The offense is powerful. The defense is solid. But what about the pitching? The ETSU baseball team has a couple of holes to fill on the mound with the losses of Tim Turner and Josh Kite.
Both players are playing for minor leagues, and although those players will be missed, this year’s squad is loaded with young talented arms.
The Bucs added three freshmen and two transfers to help the rotation. ETSU also returns the SoCon’s leader in pitching victories in Jeremy Hall. Hall won nine games in 2004, and he also pitched over 100 innings.
Coach Tony Skole also welcomed pitching coach Maynard McClarrinon to the Bucs from Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C., and he has improved the pitcher’s abilities in the off-season.
“Coach Mac has come in and really helped us out,” Hall said. “He’s turned a lot of people around and made everybody into a better pitcher.”
Hall, a junior from Gray, Tenn., will be the No. 1 starter, and the Bucs also return senior Trevor Smith. Smith posted a 4.30 ERA last year in relief. Being a senior, Smith has more game experience than anyone on the young staff. From the fall until now he has liked what he has seen from the newcomers.
“Our sophomores and freshmen are talented, and they have so much potential,” said Smith. “It makes me feel good that those guys are fighting for spots.”
The three freshmen are Robbie Campbell (Lothian, Md.), Joey McCown (Aloca, Tenn.), and Jonathan Stoudt (Marietta, Ga.). Smith and Hall both agree that game experience is best way to get used to the college game.
“I got so much experience last year that I feel like this my fifth or sixth year pitching in college,” Hall said.
Coach Skole is not afraid to play or start his young pitchers as he proved in 2004 by playing freshman David Yates (11 appearances) and Caleb Glafenhein (25 appearances). Junior Steven Calicutt also got a lot of experience on the mound last year, starting 16 games.
Tusculum transfer Brian Lovett will be a starter this season, and the junior from Knoxville is looking forward to competing for the Bucs. Making the jump from Division II to Division I ball is the least of Lovett’s concerns.
“It’s the same game, just a different set of guys. My biggest thing is to get in here and mesh well with the rest of the team,” Lovett said.
Another transfer is sophomore McCay Green, who comes to ETSU from Lake Sumter Community College in Orlando, Fla. Green has been hampered by an elbow injury, but he should be able to help the Bucs later in the season.
“We are looking for McCay to really help us out this season. He has been throwing, and he should be ready to go by the time conference starts,” Hall said.
Everyone knows that pitching is the major question mark and this pitching staff knows what it must do to answer the questions.
“We know people say that pitching has to step up and that is challenge to us,” Hall said.
Lovett agrees that this pitching staff has a lot of pressure on them because of all of the talented players returning to the offense, and he feels that they will do just fine.
“(The pitchers) pretty much dictate our season. We have an offense and a defense, but supposedly we don’t have any pitching. We are going to surprise some people,” Lovett said.
The questions about the pitching staff will begin to get answered on Friday, Feb. 18 when the Bucs host Niagara at 3 p.m.

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