East Tennessee State University

On July 10, 2017, the ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced that former Stony Brook associate head coach Joe Pennucci has been named the new head coach of the Buccaneers’ baseball program.

2024 was ETSU's best season under Pennucci. The Bucs went 36-20 and 13-8 in SoCon play on their way to finishing third in the league standings. The third-place finish is the team's highest since 2010 when they were members of the Atlantic Sun and it was ETSU's best finish in the SoCon since 1992. The 36 victories by ETSU in 2024 are tied for the third-most ever by the program matching the 2011 and 2013 teams. Only the 1980 and 1981 Buccaneer teams won more games than the 2024 Bucs did. 

On the field, the Bucs set new program records in walks drawn (314) and on-base percentage (.420). ETSU's strikeout total of 456 was the second-most, while its final runs scored (478) and home run (75) number ranked third and fourth-most in program history as well. 

Individually, seven Buccaneers earned All-SoCon honors in Cameron Sisneros (First Team), Michael Harpster (Second Team, Freshman), Owen Kovacs (Second Team), Tommy Barth (Second Team), Nick Iannantone (Second Team), Jace Hyde (Freshman) and Jamie Palmese (Freshman). Sisneros also broke the program's single season record for RBI (86) on his way to being named SoCon Player of the Year. It is ETSU's first Player of the Year honor since 2010 when Paul Hoilman achieved the same in the Atlantic Sun. Sisneros is ETSU's first SoCon Player of the Year since 2004 (Caleb Moore). Sisneros and Iannantone also both earned Second Team All-Region Honors by the ABCA. 

ETSU also had an impressive run in the 2024 SoCon Tournament where it eliminated top-seeded UNC Greensboro. It marked ETSU's first-ever win over the top seed in the SoCon Tournament. ETSU also avenged an earlier loss to Mercer in Greenville to advance one game away from Sunday's championship final before bowing out to eventual champion Wofford. Hyde and Iannantone earned All-Tournament Team honors for their play at Fluor Field. 

In 2023, the Bucs had some stellar individual seasons in a campaign that ETSU went 26-29. Senior Nathanial Tate put together one of the best seasons ever by an ETSU pitcher. Tate finished his fifth season with the Bucs by breaking the Southern Conference record for SoCon Pitcher of the Week awards in a season (5) and in a career (7). Tate was also a first team all-conference selection and added two Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week awards.Tate finished the season with a 9-4 record and a 3.56 ERA over 16 starts. He led the Southeast Region and ranked among the NCAA leaders with five complete games this season, while also leading the region with 93.2 innings pitched and six pickoffs. Tate was joined on All-SoCon teams by fellow Bucs Sisneros, Iannantone, Cade Carlson and Cody Miller. Following the season, Austin Emener became the 54th MLB Draft pick from ETSU as he was selected in the 16th round by the Colorado Rockies. 

In 2022, the Bucs finished with an overall record of 30-21 and owned an impressive 22-6 record in the friendly confines of Thomas Stadium. Pennucci also coached two players to Freshman All-American honors in Tommy Barth and Andrew Ronne. Barth doubled down as the SoCon Freshman of the Year — ETSU's first since 1986 — and as a first team all-conference pick. 

In 2021, the ETSU concluded with a 24-25 record and a 13-16 mark in league play. The Bucs had an impressive 12-3 record in 2020 before the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the Bucs set a new program record with seven home runs in a game, defeated Clemson and starting pitcher Landon Knack set the program record with 16 strikeouts in a game. In 2019, Pennucci’s squad finished with a 34-21 record, marking the best record for the program since 2011. Furthermore, the 2019 team set new a Thomas Stadium record with a 22-9 home record — among the best home records in the nation.

Since Pennucci arrived in Johnson City, the SoCon has named All-Conference teams in four of the five seasons (2020 not awarded due to COVID-19). Pennucci has had 17 players received All-SoCon postseason accolades. Additionally, three individuals have broken single season or career pitching records with Pennucci at the helm: Landon Knack — career ERA (2.13), Hunter Loyd — fewest hits/9 innings (7.12) and Nathanial Tate — K/9 innings (10.36).

