The ETSU baseball team faced La Salle at Thomas Stadium in a three-series game that began on March 11.
The Bucs last played the Explorers in 2012.
La Salle finished out the 2015 season with a record of 24-27-1 and currently has a record of 3-12-0.
“La Salle has a physical, veteran ball club out of the Atlantic 10 Conference, so we will need to be at the top of our game to have success,” said coach Tony Skole before the games.
The Bucs had an overall record of 21-35 at the end of the 2015 season, and they currently have a record of 8-8.
“La Salle’s record doesn’t show it, but they have a good ball club,” said senior infielder Trey York (Knoxville, Tenn.). “If we pitch and hit to the best of our ability, I like our chances.”
York has been playing impressively in his senior year at ETSU. In the March 9 game against Tennessee, he got his third homerun of the 2016 season and had a nine-game hitting streak after the second game of the La Salle series.
In the first game of the three-part series, ETSU started out strong but allowed La Salle to make a comeback in the last three innings, making the final score 6-4.
“La Salle has some really good pitchers, so we need to do all we can to get as many quality at bats as possible,” York said.
Games two and three were held back-to-back on Saturday.
Senior pitcher Lee Haeberle (Hendersonville, Tenn.) had a career high of nine strikeouts in eight innings in the first of Saturday’s games.
The Bucs gained the upper hand over the competition during the eighth inning, in which they scored four runs and won with a final score of 6-3.
In Saturday’s second game, the Bucs fell to La Salle with a score of 9-4. Senior Robby McCabe (New Port Richey, Fla.) scored his second homerun of the season.
However, this game ended York’s hitting streak.
“I feel good about our ball club,” Skole said. “We have won 5 of our 7 last games, but we must continue to improve. We need more consistency from our pitching staff. If they can keep making progress, then we will have a chance to have an exciting season.”
The next game for the Bucs will be on March 18 at 6 p.m. in Johnson City. They will play FGCU, who currently has a record of 7-9.
“Every game is a challenge for us,” Skole said. “Right now we are concentrating more on just playing the game of baseball well. If we do the little things well, we can have a successful series.”
