JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 21, 2025) – The ETSU baseball team will return home to Thomas Stadium this weekend to host a three-game series against Miami (OH). The series will begin with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at Noon and the series finale will be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Additionally, Saturday's second game will be seven innings.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game 1: Troy Benko (Miami) vs. Michael Harpster (ETSU) – Saturday @ Noon | Live Stats
Game 2: Clayton Burke (Miami) vs. Jace Hyde (ETSU) – Saturday @ 45 minutes after game one | Live Stats
Game 3: Austin Berggren (Miami) vs. Carter Fink (ETSU) – Sunday @ 1 pm | Live Stats
Buccaneers are slugging to start the season – ETSU has showed off impressive power through the season's first four games with 10 home runs. Only High Point (14), Southeastern Louisiana (14), BYU (12), Tennessee (12), FIU (11) and TCU (11) have hit more home runs than the Bucs entering the weekend. Perhaps even more impressive than the home run total is that eight different ETSU hitters have hit a home run already this season.
Running Bucs – With the 2025 season a little over a week old, the Bucs have already racked up 12 stolen bases. In comparison, ETSU swiped 57 bases all last season so the 12 steals this spring account for roughly 21 percent of that total. Five different Buccaneers have stolen at least one base, and
Cody Miller leads the way with four-on-four attempts.
Hits are hard to come by – As a pitching staff the Bucs have a 2.06 ERA to go along with a .180 batting average against. Despite the loss on Tuesday at Virginia Tech, ETSU held the Hokie lineup to eight hits on the day after they averaged 16 hits a game in their season-opening series against Bucknell.
Terrific hitting with two outs – Even when opposing pitching staffs are close to being out of an inning, the Buccaneer offense continues to put the pressure on. As a team, the Bucs are hitting .333 with two outs, while holding their opponents to a .146 average in the same situation. Newcomers
Axel Melendez (.444) and
Tristan Curless (.429) have been especially good in extending innings for ETSU.
Coach Pennucci closing in a milestone –ETSU Head Coach
Joe Pennucci needs just seven more victories to become just the third coach in program history to reach 200 wins with the program. The only other coaches to reach this milestone are Tony Skole (471 wins) and Ken Campbell (223 wins). Additionally, when Pennucci gets to 200 wins, he'll be the 28
th head coach in SoCon history to do so.
Early Success for ETSU – A key in their 3-1 start has been the Bucs' ability to start fast. ETSU has not only scored first in every game this season, but it also has outscored opponents 20-5 through the first five innings of games so far in 2025.
Home Field Advantage at the Thom – By sweeping Northern Kentucky to start the season last week, the Bucs are now 27-5 at Thomas Stadium over the last two seasons. The 27 home victories are tied for the most in the SoCon with Samford during that time frame but ETSU's .844 winning percentage playing at its home field leads the league.
About the Redhawks – Miami makes the trip to Johnson City sporting a 2-2 record so far this season. The Redhawks played two games against both Charleston Southern and The Citadel. Both of Miami's victories came against the Bulldogs by scores of 8-5 and 16-1. A couple of players to watch for the Redhawks are Evan Appelwick and Troy Benko. Appelwick is hitting a team-high .467 with two home runs and six RBI, while Benko tossed five shutout innings in his first start of 2025.
Series History vs. Miami – ETSU and Miami have met 12 times over the years, including a three-game series to wrap up the regular season last year. The Bucs have won seven of the previous 12 matchups, including two of three games played in 2024 in Oxford. This will be Miami's first trip to Johnson City for a series since 2015 when the Bucs swept them by scores of 7-5, 6-5 and 11-10.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
