GREENVILLE, S.C. (May 20, 2026) – The ETSU baseball team's season came to an end on Wednesday in the opening round of the 2026 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament with a 6-5 loss to UNC Greensboro. With the loss, the Bucs wrap up the season with a 30-23 record.
The Bucs finished with nine hits against the Spartans. Three of those were home runs by
Nate Conner,
Mason Ault, and
Joey Little. Conner finished a triple shy of the cycle and reached base four times. Overall, he went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Ault also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.
Henry Ferguson concluded his 2026 campaign with a two-hit game, his 20th of the season.
ETSU used three pitchers on Wednesday.
Cooper Jones started for the Bucs and pitched 4.2 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on nine hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
Stratton Scott was the first reliever used out of ETSU's bullpen and he did not allow an earned run in three innings.
Tristan Curless closed out the game with 1.1 shutout innings to wrap up his collegiate career.
UNCG quickly took the lead with a solo home run by Luke Holland on the game's first pitch. However, Jones rebounded, working around a double and a wild pitch to strike out three Spartans and keep the deficit at 1-0.
Momentum shifted again in the top of the second as the Spartan advantage grew to three runs with a pair of unearned runs. In response, the Buccaneer offense woke up in a major way in the bottom half of the inning as they hit back-to-back-to-back home runs from Ault (two-run), Little (solo), and Conner (solo) to give ETSU its first lead of the afternoon, 4-3.
After two scoreless innings by Jones, the Spartans added to their run total in the fifth. UNCG scored two runs on a double, single, and walk to take a 5-4 lead. That lead was short-lived. Conner led off with a double and then scored on
Jamie Palmese's sacrifice fly, tying the score at 5-5.
After the sixth and seventh innings ended scoreless, UNCG broke the tie again in the eighth. Luke Holland reached base on an error, worked his way around the bases, and eventually scored on an infield single to give the Spartans the lead back, 6-5.
Trailing 6-5, the Buccaneers had chances to tie or go ahead in the eighth and ninth. They put a runner in scoring position in each inning. However, UNCG reliever Cannon Lee made key pitches to preserve the Spartan lead and secure the 6-5 victory.
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