JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 8, 2025) – The ETSU baseball team rebounded from Friday's extra-inning loss to Pittsburgh with an 8-4 victory over the Panthers on Saturday afternoon from Thomas Stadium. Saturday's win improves ETSU's record to 11-3 and it is the Bucs' first win against an ACC opponent since 2020 when they knocked off Clemson.
After being held without a home run for just the second time all season on Friday, the Buccaneer offense rebounded with three long balls on Saturday.
Jamie Palmese and
Cooper Torres both slugged their sixth home runs of the 2025 campaign, while
Cody Miller tallied his third. Palmese, Miller and
Joey Little all had two hits in the win, while
JD Yakubinis had a career-high four hits in a 4-for-5 day at the plate where he split time at first base and catcher for the Bucs.
On the mound, the Bucs used just two pitchers to slow down the Panthers' offense. Starter
Jace Hyde matched a career-high with seven innings pitched. Hyde allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits to go with six strikeouts.
Derek McCarley relieved Hyde and threw two shutout innings himself with three strikeouts. Hyde improves his record to 3-0 this season with Saturday's outing.
Most of Pittsburgh's offense on Saturday came in the early innings. A sacrifice fly in the first, a solo home run in the second and then an RBI double in the third had the Panthers up 3-0 on the Bucs heading to the bottom of the third.
ETSU's power started to show in the third. A leadoff single by Little was quickly followed by a home run by Palmese. Another single by Yakubinis led into Torres and his sixth home run of the season to deep centerfield to suddenly give the Bucs a 4-3 lead.
Miller's solo home run in the fourth extended the Buccaneer lead to two runs, 5-3. The Panthers got one of those runs back in the sixth but the combination of Hyde and McCarley kept Pittsburgh off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game to seal the win.
The rubber match of the series between Panthers and Buccaneers will be played on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. from Thomas Stadium.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
