JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 23, 2025) – East Tennessee State University baseball used an explosive first inning to take a 10-0 lead over Miami (Ohio) and never looked back, winning 17-7 at Thomas Field on Sunday.

Carter Fink (2-0) went three up, three down in the first inning before Jamie Palmese, who finished 4-6 with five RBI on the day, blasted a solo shot off the scoreboard netting on the first pitch he saw. Cody Miller doubled and JD Yakubinis singled before a trio of walks gave the Bucs (5-2) a 3-0 lead. A fielding error allowed another run to score before Axel Melendez singled in a pair more. 

In his second trip to the plate in the inning, Palmese hit a two-RBI single and Yakubinis hit the Buccaneers' second home run of the inning two batters later to make it a 10-0 lead.

Pitching with all the confidence a ten-run lead grants, Fink struck out the side in the second. Palmese then added two more runs for ETSU in the third with a two-RBI double before Yakubinis singled him home to give the Bucs a 13-0 lead. 

The RedHawks (3-4) finally scratched some runs across, scoring two in the third and four in the fifth, the latter of which temporarily put the 10-run rule out of effect. However, Miller homered to left center to lead off the sixth, followed by an Andrew Hill sac fly and bases loaded walk that gave ETSU 17 runs in six innings of offense.

Landon Crumbley closed out the win in the top of the seventh, and the Bucs sealed their second series win of the season with the 17-7 run-rule (7 innings) victory. 

Next, ETSU will play a home midweek game at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25 against App State.

For more information on Buccaneer baseball, follow @ETSU_Baseball on X (Twitter) and Instagram, and visit ETSUBucs.com.