CULLOWHEE, N.C. (April 24, 2026) – The ETSU baseball team split a doubleheader on the road at Western Carolina on Friday. WCU won game one by a score of 14-10 but the Buccaneers rebounded to win the second contest, 4-3. With Friday's results, the Bucs move to 26-14 overall and 9-5 in SoCon play.
 
Game One Recap – Western Carolina jumped out to an early 7-1 lead on the Bucs in game one of the day. However, ETSU battled back to gain a 10-9 lead in the bottom of the sixth. WCU's offense still had some juice though as it scored five total runs in the seventh and eighth innings to earn the 14-10 victory over the Bucs.
 
There were offensive contributions up and down ETSU's lineup in game one. All nine players in the starting lineup reached base successfully at least once and eight of the nine Bucs picked up at least one hit. Jamie Palmese and Ian Guanzon logged the two multi-hit efforts for ETSU finishing with the contest with a 2-for-4 line. Palmese also drove in three of ETSU's 10 runs as did Nate Conner. All three of Conner's RBI came on a three-run home run in the sixth that gave ETSU its 10-9 lead.
 
A total of five different pitchers saw action for ETSU in game one. Tadan Bell started and allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits in 3.2 innings of work. Reilly Byers threw a scoreless inning for ETSU in the bottom of the eighth. Evan Rolison took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in 0.2 innings of work dropping his record to 3-1 on the season.
 
Game Two Recap – Unlike in the first game of the day, pitching was in control most of game two. Palmese gave ETSU the first lead of the game with a solo home run in the second inning. Matlock (RBI double) and Axel Melendez (RBI groundout) both drove in runs in the fourth and ETSU pushed across another run in the fifth.
 
Those four runs of support were enough for ETSU's pitching staff. Michael Harpster started and pitched the first 5.2 innings. Harpster, who moved into the top four in ETSU baseball history with his 21^st career victory, allowed three runs on seven hits, three walks and struck out five Catamounts. Reid Brosnan followed Harpster with 1.1 shutout innings. Western Carolina's first two hitters in the eighth reached base against Brosnan, but Tristan Curless came in from first base to pitch. Like he has done multiple times this season, Curless closed out the game for ETSU getting out of that jam in the eighth and throwing a scoreless ninth inning to seal the win for the Blue and Gold. For Curless, it is his third save of the season in his eighth appearance on the mound this season.
 
Next Up – The Bucs and Catamounts will resume their series on Sunday with the final game of the weekend set. First pitch for Sunday's clash in Cullowhee is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

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