TOLEDO, Ohio (April 27, 2025) – First baseman
Tristan Curless drove in all five runs in the ETSU baseball team's 5-3 victory on the road at Toledo on Sunday afternoon. Sunday's win is ETSU's 30
th of the season and boosts its overall record to 30-12 on the 2025 campaign.
Curless not only drove in all five runs for ETSU on the day but also stole a base, collected three of ETSU's six hits on the day and finished a home run shy of the cycle.
Blake Jacklin,
Cooper Torres and
Grant Gallagher accounted for ETSU's other three hits in the win. Torres reached base four times with a single and three walks, while Gallagher got on three times with two walks and a single.
ETSU used just two pitchers to secure the series victory.
Michael Harpster notched the win after working the first 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits to go with three strikeouts.
Brady Frederick followed Harpster and threw 3.2 shutout innings for his second save of the season. Frederick lowered his SoCon-leading ERA to 2.10 with Sunday's outing.
After getting runners on base in the first two innings but not scoring, the Bucs broke through in the third. Jacklin and Torres tallied back-to-back two-out singles leading into Curless hitting a triple in the gap to score two. Toledo cut the Buccaneer lead in half with a single an inning later to make the score 2-1 Bucs heading to the fifth.
Instead of two hits, Jacklin and Torres both reached base via walks to give Curless another opportunity to drive in some runs. Curless delivered again with a double to push ETSU's lead to 4-1. The Rockets rallied to get within a run of the Bucs in the sixth. The rally by Toledo ended the day for Harpster but Frederick got out of the jam with the Buccaneers still on top, 4-3.
Unlike the first two innings that the Bucs scored, ETSU got things started with nobody out in the seventh.
Cody Miller worked a leadoff walk and then stole second base. Miller then tagged up on a flyout to rightfield by Jacklin and Torres was intentionally walked to give ETSU a pair of runners on base again for Curless. Curless continued his stellar day by singling through the right side to plate ETSU's fifth run of the contest to make it 5-3 Bucs.
Like he has done multiple times this season, Frederick threw up multiple zeros to help ETSU finish off a victory. The Rockets did get the potential tying run to the plate in the eighth before getting the go-ahead run to the batters' box in the ninth but neither came in to score as the Bucs finished off their 30
th win of the season. It is the third time in the past four seasons that ETSU has recorded 30 or more wins in a season.
ETSU will return to action on Tuesday when it welcomes UNC Asheville to Thomas Stadium. Tuesday's game is Faculty & Staff Appreciation Day and will be the team's Senior Day. First pitch between the Bucs and Bulldogs is set for 5 p.m.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
