Caleb Moore got a well deserved day off Sunday as the ETSU baseball team completed its three-game sweep of the Musketeers (0-6) with a 6-1 victory.
Moore had a stellar day at the plate and on the mound in Saturday’s doubleheader going 6-for-8 with eight RBIs, a home run and two runs scored. The All-American also collected his second and third saves of the season in the ETSU’s 6-3 and 12-9 wins.
Last weekend Moore struggled at the plate against Niagara going 2-for-10 in the three- game series and the Buccaneer coaching staff worked with the senior during the week to prepare him for this weekend.
“I’ve been struggling at the plate, trying to force things, it was just a matter of getting back to fundamentals,” said the Knoxville native.
Moore had a breakout season last year in which he hit .455 and drilled 31 doubles, but he has put 2004 behind him and he is focused on this 2005 campaign.
Coach Tony Skole praised his first-team All-SoCon player’s work ethic.
“I don’t think a lot of people realize what we ask Caleb to do. This season he has physically and mentally prepared himself, and it showed today,” Skole said.
Jeremy Hall pitched in the first game on Saturday and he fought back after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning.
Hall gave up a single to Adam Lipski and home run to Jay Johnson, but after that he settled in and only gave up four more hits.
The righty got in six innings of work and collected his first win of the year. Moore liked what he saw out of his teammate.
“Jeremy did a great job today, he was really battling out there,” Moore said.
In the game ETSU cranked out 11 hits and the defense did its job, committing no errors and holding the Musketeers to only three runs.
The second of the two seven-inning games began the same way the first did with Xavier scoring two in the opening inning, but the Bucs responded with nine runs in the bottom of the inning and that gave lefty Brian Lovett (1-0) a nice cushion.
In the inning ETSU roped six hits, four of which were doubles by Moore (2), Matt Traylor and Josiah Glafenhein. Stephen Douglas made the score 10-2 with his shot over the right-center field wall in the second inning.
Xavier chipped away at the lead and got as close as 10-9, but as they have done so many times already in this young season, the Bucs put the game away.
In the sixth Shane Byrne doubled and then Moore stepped to the plate, swung his bat hard, and then began his jog toward home plate. Moore’s homer over the left-field fence made the game 12-9 and that was enough for the win.
ETSU got its sixth win with solid pitching from junior Steven Calicutt.
The southpaw threw six innings of shutout ball and he got offensive help from the likes of Byrne and third baseman Greg Roberts.
Byrne hit a two-run shot in the third and Roberts had a jog around the bases of his own in the sixth.
Traylor also had a good day going 2-for-4. Trevor Smith and Michael Bauer pitched well in relief and Bauer got the save.
The team knocked off the Wildcats last year in Lexington and this year’s team is more than capable of doing the same.
The Bucs will return to Cardinal Park on Friday, March 4 to face to Mountaineers of West Virginia at 4 p.m.

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