Since coming to Johnson City, Pennucci has defeated Tennessee three times and Clemson once for four Power-5 wins.

Prior to ETSU, Pennucci spent 12 seasons at Stony Brook and six as the Associate Head Coach of the Seawolves, having been promoted from assistant coach in August 2012. He also served as the team's recruiting coordinator and had been instrumental in the program's skyrocketing success.

Pennucci previously served as recruiting coordinator at Stony Brook in 2017 and helped guide the program to multiple NCAA Regionals over the last 12 seasons – including a trip to the College World Series in 2012.

Since Pennucci arrived prior to the 2007 season, Stony Brook has been to four NCAA Regionals in his tenure, including returning to the NCAA Regional in 2015 after claiming the America East title. Pennucci was also instrumental in the Seawolves' memorable run to the 2012 College World Series when Stony Brook won a school record and NCAA-best 52 games. That team was inducted into Stony Brook's Hall of Fame in 2022.

Then ETSU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Richard Sander said Pennucci was the right fit for ETSU when hiring him in 2017.

“Joe Pennucci personifies the work ethic and commitment to excellence that we have developed at ETSU,” Sander said. “He has been one of the key ingredients in developing a mid-major program that has had incredible success. Advancing to the College World Series plus numerous appearances in the NCAA Tournament demonstrates the type of success that accompanies Coach Pennucci.

“When I talked to head coaches and those who understand mid-major college baseball, they said Joe Pennucci is a star and is going to do great things. The word is he is a tireless worker, an incredible recruiter, a dynamic relationship builder and a great baseball man. When the ETSU family and the entire Northeast Tennessee community meet Coach Pennucci, they will quickly understand why ETSU baseball is in great hands. Joe is going to fit into the ETSU athletic department perfectly and I have no doubt he will take us to the next level of success in baseball.”

Following a 28-25 record in his first season, the skipper brought national prominence to the Bucs in year two. On March 25, ETSU received six votes for the USA Today Top 25 Coaches’ Poll and remained among the voted teams for two weeks after jumping to a 22-6 record halfway through the campaign. 

Furthermore, Pennucci helped ETSU cap its third straight winning season in 2019 for the first time since ETSU completed winning seasons 1981-83.

Under Pennucci's watch, the ETSU pitching staff had the 11th lowest ERA in the nation at 3.48 — led by senior ace Micah Kaczor at 2.13 to rank second in the Southern Conference. Kaczor ranks second in ETSU history for single season ERA and third in career ERA (3.42). The current career ERA is upcoming senior Landon Knack at 2.60, who Pennucci signed for 2019 out of Walters State Community College.

In that 2019 season, Pennucci swept three straight opponents for the first time in ETSU history, opening the season with three-game sweeps over Iona, Wagner and LIU-Brooklyn. ETSU also won its first seven series with a 19-2 record in that span, taking two of three from Georgia State in Atlanta and Georgetown in Johnson City while sweeping both NJIT and SoCon rival Western Carolina at home.

Among his marquee wins that season, Pennucci and the Bucs defeated No. 23 Tennessee at Knoxville in a 6-5 thriller. The win marked ETSU's first victory over a ranked opponent since 2014 while also giving the Bucs their third straight victory over Tennessee when playing in Knoxville.

ETSU turned in a winning record in Pennucci's debut year, finishing 28-25 overall with an 11-13 mark in conference play. Pennucci's squad racked up over half its wins away from home, going 14-12 in true road contest coupled with two neutral site wins.

The first year skipper added signature victories to his resume early, knocking off the Tennessee Volunteers twice in Knoxville and defeating teams such as Tulane, Memphis, Marshall, UNCG, Samford and Florida Gulf Coast. The team also swept a key non-conference series against Winthrop, who won the Big South regular season championship the previous season.

