ATHENS, Ga. (March 10, 2025) – The ETSU baseball team will face its toughest test of the season to date on Tuesday when it travels to take on No. 4 Georgia. First pitch between the Buccaneers and Bulldogs is set for 3 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.
 
Probable Pitching Matchup
LHP Tristan Curless (ETSU) vs. RHP JT Quinn (UGA) – Tuesday @ 3 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Video | Audio
 
Last Time Out – ETSU is coming off a series win over Pittsburgh last weekend at Thomas Stadium. The Bucs bounced back after dropping the first game 7-4 in 12 innings on Friday to win 8-4 on Saturday before walking off the Panthers, 6-5, in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday. It is the first series win for the Bucs over an ACC opponent since 2011 (NC State). With the results over the weekend, the Bucs' record stands at 12-3 so far this spring.
 
Yakubinis Named SoCon Player of the Week – JD Yakubinis was named the SoCon Player of the Week on Monday after playing an integral part in ETSU winning two of three games against ACC foe Pittsburgh. The Charlotte, N.C. native hit .571 (8-for-14) with two runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base against the Panthers. Yakubinis tallied two hits or more in all three games against Pittsburgh, including a career-best four hit outing in Saturday's 8-4 comeback win for the Bucs. With this stellar week, Yakubinis raised his batting average this season from .282 to .358 (76 percentage points). In addition to his work offensively, Yakubinis also saw time at catcher, first base and right field against the Panthers. Yakubinis also has reached base in all 15 games this season for ETSU.
 
Best Start Since… – Following its series win over Pittsburgh, the Bucs have won 12 of their first 15 games of the season. ETSU, which is also 9-1 in its last 10 contests, has also gotten off to its best 15-game start to a season since the 2020 season when they also started 12-3 before the remainder of the season was canceled.
 
Plenty of Power for the Bucs – Entering this week's action, the Buccaneers are third nationally with 37 home runs this season. Only Tennessee (49) and its opponent on Tuesday Georgia (45) have hit more long balls so far this season than ETSU. The Blue and Gold are also second nationally in slugging percentage (.622) trailing only Tennessee (.711). Additionally, the Bucs have three of the top four home run hitters in the SoCon in Grant Gallagher (1^st – 9), Cooper Torres (2^nd – 7), Jamie Palmese (4^th – 6) and 11 different players have hit at least one homer this spring.
 
League Leading ERA – Roughly about one month into the 2025 season, the ETSU pitching staff currently leads the SoCon with a team ERA of 3.38. As a group, the Bucs are holding opposing lineups to a .230 batting average. Additionally, the Buccaneer bullpen has been even better with a .201 opponent batting average. Leading this charge has been Brady Frederick with a 0.77 ERA in 11.2 innings pitched and a .154 average against.
 
ETSU vs. Ranked Teams – Tuesday will mark the first game against a ranked opponent of the season for the Bucs. The last time the Bucs defeated a nationally-ranked opponent was in 2019 when they knocked off No. 23 Tennessee in Knoxville, 6-5. Furthermore, the last time ETSU picked up a win over a team ranked in the top 10 of the national polls was in 2011 against No. 8 Georgia Tech, 8-6.
 
About Georgia – Georgia is off to one of the best starts of any team in the country this season with an 18-1 overall record. The Bulldogs have reeled off 15 wins in a row after dropping a 6-2 game to UNC Wilmington on February 16. As a team, Georgia is hitting .321 with plenty of power ranking second in the country in home runs (45). In addition to the home runs, over 42 percent of the Bulldogs' hits this season (86 of 203) have been for extra bases. Georgia's high-powered offense is led by a pair of graduate students in Ryland Zaborowski and Robbie Burnett. Zaborowski, a transfer from Miami (OH), is tied for second in the country with 10 home runs. Burnett, meanwhile, is in his first season with Georgia after transferring from UNC Asheville and he has nine home runs to go with a team-high 10 stolen bases.

Series History vs. Opponent – ETSU has never defeated Georgia in baseball in 11 all-time meetings. The first matchup was in 1981 and the last coming in 2012. In the last two games between the two programs in 2008 and 2012, the Bucs kept it close falling by scores of 9-8 and 7-4, respectively.

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