs finished off their fourth straight win and 24^th victory at Thomas Stadium this season.
 
ETSU will return to SoCon play this weekend when it visits Wofford in a key series in determining seeding for the upcoming SoCon Tournament. The series, which will be the final three conference games of the season for the Bucs, is set to begin on Friday with first pitch set for 5:30 p.m.

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