JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 22, 2025) – The ETSU baseball team collected its sixth consecutive win with a 10-3 victory over Samford at Thomas Stadium on Saturday. Saturday's win clinches the series win for the Bucs and boosts their overall record to 18-4 on the 2025 season.
 
A day after being held to just five hits, the Bucs totaled 13 on Saturday. Both Blake Jacklin and Axel Melendez collected three hits, while Joey Little added two of his own. Jamie Palmese and Tristan Curless both homered to round out the offensive leaders for the Bucs on Saturday.
 
Sophomore Jace Hyde pitched a career-high 7.1 innings against the Bulldogs. Hyde, who allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits, also matched his career-high with 10 strikeouts that he set last season against Samford. Landon Crumbley followed Hyde out of the Buccaneer bullpen and tossed 1.2 shutout innings with a pair of strikeouts.
 
Saturday's contest began with not much offense on either side. That changed in the bottom of the third. With two outs in the frame, Melendez got things started with a ground-rule double. Palmese walked and Jacklin followed with a single through a shift by Samford to score Melendez. Cody Miller singled to bring Palmese home before an infield single by Cooper Torres loaded the bases for the Bucs. JD Yakubinis then hit a high chopper to third base. Thanks to the slow pace on the ground ball and Yakubinis hustling, the Samford third baseman hurried his throw and pulled the first baseman off the base. Yakubinis was not only credited for a single on the play but Miller was also hustling and with two outs scored on the errant throw by Samford.
 
Samford got one back in the fourth, but the Buccaneer bats had another two-out rally in the sixth. Curless launched his second home run in the last three days to make the score 5-1 ETSU. Singles by Little and Melendez and a bad throwing decision by Samford's outfield gave the Bucs a pair of runners in scoring position. Little scored on a wild pitch and then Palmese blasted a two-run home run on a 3-2 count that cleared the scoreboard in left field to blow the game open, 8-1. For Palmese, it was his ninth home run of his sophomore campaign.
 
A two-run home run by the Bulldogs with one out in the top of the eighth brought an end to Hyde's stellar start. Crumbley, however, did not allow Samford to gain any momentum for the rest of the contest. ETSU did add a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth with a single by Melendez and a double by Jacklin to close out the game with a 10-3 final score.
 
ETSU will go for the series sweep of the Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon. If the Bucs win tomorrow, it'll be just the second time ever that the Bucs have swept Samford in a series with the last coming in 2016. First pitch between the Bucs and Bulldogs is set for 1 p.m. from Thomas Stadium.

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