Two home runs by senior left fielder Troy Mendez and six innings of solid pitching by Chas Byrne led the ETSU Buccaneers in their third straight victory over the Tennessee Volunteers Tuesday at Cardinal Park.
The Bucs have won six of their last seven games to improve to 13-11 overall and 5-7 in the A-Sun. The Vols dropped to 11-16 overall and 1-8 in SEC play.
Byrne shut out UT for the first four innings and only gave up three runs over the six innings. As a starter, Byrne improved to 3-1 on the year. Despite giving up three hits to Tennessee center fielder Kentrail Davis, the sophomore pitcher held his own against the Volunteer offense, allowing only one other hit for a total of four.
“[Byrne] really showed some great leadership out on the mound,” said Mendez, of his teammate’s pitching. “He really stuffed them, and that gave us all the momentum. Chas deserves a lot of credit for the win.”
Freshman third baseman Bo Reeder hit a solo home run, while sophomore designated hitter Derek Trent and freshman center fielder Matthew Scruggs also contributed to the victory, with both players batting in runs. The Volunteers brought out a competitive spark in the Bucs, who consider Tennessee an arch rival of sorts.
“We consider them our in-state rival,” Mendez said. “We come out and play our best game against the Vols.”
The “game” to which Mendez referred worked well against the Volunteers tonight, further intensifying the rivalry between the two teams.
Mendez, last week’s Atlantic Sun Player of the Week, hit a solo home run in the first inning and continued the slugging with a home run in sixth to put the Bucs up 8-2. Mendez and the other seniors have now beaten the Vols five times.
“Our guys are playing well,” said ETSU head coach Tony Skole. “We’re such a young team; we have seven freshmen and sophomores on the field. We had been struggling early in the season . and our guys have really grown up in the past two-and-a-half weeks.”
Tuesday’s performance, with a combination of scrappy pitching and potent hitting, culminated in a victory that demonstrates why the Bucs have had such success in recent games.
With another win, the ETSU baseball team now looks to its upcoming road series against conference opponent North Florida Saturday at 1 p.m.

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