The Buccaneer baseball team closed out spring break with a three-game series win against the traveling Villanova Wildcats.
The Bucs took game one in a nail biting back and forth contest with a final score of 12-11. The action didn’t pick up until the top of third when Villanova would score off of a double to left center and a long ball into the right center gap.
ETSU quickly answered the three-run top of the frame, putting up a four spot in the bottom half of the inning off of a pair of doubles by the Bucs.
The game continued to be back and forth until the bottom of the ninth where the Bucs would pick up the win in walk-off fashion. Cody Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y.) single through the right side scored Brogan Jones (Gray, Tenn.) securing the Bucs the win.
Unlike game one, game two was all ETSU who burst the door wide open in the first inning scoring four. Both Nick Iannantone (Plainfield, Ill.) and JD Yakubinis (Charlotte, N.C) led the Bucs offense in game two, with both players tallying three hits.
Starter Andrew Ronne (Athens, Tenn.) also had an impressive outing on the mound Saturday for the Bucs throwing six innings, with two hits, two runs, and striking out six Wildcats. The Bucs went on to grab the win in Saturday’s matchup 11-5.
Sunday’s contest went to the Wildcats as the Bucs pitching couldn’t cool down the hot Villanova bats. While the Bucs didn’t pick up the win, the offense remained productive once again as they scored eight runs and had five extra base hits, all from different players. Jackson Green (Blackwood, N.J.) and Noah Gent (Corryton, Tenn.) both went deep in the game accounting for half of the Buccaneers runs on Sunday.
The Bucs, now 14-5 on the season, will travel to Blacksburg, Virginia on Tuesday to take on the Hokies of Virginia Tech before opening up conference play on Friday against the Western Carolina Catamounts in Cullowhee.
For more information about ETSU baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com.