Under Pennucci's watch, a plethora of individual records, milestone and league-leading marks were set last season. Among those accolades, senior Chris Cook finished among the conference leaders with a .364 batting average and broke the ETSU all-time hits record in his second to last career game. Cook finished the season on a 12-game hitting streak, passing the record of 307 set by Paul Hoilman in 2011 to finish with 310...79 of which came in his final campaign as a Buc.

In his two seasons, ETSU has had five first team all-conference selections, two second team selections, one all-tournament selection and four all-freshmen. 

Pennucci has shown that he can recruit and help develop players who can play at the next level as Stony Brook has seen 32 student-athletes selected in the MLB Draft or signed professionally during his tenure, including three current Major Leaguers (Tom Koehler, Nick Tropeano and Travis Jankowski). The Seawolves also saw a record seven players drafted in 2012, which included the program's first-ever first-round selection in Jankowski. He continued that success at ETSU with pitchers Micah Kaczor, Landon Knack and Austin Emener each signing professional contracts with Major League franchises.

Over his 12 years at Stony Brook, the Seawolves have had a national player of the year, seven All-Americans, and seven freshman All-Americans. Stony Brook has also taken home a combined 14 America East Player, Pitcher and Rookie of the Year awards, including five of the last seven rookies of the year.

Pennucci's recruiting class of 2009, which included Jankowski, was re-ranked by Baseball America as the fifth-best recruiting class in the entire nation.

In addition to his duties as recruiting coordinator, Pennucci also worked with hitters and was responsible for overall team defense. In 2015, Stony Brook's defense ranked among the nation's best with a .978 fielding percentage. In 2012, the Seawolves ranked in the top 10 in the nation in nine offensive categories including batting average, scoring and hits and were 10th in fielding percentage after leading the country in the category in 2011. In 2010, the team also was sixth in the nation in batting average and 30th in fielding.

Prior to his time at Stony Brook, Pennucci served as the associate head baseball coach and recruiting coordinator for the Dominican College Chargers in Orangeburg, N.Y. for two seasons. The Chargers won two conference championships and received an NCAA Regional bid in 2006 after posting a 42-19 record. Pennucci helped the Chargers win 69 games in two seasons and mentored two student-athletes who went on to be selected in the MLB Draft.

Pennucci started his college playing career at Garden City Community College in Kansas. After one season at GCCC he played three seasons at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska where he was an all-conference catcher.

Pennucci grew up in Loveland, Colorado where he attended Loveland High School. He coached for four seasons prior to his collegiate career. He graduated with a psychology degree from the University of Northern Colorado and earned his Masters of Arts liberal studies from Stony Brook University. Pennucci and his wife, Dori, have a daughter, Anabelle.

Joe Pennucci's Year-By-Year Coaching Record

What others are saying about Joe Pennucci:

            Stony Brook head coach Matt Senk: “ETSU has gotten themselves an absolute all-star in Joe Pennucci. Joe is intelligent, hardworking, passionate and detail oriented. To go along with that, he has a baseball acumen and people skills that are off the chart. Without question, Joe Pennucci is the right man to lead ETSU baseball to future success.”

            Notre Dame head coach Shawn Stiffler: "This is an outstanding hire. Joe is a proven winner, developer and recruiter. His teams will play with great energy and discipline, because that's what Joe exudes. He will have a clear vision for the trajectory of ETSU baseball.”

            Old Dominion head coach Chris Finwood: “Joe Pennucci is an outstanding hire for ETSU. He is a proven winner who has demonstrated the ability to evaluate, recruit and develop talent at an elite level during his time at Stony Brook. Most importantly, Joe is a great person, mentor and leader who will take great pride in creating strong relationships with his players from the East Tennessee community. The future of ETSU baseball is bright with Joe at the helm.”

            Florida Atlantic head coach John McCormack: “Joe is a rising star in college baseball. His track record for putting together winning ball clubs is well documented. ETSU is getting a great man to lead their program and he will make every Buccaneer student and alum proud of the way he runs the baseball program. It’s a good day for the Bucs.”