JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 14, 2025) – East Tennessee State University softball won its first game by run-rule since April 18, 2023 in a 12-2 rout of Dartmouth on Friday.
In the opening game of the day, the Bucs took their second loss at home, falling 6-5 to North Dakota.
Both pitchers started well in the opener, as senior
Sara Muir and North Dakota's Unity Nelson kept runs off the board in the first two innings. Muir helped her case in the top of the third with an RBI single, as the Bucs were the designated road team, before the Fighting Hawks hit a two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning.
ETSU answered with a RBI double from senior infielder
Cameron Young in the top of the fifth before junior outfielder
Taylor Suchy singled her home for a 3-2 lead. Sophomore
Cameron Lauretta entered in the circle and posted scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth.
With a one-run lead, sophomore
Maddison Stowell sent a pinch-hit single to right field, and junior catcher
Leinani Lutu scored on an overthrow from the Fighting Hawks' outfielder. Sophomore
Tiare Rieger reentered for Stowell and promptly scored on a base hit from senior infielder
Riley Nayadley to give ETSU a 5-2 lead.
North Dakota had the last laugh, though, adding two more in the sixth on a home run before walking it off in the seventh on a one out, two-RBI single for the 6-5 win.
In the latter game, the Buccaneer bats left nothing to chance. Freshman
Eden Muncy started and shut down the Big Green bats, and ETSU exploded in the second inning. Rieger kicked off the scoring with a two-run double to left center.
A single and a walk then loaded the bases for Muir, who drove in a pair. Suchy added two more runs with a single to center to cap off a six-run second inning. All six runs scored with two outs.
The runs kept coming, as Young, Muir and Nayadley had three consecutive two-out RBI hits in the third to enter run-rule territory and give ETSU a 10-0 lead. The Bucs added extra cushion to the run-rule in the fourth, as Rieger and Young knocked in one run each. Young, Riger and Muir had three RBI each in the 12-2 victory.
Next, ETSU will play Dartmouth again at noon on Sat., March 15.
For more information on Buccaneer softball, follow @ETSUSoftball on X (Twitter), @etsubucssoftball on Instagram and visit ETSUBucs.com.