JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 6, 2025) – The ETSU baseball team will bring a seven-game winning streak into a three-game series against Pittsburgh this weekend at Thomas Stadium. The series will get underway at 3 p.m. on Friday followed by game two at 2 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Probable Pitching Matchups
LHP Patrick Gardner (Pitt) vs. RHP Carter Fink (ETSU) – Friday @ 3 p.m. | Live Stats
LHP Ryan Reed (Pitt) vs. RHP Jace Hyde (ETSU) – Saturday @ 2 p.m. | Live Stats
RHP Drew Lafferty (Pitt) vs. RHP Michael Harpster (ETSU) – Sunday @ 1 p.m. | Live Stats
Last Time Out – ETSU cruised past Binghamton by a score of 10-0 in eight innings on Sunday afternoon. The win is ETSU's seventh straight and boosts their overall record to 10-2 in 2025. Additionally, the seven-game winning streak is the longest for the Bucs since 2022.
Terrific at the Thom – After winning five games at home last week, the Bucs are now an incredible 34-6 at Thomas Stadium since the beginning of the last season. The 34 home victories lead the SoCon as does the .850 winning percentage the Bucs have playing on their home field. In 2025, the Bucs are outscoring opponents 109-37 at Thomas Stadium.
Homer Happy Bucs – After the games played on Tuesday, the Buccaneers are second in Division I baseball with 32 trailing only the defending national champion Tennessee's 36.
Grant Gallagher is currently the national leader with nine home runs in just 12 games played. Gallagher has homered in four straight games entering this weekend's series at Pittsburgh. While Gallagher has led the way,
Jamie Palmese and
Cooper Torres both have five long balls. Additionally, 11 different ETSU players have notched at least one home run in the season's first 12 games.
Sunday shutout for the Bucs – ETSU notched its second shutout of the season on Sunday, which already passes the team's shutout total from last season (1 vs. VMI). As a staff, the Bucs have an ERA of 3.12 and is holding opposing lineups to a .224 batting average. ETSU's staff ERA is the lowest in the SoCon entering the first full week of March. ETSU's starters have also done well in giving the Buccaneer offense a chance to score first as they have allowed just one run in the first inning through 12 games this spring.
Starting it off right – The Bucs are not only outscoring opponents 18-1 in the first inning this season, but they have also done well in putting pressure on the opposing pitcher regardless of the inning. ETSU has had 92 batters lead off an inning so far this season and an incredible 46 of those hitters reached base. Four different Bucs have led off an inning 10 or more times and each of them have reached base 40 percent of the time or higher.
Coach Pennucci reaches a milestone – With Sunday's 10-0 win over Binghamton, ETSU Head Coach
Joe Pennucci became the third ETSU Head Coach to reach 200 wins leading the Bucs. Pennucci joins Tony Skole and Ken Campbell to reach this milestone.
About Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh will make its first ever trip to Johnson City with an 8-3 record. The Panthers, who will be the first power conference team to play in Johnson City since 2021, downed UNC Asheville by a score of 8-1 on Tuesday and took two of three games at UNC Greensboro over the weekend. As a team, the Panthers are hitting .277 this spring, while their pitching staff holds an ERA of 3.43. Even when opponents get baserunners, the Panthers have done well limiting damage thanks 13 double plays turned, which is tied for the third-most in the country.
Series History vs. Opponent – ETSU and Pittsburgh have met just one previously. That lone matchup occurred on February 22, 2015, in Spartanburg, S.C. Lee Haeberle allowed one run in six innings of work, while the Buccaneer offense pounded out 14 hits as ETSU eased its way to a 10-4 over the Panthers.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab
