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Opening Weekend at Thomas Stadium in Johnson City, Tennessee, your host being ETSU. Marist hailing from Poughkeepsie, NY, traveled down for a 3 game series starting on Friday, February 13th at Noon. With weather imminent, the 3 day contest was shifted to a 2 day contest making Saturday a challenging double header in chilly February. The Marist Red Foxes and The Bucs have a long standing rivalry. Spanning over the course of 15 years, The Bucs now hold a record of 10-3 against The Red Foxes.
Opening Day;
Arguably one of the greatest days of the year, Opening Day at the local ballpark. Thomas Stadium was no exception. Coming off of a SoCon Championship last May, The Bucs are ready to renew their dominance on the SoCon.
Opening Game of the season started out strong for The Bucs. 2 scores in the first inning, and keeping Marist at bay with the Red Foxes remaining scoreless in the first 2 innings. The Bucs remained scoreless post 1st inning until the drought was ended by a Home Run from #32 Tristan Curless (LHP) sending #1 Jamie Palmese (CF), #13 Axel Melendez (OF), #24 Tyler Fetterman (LHP/1B) and himself over home plate.
Entering the 9th with a 2 core lead, The Bucs kept Marist to only one run in the 9th, coming from Noel Rivera, who homered out to deep left field. The Bucs won out on their first game of the season, instilling confidence for the rest of the weekend series.
Day Two; Double Header
Game One on Saturday was quite the back and forth. Both teams scoring one run in the 1st and 5th, and 2 runs in the 4th inning. In the 6th, with a little help from #28 Carter Oliff (RHP), The Bucs avoided giving up runs with bases loaded and allowing no runs across home plate. In the bottom of the same inning, a single from #7 Mason Ault (C) ran two runs home driving a lead of 6-4 in favor of The Bucs.
With another single run in the 7th, Marist was now down by 1 with plenty of time left in the game. It wasn’t long before the deficit went back to 2 runs in the 8th, stemming from single by #2 Hunter Ferguson (3B/SS). This single sent a runner home, pushing the Red Foxes to work harder to take a lead in the 9th, and defend it. The Red Foxes had that chance, with bases in the top of the 9th. The Bucs sent closer, #18 Thomas Costarelli (LHP) for his first collegiate chance to try and keep Marist from making their way to home plate. Costarelli made it happen for The Bucs, securing their first win of the 2026 season.
Major assets in this contest were Ault and #24 Tyler Fetterman (LHP/1B) both made 2 hits each. Meanwhile, Ferguson alongside #12 Ian Guanzon (INF) went 3-4 at home plate, ensuring The Bucs success in game one.
Double Header; Game 2
Coming into game 3 of the season, ETSU was 2-0. Looking to clench the sweep, The Bucs made sure to remain focused on doing what has been successful so far; power heavy pitching, and RBI’s.
For the third game in a row, The Bucs secure a win and at least 6 runs. This time however it was by 2 in the 2nd, 2 in the 4th, and 2 in the 6th innings. Defensively, Game 2 on Saturday was ETCU’s best effort yet. Between the pitching rotation of #37 Jack Vest, #27 Reid Brosnan, #3 Colin Eaton, and #29 Tyler Kropis, Marist was kept at bay. The Red Foxes were held to only 2 runs and 5 hits, and was struck out 7 total times over the contest.
However at home plate, The Bucs success came from #9 Luke Matlock (INF), Curless, and Fetterman. Ferguson was also a key player, bringing in 3 of ETSU’s 7 runs, and stole a key base. This brought him to .500 in the whole series, 100% stolen base success rate and 4 runs scored for Opening Weekend. Fetterman secured his first home run of his career, and ended with 2 hits.
Next Contest for The Bucs
Next Up for The Bucs, they’re heading up I-81 to take on Virginia Tech at English Field. The Hokies and The Bucs are playing on Tuesday, February 17th at 4pm.
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