NASHVILLE, Tenn. (May 29, 2025) – The ETSU baseball team will appear in its first NCAA Tournament in 12 years on Friday when it takes on Louisville in Nashville. The Bucs, who are the No. 3 seed in the regional, will take on the second-seeded Cardinals at 2 p.m. eastern time on ESPN+.
 
Last Time Out – The Bucs secured the SoCon's automatic bid into this year's NCAA Tournament by winning the SoCon Tournament for the first time in team history on Sunday. ETSU swept the Tournament defeating Western Carolina (16-13) and Samford twice (14-8 and 7-5). ETSU will enter the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 41-15 on the season. The 41 victories by the 2025 Bucs are the second-most in program history trailing only the 1981 team and their 44 wins.
 
About the Regional – The Bucs will be joined in Nashville by host No. 1 overall seed Vanderbilt, No. 2 seed Louisville and No. 4 seed Wright State. The winner of the double elimination regional will advance to play the winner of the Hattiesburg Regional next weekend with a trip to the College World Series on the line. For more information about the 2025 NCAA Nashville Regional, including game times and ticket information, click HERE.
 
ETSU's History in the NCAA Tournament – As mentioned earlier, Friday will mark ETSU's first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2013 when it was a member of the Atlantic Sun. The Bucs have also made the NCAA Tournament in 1978 (Ohio Valley), 1980 and 1981 (SoCon). ETSU, which played in the Nashville Regional in 2013 as well, is 4-8 in their previous four appearances. ETSU defeated Georgia Southern in 1980 before picking up wins against Wichita State and Clemson (twice) in 1981.
 
About the Opponents – Vanderbilt enters the NCAA Regionals riding an eight-game winning streak that concluded in its fifth SEC Tournament Championship on Sunday with a 3-2 win over Ole Miss. The Commodores, who are the No. 1 national seed, boast a record of 42-16, including a 28-5 record at their home ballpark. A team built around pitching and defense, Vanderbilt enters this week's regional fifth in the country in fielding percentage (.982), ninth in team ERA (3.76) and leads Division I baseball in strikeouts per nine innings pitched (11.9).
 
Louisville, which will be ETSU's first opponent of the weekend, is 35-21 this season. The Cardinals have been one of the top teams on the basepaths in 2025 with 146 stolen bases. Louisville's stolen base total ranks ninth nationally. Individually, Lucas Moore has led this charge with 46 steals to go with a .373 batting average.

Wright State battled back to win multiple elimination games in the Horizon League Tournament to earn its 12^th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Raiders won all their conference series during the regular season and have compiled a record of 38-19. Wright State has one of the best offenses in the country as the enter regional play ninth in the country with 517 runs scored.
 
Bucs vs. the field in Nashville – ETSU has never faced Louisville or Wright State, two of their three potential opponents this weekend. The Bucs are 0-4 all-time against Vanderbilt with the last of those matchups coming in 2019. In the matchup between the Bucs and the Commodores in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, Vanderbilt came away with a 9-1 victory on its way to winning 54 games that season.


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