The ETSU men’s baseball team earned their first two wins of the season Saturday in a double header with Xavier.
In a tight 4-3 game, ETSU broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning off of a Greg Roberts sacrifice hit that scored Josiah Glafenhein from third base.
The Bucs (2-5) received a good start from Jeremy Hall (1-2) in his first collegiate win.
Hall held the Musketeers (0-2) without any runs on the board until the top of the sixth when he led off by hitting Eric Armstrong.
Steve Sakosits then drove in the first run on an RBI single to draw the Musketeers within one at 3-1.
Jay Johnson stepped to the plate next and hit a two run homerun that tied the game at 3-3.
Caleb Moore, who doubles as the Bucs catcher and relief pitcher, came on in the top of the seventh to earn his first save of the season and handed Xavier their first loss of the season.
“We struggle offensively as a team because we are having trouble doing positive things back-to-back,” said ETSU coach Tony Skole.
“We need to get more base hits with runners in scoring position and we also have to get the hitters at the top of our order producing.”
Bucs center fielder, Tim Turner, may have saved another possible run as he made an amazing grab in left-center in the bottom of the fifth.
Turner and Shane Byrne had two hits in the first game. Turner had a pair of stolen bases.
They both came in the first inning when he singled, then stole second and third. Turner then scored on a wild pitch.
Sean Finnegan (0-1) was charged with Xavier’s first loss as he allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings pitched.
In the second game, ETSU won, handily beating the Musketeers 6-1.
Xavier got on the board first when Jay Johnson went deep again with a two- out solo homerun over the right field wall.
ETSU came back immediately and scored five runs in the next three innings.Andy Howdeshell lead off the third with a double off of the center field wall.
After a single by Blake Church and a walk by Stephen Douglas, Howdeshell scored as Moore reached on a fielder’s choice.
The Bucs scored the final run of the game as Moore belted his second home run of the season over the right-center field wall to lead off the bottom of the fifth, leading the Bucs to a 6-1 win over the Musketeers.
“We were very fortunate to get two solid pitching performance from Jeremy Hall and Steven Calicutt this afternoon which enabled us to come away with two victories,” Skole said.
“I am very pleased with our defense and the quality of our pitching. Steven and Jeremy battled, threw strikes, and kept us in the game.”
The Bucs played another double-header Sunday afternoon, but results were unavailable at press time.

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