From Feb. 20-22, the ETSU Softball team hosted a tournament at Betty Basler Field in Johnson City, hosting both Bowling Green and Tennessee State. The Buccaneers played six out of the eight games that happened this past weekend, and the team was on fire.
ETSU had their first game against Bowling Green on Friday, Feb. 20. The game started off rough for both teams, with neither of them scoring a run for the first four innings. At the top of the fifth, Bowling Green was able to hit for three runs, pushing them into the lead. At the bottom of the fifth, ETSU was able to score two runs of their own, with Riley Martens running from second base and Abigail Taylor running from first. Bowling Green didn’t back down, and scored another run in the sixth inning, and another in the seventh. With ETSU unable to catch up, the Buccaneers lost their first game of the tournament with a final score of 5-2.
Shortly after their game with Bowling Green, ETSU came right back on the field to play against Tennessee State. The game started out strong for the Buccaneers, hitting 10 runs in the first inning alone. Tennessee State was unable to score a run in the bottom of the first inning, giving ETSU a large head start. The Buccaneers scored another two runs in the second inning, and once again stopped Tennessee State from scoring.
After neither team scored in the third inning, ETSU came back strong in the fourth and scored another five runs. Tennessee State was stopped in the fourth and fifth inning, having the game end on the “mercy rule.” This is an NCAA rule where if one team is leading by eight or more runs by the end of the fifth inning, then the game ends early. This means that ETSU won 17-0 against Tennessee State, blanking a team for the first time since Wofford in 2025.
On the second day of the tournament, ETSU beat Bowling Green 3-2 and followed with an 8-7 victory over Tennessee State.
The Sunday, Feb. 22, action was canceled due to inclement weather. ETSU went 3-1 in the invitational.
To see how the ETSU softball team fared for the rest of the tournament, or you want more information on the team, you can go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the softball tab.
