The ETSU Buccaneer baseball team opened its season with 14-2 and 7-4 losses to the No. 6 ranked University of South Carolina Gamecocks. But third-year head coach Tony Skole is expecting a stronger effort from his team this year.
“We have a lot of quality arms this year and pitching should be one of our stronger points,” Skole said.
Skole points to Reid Casey, Donnie Sharpe, Mike Bauer, Jarrod Hyder and Jackson Simerly as leading the pitching staff.
“Most of our guys have three plus pitches this year.” Skole said.
This year’s line-up will be Matt Traylor, outfield; Caleb Moore, catcher; Brandon Cross, third base; Davis Burkin, infield; Kirk Keithley, outfield; Jeremy Terry, shortstop; Ryan Hyder, second base and Tim Turner, center field.
“We have nine who we feel are not outs,” Skole said.
Skole is confident his team will produce runs. ETSU is predicted to finish seventh in the Southern Conference preseason polls. The voting in the polls was conducted by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors.
Last year’s team finished with an overall record of 23-32, and 13-17 in SoCon action.
However, Skole is confident in his team’s improvement.
“We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.” Skole said.

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