LEXINGTON, Va. (May 1, 2025) – The ETSU baseball team will open the month of May with a pivotal three-game road series at VMI this weekend. Game one of the three-game set will be on Friday at 5 p.m. followed by Saturday's matchup at 2 p.m. and Sunday's series finale scheduled for 1 p.m. All three games can be seen on ESPN+.
Last Time Out – ETSU rolled past UNC Asheville on Tuesday evening by a score of 21-7 in seven innings. Tuesday's win, which saw the Bucs match the program's single game record for walks (14), boosts ETSU's record to 31-12 this season and 23-7 at Thomas Stadium.
31 wins going to May – Tuesday's win over Asheville was ETSU's 31
st of the 2025 campaign. The last time that the Bucs won 31 or more games before May began was in 1992 when they also won 31. With 10 games remaining in the regular season, the Bucs could approach the second-most victories in school history (39 wins in 1980) before the SoCon Tournament begins later this month.
Stretch Run in the SoCon Schedule – As May begins, the Bucs sit in first place a top the SoCon standings with an 8-4 record in league play. ETSU has series at VMI, against Wofford and at The Citadel to wrap up its conference schedule. The 2024 Bucs finished third in the SoCon, which was their best finish in SoCon play since 1992. If ETSU can finish first or second, that'll mark its highest SoCon finish since 1983. Furthermore, if the Bucs win at least a share of the regular season title, it'll be their first conference crown in a regular season since 1981.
Big Flies for the Bucs – With two more home runs by ETSU in Tuesday's win over UNC Asheville, the Bucs have now slugged a school record 96 home runs in 2025, which ranks fourth in Division I baseball. With four more long balls, ETSU would become just the tenth SoCon team to ever hit 100 or more home runs in a single season and the first since the 2022 Mercer team that hit 106 homers. Individually, ETSU has four players with 13 or more home runs. The duo of
Grant Gallagher and
Cooper Torres pace the Bucs with 18 home runs each. The 36 home runs hit by Gallagher and Torres is the most by any two teammates in the nation this season.
Pride in the Pitching Staff – As good as ETSU's offense has been, the pitching staff has held up its end of the bargain as well. Currently, the Buccaneer pitching staff leads the SoCon in ERA (4.34), hits allowed per nine innings (8.24), shutouts (4), WHIP (1.31) and walks allowed per nine innings (3.56). ETSU's pitchers have also benefited from stellar defense behind them with a SoCon-leading 36 double plays turned and a fielding percentage of .975.
About VMI – VMI enters this weekend's action one victory shy of matching its win total from last season (27). The Keydets, who are 26-20 overall and 5-10 in SoCon play, are a team powered by their offense. VMI currently leads the country in walks (323), on-base percentage (.458), and stolen bases (197), while ranking second nationally in scoring averaging 9.8 runs per game. As we enter the final month of the regular season, the Keydets have three of the top seven hitters in terms of batting average in the SoCon in Bradley Garner (1
st - .378), Owen Prince (4
th - .370) and Grayson Fitzwater (7
th - .351). Garner is also the SoCon's leader in on-base percentage (.505), Prince leads all of Division I baseball in stolen bases (44) and Fitzwater paces the team with 17 home runs and 63 RBI.
Series Rewind vs. VMI – ETSU leads the all-time series against the Keydets, 67-47. The Bucs swept the Keydets last season and outscored VMI 28-4 in those three games at Thomas Stadium. If ETSU can win the series against VMI this weekend, it'll mark the first time since 2015 and 2017 that the Bucs have won consecutive series at the Keydets' home ballpark.
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