JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 14, 2026) – The ETSU baseball team remained unbeaten in 2026 on Saturday by sweeping a doubleheader against Marist by scores of 7-5 and 7-2 at Thomas Stadium. ETSU improves to 3-0 with Saturday's pair of victories. It marks the third straight season that the Bucs have started a season 3-0.
Game One Recap – ETSU and Marist matched each other run for run early in Saturday's first game. Each team scored one run in the first, two in the fourth, and one more in the fifth. The first separation in the contest came in the sixth. In the top half of the frame,
Carter Oliff entered the game with the bases loaded and nobody out. Oliff got ETSU out of the jam with no runs coming across to score. When the Bucs took their swing in the bottom half, they scored a pair of runs on a two-run single by
Mason Ault to make the score 6-4.
Marist got one of those runs back in the seventh with a solo home run. However, ETSU got that run back in the eighth with an RBI single from
Henry Ferguson. Protecting a two-run lead, Oliff got the first two outs in the ninth but left the game when the Red Foxes loaded the bases. The Bucs turned the ball over to freshman
Thomas Costarelli to get the final out. In his first collegiate appearance, Costarelli came through to finish off the win for ETSU and picked up the save in his debut as a Buc.
ETSU's middle infield pairing of Ferguson and
Ian Guanzon both went 3-for-4 in game one, while Ault and
Tyler Fetterman chipped in two hits a piece in the win. Ault drove in three of ETSU's seven wins in the contest as well. On the mound, Costarelli got the save as mentioned earlier, while Oliff was credited with the win after allowing one run on three hits to go with four strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work.
Game Two Recap – With the first two games of the series being tightly-contested, the series finale saw the Bucs get a little bit more breathing room. ETSU scored two runs in the second, fourth, and sixth innings to reach six runs for the third consecutive game to start 2026. The Bucs then added a single run in the seventh to add to their cushion. On the mound, ETSU put together its best effort of the weekend holding Marist to two runs and five hits in the series finale. The quartet of
Jack Vest,
Tyler Kropis,
Reid Brosnan, and
Colin Eaton kept Marist's offense in check and struck out seven in the victory.
Offensively, ETSU got a couple of big swings from
Tristan Curless and Fetterman as both players homered in the victory. For Fetterman, it was his first collegiate home run. Fetterman and Curless both finished the contest with a pair of hits as did
Luke Matlock, who finished with 2-for-3 and a pair of RBI in his first start as a Buc. Ferguson scored three of ETSU's seven runs in the victory and tallied another stolen base. For the series, Ferguson hit .500 with four runs scored and went a perfect 4-for-4 on stolen base opportunities.
The Buccaneers will head out on the road for the first time in 2026 on Tuesday when it heads to Virginia Tech for a non-conference matchup. First pitch between the Bucs and Hokies is set for 4 p.m.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
