JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 28, 2026) – The ETSU baseball team continued its winning ways at home on Tuesday with a 10-7 victory over UNC Asheville at Thomas Stadium. With Tuesday's win, the Bucs improve to 27-15 on the 2026 campaign.
 
For the 14^th time this season, the Bucs scored 10 or more runs in a game. Fueling the nice offensive game for the Blue and Gold were four multi-hit efforts by Jamie Palmese (2-for-5), Nate Conner (2-for-4), Tristan Curless (2-for-4), and Gabe Juarez (2-for-3). Palmese drove in a team-high three runs in the win, while Conner and Juarez each knocked in a pair of runs for ETSU on the day.
 
A total of eight different pitchers saw mound time for ETSU on Tuesday. While Asheville scored seven runs in the contest, none of them were earned. Jack Vest, who started the game for the Bucs, picked up his second win of the season after throwing 2.2 shutout innings. Andrew Cotten worked 1.2 scoreless innings following Vest. Logan Grass entered the game in the eighth inning and got the Bucs out of a bases loaded jam and for his efforts tallied his second save of the season.
 
Most of the Buccaneers' offense came in the bottom of the first. ETSU sent 11 hitters to the plate and scored six runs in the frame. ETSU jumped on Asheville's starter Nic Melton for six runs on three hits and three hits after retiring just one ETSU hitter. Palmese (two-run single), Juarez (two-run double), and Conner (two-run single) all drove in two runs with hits in the Bucs' productive first inning.
 
After Curless came in to score on a wild pitch in the second, the Bucs' offense was held off the scoreboard until the sixth. Asheville pushed across three runs in the top half of the sixth, but ETSU came right back with three of their own in the bottom half. Curless drove in a run with a groundout before Palmese brought Henry Ferguson around to score with a triple. Palmese came in to score himself on a wild pitch a bit later to make the score 10-3 ETSU.
 
Asheville put up four runs in the top of the eighth to shrink ETSU's lead to 10-7. As mentioned earlier, Grass entered the game with the bases loaded and the tying run on deck. A two-run single by Jake Minarik closed the gap to three but Grass got the final out before the Bulldogs could cut into the lead further. Grass then retired the Bulldogs in order in the ninth to close out the 10-7 win for the Bucs.
 
ETSU will hit the road for its final non-conference series of the season this weekend when it visits UConn for a three-game set. The series between the Bucs and Huskies is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. on Friday.

For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.