ASHEVILLE, N.C. (May 5, 2025) – The ETSU baseball team will close out its non-conference schedule on Tuesday when it travels to take on UNC Asheville. First pitch between the Buccaneers and Bulldogs is set for 4 p.m. on
ESPN+.
Last Time Out – ETSU will be bringing a five-game winning streak into its game on Tuesday in Asheville after sweeping VMI over the weekend. The Bucs won game one, 9-2, before notching a pair of wins on Sunday by scores of 6-3 and 12-6 to complete the sweep. With those results, the Bucs are now 34-12 overall and 11-4 in SoCon play this season.
34 wins and counting – The 34 wins by ETSU this spring not only leads the entire SoCon but are also tied for the fourth-most in a single season in school history with the 1982 and 2019 teams. With seven games remaining in the regular season, the Bucs could reach/surpass the 1980 team's 39 victories for the second-most in the program's history before play begins at SoCon Tournament later this month. The program record for the most wins in a season by a Buccaneer team is 44 set by the 1981 squad.
Power in the SoCon History Books – On Sunday, ETSU became the tenth team in SoCon history to hit 100 or more home runs in a season. The Bucs, who are up to 103 homers this spring, needs to hit just eight more long balls to move into fifth place on that league's all-time home run list passing the 2009 College of Charleston team. The conference record is held by 2009 Elon with 138 homers.
20/20 –
Cooper Torres and
Grant Gallagher both slugged home runs in Sunday's series finale win over VMI. With those homers, both Torres and Gallagher have both hit 20 home runs in 2025. It marks the first time since 2010 (Paul Hoilman – 25, Bo Reeder – 20) that ETSU has had two players reach the 20-homer mark. Both players are within striking distance of the school's single season home run record of 25 set by Hoilman in 2010. As for 2025 sluggers, Only Oregon's Mason Neville has hit more home runs (23) than either Torres or Gallagher this season in Division I baseball.
Pitching and Defense Wins Games – As exciting as ETSU's power has been all season long, the Buccaneer pitching staff and defense have been stellar as well. Entering the first full week of May, ETSU's pitchers lead the SoCon in ERA (4.30), hits allowed per nine innings (8.23), shutouts (4), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.46), WHIP (1.31) and walks allowed per nine innings (3.55). Defensively, the Bucs have turned the most double plays in the SoCon (36) and pace the conference in fielding percentage checking in at .975.
About UNC Asheville – UNC Asheville is currently 14-28 this season. The Bulldogs are 8-10 playing at home this season compared to a 6-18 mark away from Asheville. A player to watch for Asheville on Tuesday is Corbin Lanowitz. Lanowitz, a Boston College transfer, is hitting .267 this season with three home runs and 17 RBI. Lanowitz has reached base successfully in 13 consecutive games and is the fourth-hardest hitter to strike out in the Big South this season averaging one strikeout per 8.9 at-bats.
Series Rewind vs. UNC Asheville – ETSU is 44-27 all-time against UNC Asheville. The Bucs, who knocked off the Bulldogs by a score of 21-7 last Tuesday in Johnson City, have won 13 of their last 14 games against Asheville. Currently, the Bucs are 23-8 against non-SoCon teams in 2025 and if they can knock off the Bulldogs on Tuesday, it'll be the most non-league wins for ETSU in a season since 1982 (24).
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
