JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 12, 2026) – Coming off a memorable 2025 season, the ETSU baseball team will open its 2026 season with a three-game series against Marist. The series will get underway on Friday at 2 p.m. from Thomas Stadium followed by games at 2 p.m. on Saturday and at Noon on Sunday. Live stats will be available for all three games on etsubucs.com.
Probable Pitching Matchups
LHP Will Taylor (MAR) vs. LHP Tadan Bell (ETSU) – Friday @ 2 p.m. | Live Stats
RHP Tyler Hartley (MAR) vs. RHP Michael Harpster (ETSU) – Saturday @ 2 p.m. | Live Stats
RHP Jack Sullivan (MAR) vs. RHP Jack Vest (ETSU) – Sunday @ Noon | Live Stats
Preseason Projections – In the annual Preseason SoCon Coaches' Poll, the Bucs were picked to finish third this spring. In 2025, ETSU won both the SoCon Regular Season and Tournament Championships and went 41-17 overall. Pitchers
Michael Harpster and
Derek McCarley along with center fielder
Jamie Palmese all garnered Preseason All-SoCon First Team honors, while first baseman
Tristan Curless and left fielder
Axel Melendez both landed spots on the Second Team.
Bucs in the Batters' Box – As a new season gets underway on Friday, fans will see plenty of new faces in ETSU's starting lineup. Some returners from an offense that broke the school record for home runs in a season in 2025, include Palmese, Curless, and Melendez to go along with a few other players that saw quite a bit of action in
Henry Ferguson and
Joey Little. ETSU also has nine new position players that will compete for at-bats in 2026.
Pitching Primer on ETSU in 2026 – On the mound the Bucs will also have several new players as well. Harpster returns for his third season in ETSU's rotation.
Tadan Bell, a transfer from Coastal Carolina, is scheduled to get the ball for the Bucs in the season opener on Friday, while
Jack Vest is set up to start the series finale on Sunday. In the bullpen, the Bucs have four relievers that made at least 10 appearances in 2025 in McCarley,
Andrew Cotten,
Colin Eaton, and
Carter Oliff.
Beginning a new season on a high note – ETSU has been a team that has historically gotten off to a good start when a new season begins. Since Head Coach
Joe Pennucci took over the program in 2018, ETSU is 20-4 in its first series of the season. The Bucs, who haven't lost a season-opening series since 2016, have swept their last two season-opening series against Lafayette and Northern Kentucky by a combined score of 84-18 in six games.
Home Field Dominance – With the renovations to Thomas Stadium, which includes a new playing surface and a new clubhouse along the first base line, the Buccaneers hope to continue their recent home field advantage playing in Johnson City. Since the beginning of the 2024 season, the Bucs are 49-13 at Thomas Stadium (.790 winning percentage).
About Marist – Marist comes to Johnson City fresh off a season where it went 26-28 overall and 14-14 in MAAC play. The Red Foxes made a run in their conference tournament winning three games. A player to watch for Marist is Will Taylor. Taylor, who is scheduled to get the start on Friday, was a Preseason All-MAAC selection after compiling a 3.36 ERA in 77.2 innings pitched in 2025.
Series Rewind vs. Marist – ETSU and Marist have matched up a total of 10 times over the years. The Buccaneers won seven of the previous 10 meetings with the last coming in 2023.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
