While East Tennessee State’s students were getting excited about spring break, the baseball team was getting ready to battle Big East opponent West Virginia in a three-game series at Cardinal Park.
ETSU took 2-of-3 from the Mountaineers and they improved their record to 8-1 on the season.
The Buccaneers first loss was an 8-5 defeat in which the team fought back from a five-run hole, but the Mountaineers scored three in the ninth to seal it.
ETSU’s final game of their 10-game home stand was against the Samford Bulldogs from Birmingham.
The Bucs knocked off the Dogs 11-6 and they could now focus on their first Southern Conference series of the year against the Furman Palidans.
In the first two games in Greenville, S.C., the Bucs outpowered the Palidans 10-8 and 15-14, but ETSU dropped the last game 7-4 and this put the team at 11-2 overall and 2-1 in SoCon play heading into a crucial series at home with Georgia Southern.
ETSU knew the challenge ahead of them because although they had a better overall record than GSU (10-7), the Eagles had shocked the Georgia Bulldogs earlier in the season and they returned some of their most productive players from last season.
In the first game both teams started slow offensively, going scoreless until fourth inning.
In the fourth the Eagles and the Bucs traded a run and then Georgia Southern got hot an inning later scoring four in the fifth to take a 5-1 lead.
ETSU kept the game within striking distance getting as close as 8-7, but the Eagles owned the ninth by putting six runs up on the board.
ETSU loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, but they only got one run out of it and that made the final 14-8.
In the second of three games Georgia Southern’s Dustin Evans (3-3) shutdown the Bucs with eight strikeouts and one walk.
Evans pitched a complete game, only giving up one run in a 5-1 win for the Eagles. Brian Lovett allowed three runs and seven hits as he fell to 2-1 on the year.
Sunday’s game came down to the final pitch, but the Bucs fell short as the Eagles completed the sweep of ETSU with a 7-6 victory.
Georgia Southern scored the first four runs of the game, but ETSU came back in the fifth with three runs of their own. They Eagles responded in the sixth with, two more runs making the score 6-3.
Going into the bottom of the ninth the score was 7-6 GSU and the Bucs got one final shot when Josiah Glafenhein advanced Stephen Douglas to third on a sacrifice fly to center.
ETSU is now 11-5 overall and 2-4 in the SoCon. The Bucs look to end their four-game skid when they host the Tennessee Volunteers (16-5, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
This weekend coach Tony Skole’s club will be in Greensboro to face the UNC-Greensboro Spartans for a weekend series.

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