Bucs Face Setbacks in the Numbers, Season
Published: March 26, 2008
Updated: March 26, 2008
Miscues, mishaps and missed opportunities have come to define the first 22 games of East Tennessee State's current baseball season.
The Buccaneers record stands at a disappointing 5-17.
ETSU has been outscored 181-115, while the Bucs' team earned-run average is an eye-popping 6.90.
And when ETSU stumbles upon an opportunity, the Bucs consistently come up empty.
Case in point: Tennessee Tech's 10-1 thrashing of ETSU on Wednesday evening in a non-conference game at Cardinal Park before an estimated crowd of 200.
The Bucs committed two errors, had two base runners picked off and were outhit 13-5. Meanwhile, ETSU's pitchers and catchers combined to produce two wild pitches and three passed balls.
"The game's hard enough as it is – you've got to compete against the game. And we had a couple bonehead base running errors … Those things are tough to take. I can put up with us not hitting or not always making the routine plays, but I can't put up with a lack of effort and a lack of intensity," Bucs coach Tony Skole said.
ETSU junior shortstop and Abingdon native Nick Belcher finished 1-for-3 with a run scored, while Science Hill graduate Paul Hoilman was 1-for-3 with a RBI for the Bucs.
Tennessee Tech junior first baseman Chris King destroyed the ball, going 3-for-5 with a double, three RBIs and two runs. Evan Webb and A.J. Kirby-Jones added two hits apiece for the Golden Eagles (16-7-1).
Tennessee Tech sophomore right-hander Thomas Gray (2-1) threw seven innings of five-hit, one run (unearned) ball, and struck out seven in a winning decision. Gray relied heavily on off-speed pitches, and the Bucs' hitters never adjusted.
"We couldn't really get anything going," Skole said. "That kid threw three pitches for strikes. We tried to take an approach and hit the ball up the middle and the opposite way, but our guys kept getting out on the front foot."
ETSU senior left-hander Matt McGahey, a Virginia Tech transfer, took the loss. McGahey (0-1) allowed four runs and five hits in two innings.
Tennessee Tech opened up the first inning with five consecutive hits – four sharp singles and a double – and the Golden Eagles proceeded to put four runs on the board in the frame.
"You come out and the opponents get five hits in a row – that probably won't happen again in all of college baseball," Skole said. "And it wasn't like they were bleeders; those balls were hit hard. It wasn't a sign of good things to come, I don't think. That was a little disappointing. We lost a little momentum right there."
Back-to-back singles by Hoilman and Troy Mendez set the Bucs up in the bottom of the first inning, giving ETSU runners on first and second with no outs.
But Mendez was doubled off second after Bucs freshman Derek Trent (Dobyns-Bennett) lined out to Gray.
"It's tough. Whenever we need to be doing things right and making a comeback, we have a couple tough breaks and make a few mental errors,"
Hoilman said. "We've just got to eliminate those things."
McGahey, who lacked movement on his pitches and consistently left his fastball up in the strike zone in the first inning, settled down to pitch a scoreless second.
But McGahey was relieved by ETSU right-hander Jimmy Tidwell in the third, and Tidwell gave up an RBI single to Tech junior Alex Henry with two outs in the inning, stretching the Golden Eagles' advantage to 5-0.
The Bucs fell apart in the fourth.
Tidwell recorded a quick out, but two walks and two ETSU errors followed. King then smashed a 1-2 pitch past Bucs third baseman Anthony Russell down the left-field line, scoring two.
"Our guys didn't really come to the park with an intensity that I'd like for them to have," Skole said. "And getting behind early made it even more difficult. We've got to learn from this."
With Wednesday's victory, Tennessee Tech swept the two-game season series, and outscored ETSU 25-7 in the wins.
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