NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 11, 2026) – The ETSU baseball team split a doubleheader at Belmont on Saturday afternoon. The Bucs won the first game of the day by a score of 8-4 but dropped the series finale, 10-8. With the split against the Bruins, the Bucs are now 23-10 on the season.
Game One Recap – Much like they did in Friday's series opener, the Bucs built an early lead and received a stellar outing from their starting pitcher on their way to a victory. ETSU scored one in the first, two in the third, three in the sixth, and two more in the seventh to build an 8-0 lead. The Bruins did cut ETSU's lead in half with a four-run seventh, but the game was a scheduled for seven innings, so the win still went to the Bucs.
Michael Harpster turned in one of his best starts of the season tossing 5.2 shutout innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts. Harpster, who worked around four hits and two walks, improved to 5-1 this season with Saturday's win.
Derek McCarley got the Bucs out of a bases-loaded jam to end the sixth and
Tyler Kropis recorded the final two outs to lock down the win.
Offensively, four different ETSU players had multiple hits against the Bruins.
Andrew Palmer had his best day as a Buc to date going 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two stolen bases.
Tristan Curless went 2-for-2 with three RBI, while
Jamie Palmese drove in two runs as well on a pair of doubles.
Henry Ferguson notched two hits and knocked in a run batting in front of Curless and Palmese.
Nate Conner and
Tyler Fetterman also picked up hits in game one of the day for the Bucs.
Game Two Recap – After not scoring until late in the series' first two games, the Bruins jumped on the Bucs early with three runs in the first inning in the series finale. While the Bucs tied it in the second, the Bruins immediately got those three runs back plus a single run in the third. ETSU chipped away at Belmont's lead with runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Some extra insurance runs scored by the Bruins in the sixth and seventh proved to be important as the Bucs brought the go-ahead run to the plate with nobody out in the ninth inning. However, the Bruins retired the final three hitters to salvage the final game of the series, 10-8.
Axel Melendez led the charge for ETSU offensively in the second game of the day with four hits, which matched a career-high.
Joey Little slugged a three-run home run for the lone long ball for the Bucs in the contest.
Andrew Hill drove in a pair of runs for ETSU as did
Jamie Palmese. Palmese collected two hits and
Ian Guanzon did as well.
Seven ETSU pitchers were used in the series finale.
Stratton Scott had the best outing for a Buc on the day tossing 2.2 shutout innings with three strikeouts.
Logan Grass and Curless also had scoreless appearances in the contest.
Next Up - ETSU will return to action on Tuesday for a midweek matchup at nationally-ranked Georgia. First pitch between the Bucs and Bulldogs is set for 3 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
