Courtesy of ETSU Athletics
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In this series for ETSU, they are on the road to open this season’s SoCon play. The UNCG Spartans are a relatively young program, and was founded in 1991. The Bucs however, has had a baseball team since 1946. The two teams have a rivalry dating back to 2001, with The Spartans having the upper hand leading the series overall 31-16.
Series Game One, Friday;
First Pitch was at 6:05, at The UNCG Baseball Stadium. To lead out the scoring, Tristan Curless singled to shortstop, pushing Henry Ferguson from 2nd to home. In the 2nd, UNCG responded with 2 runs, 1 each from Luke Holland and Brody Gardner. In the third, The Bucs scored their final runs of the game from again Curless who homered to deep left, additionally sending Nate Conner home for an RBI. UNCG responded in the 4th and fifth with Jacob Dilley, Brantley Truitt, and Jake Barbour securing runs for The Spartans.
Bucs Game Two, Saturday;
First pitch for ETSU was at 2:04pm. Coming off of a loss, The Bucs were fired up to even the series on Saturday. To start up, Ty Galusky singled to center, sending Tristan Curless home, but Henry Ferguson was called out at home in the first. Scores continued into the second inning as Nate Conner grounded out to second base, pushing Jamie Palmese home and Ian Guanzon to third base.
Additionally in the second Curless singled to left field, allowing Guanzon to score. In the bottom of the second, UNCG responded with a hit from Jenkins to second base, ensuring a score from Luke Holland. Spartans also score in the third inning and made it a 1 run game from a run by Barbour.
The rest of the runs in this game came out of the 6th. A hit from Tyler Fetterman sent Galusky home. Additionally a homer from Luke Matlock sent Palmese and Fetterman around the diamond as well to score. To end the scoring, Axel Melendez grounded out to second base allowing Conner to score as all runners advanced. Ultimately, that ended the scoring for this game, giving The Bucs 8-2.
Sunday Series Closer for UNCG and ETSU;
Game Three first pitch was at 1:06pm on Sunday, March 22nd. The Bucs were looking to close out the series and take home 2 wins in Greensboro. This game, like the rest in the series was run filled. To start in the top of the first, Nate Conner homered setting the Bucs up 1-0. In the top of the second, Ian Guanzon homered and also sent Jamie Palmese home from 2nd.
Afterward, The Spartans responded with two runs in the bottom of the second making it a 3-2 game. Bucs responded in the top of the third with a double from Palmese sending Curless and Ferguson to home. Additionally in the top of the fourth, The Bucs’ Curless singled and allowed Matlock to pass home plate. Same inning, Axel Melendez and Ferguson hit fly balls out and pushed Nate Conner and Tristan Curless to home.
Bottom of the fourth, Bucs were up 7-2. Spartans scores with a single from Luke Holland sending JJ Parsons to score. Bucs came back and score 2 with a homer by Nate Conner and RBI Ty Galusky. Both teams had a scoring drought until The Spartans scored 5 in the bottom of the 7th. Runs came from Jake Mueller, JJ Parsons, Jake Barbour, Brantley Truitt, and Luke Jenkins. Subsequently, ETSU responded with a homer from Tristan Curless in the top of the 8th. Additionally, The Bucs scored 4 more in the top of the 9th to seal the win, with runs from Guanzon, Matlock, Curless and Ferguson. In short, The Bucs took the win in the final game, 15-8.
Next Up for The Bucs;
ETSU will go on to host Virginia Tech Hokies on Tuesday, March 24th, in Johnson City. First pitch is also at 1pm.
The Bucs are 13-1 starting at home this season, which is their best home record this far since 2019. Meanwhile, the Hokies are 8-7 to date. These two teams have played earlier this season, on February 17th. However, The Bucs lost 7-5 in Blacksburg.
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