Baseball opens conference play in Cullowhee

The ETSU baseball team opened up conference play over the weekend on the road versus the Western Carolina Catamounts in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

Game one saw the Bucs fall to the Catamounts, 8-4, in an afternoon game filled with homers for Western Carolina. Nate Stocum of Western Carolina accounted for six out of the eight runs for the Catamounts, going deep twice and collecting himself six RBI’s on the day.

The Bucs bats wouldn’t come alive until the end of the game, scoring a pair of runs off of the JD Yakubinis (Charlotte, N.C.) and Noah Gent (Corryton, Tenn.) base hits.

Game one saw the Bucs work deep in to their pitching staff, utilizing four pitchers out of the pen after starter Jace Hyde (Athens, Tenn.) went four and two-thirds innings striking out three and giving out five free passes.

With the loss in Friday’s opener, the Bucs looked to get back to .500 in the SoCon, which they did in dramatic fashion.

From the start of Saturday’s game, it was all ETSU. The first two batters of the game reached base for the Bucs, before the three-hole hitter, Cameron Sisneros (Littleton, Colo.), would come to the plate and hit a three-run bomb over the right field wall, giving them the 3-0 lead after the first inning.

The scoring didn’t stop there for the Bucs, putting up a crooked number, five, in the second inning. Ashton King (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Tommy Barth (Brecksville, Oh.) both would go deep in the second. JD Yakubinis and Noah Gent both had extra base hits in the inning, hitting two doubles, propelling the Bucs to the early 8-0 lead.

The Bucs offense was nothing short of impressive on Saturday, scoring in five of the nine innings on the day, and tallying seventeen hits as a team.

The dominate performance on Saturday ultimately ended up evening the series in preparation for the rubber match on Sunday. The Bucs stellar start to the 2024 season continues as they look to take the opening series in SoCon play from the Catamounts before heading to Greensboro on Thursday.

For more information about ETSU baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com.