ETSU eliminates Bears before falling to Wofford in SoCon semifinals
GREENVILLE, S.C. (WJHL) – The Bucs faced nothing but do-or-die scenarios at the Southern Conference Baseball Tournament in Greenville on Saturday. The Blue and Gold needed two wins to secure a spot in Sunday’s conference championship game.
They secured the first win in style, dominating (7) Mercer, 12-4. However, ETSU saw its season come to a close in the nightcap against (5) Wofford in a hard-fought 13-10 battle.
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The Bucs and Bears were tied 4-4 in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon, until the Johnson City squad unleashed eight runs in the seventh inning.
Cody Miller, Noah Webb and Jamie Palmese each delivered 2-RBI hits in the frame. A fielding error on a Noah Gent single and a Cam Sisneros walk accounted for the remaining offense.
Tommy Barth also finished 1-for-3 with a three-run home run and two runs scored in the contest, as well.
Derek McCarley (4-2) pitched 4.1 innings of relief, allowing just one run on four hits. He also struck out six batters, while walking four.
Both ETSU and Wofford scored in the first inning of the SoCon semifinal that followed.
A Brice Martinez RBI single for the Terriers and a sacrifice fly for Cam Sisneros. But, Wofford jumped ahead with four runs in the second frame, making it a 5-1 ballgame.
True to form, the Blue and Gold never backed down. Jamie Palmese got a run back via sac fly in the second. Then, Sisneros blasted a three-run homer to tie the game, 5-5, in the third inning.
With the swing, the senior first baseman became the program’s single-season RBI leader, notching 85 on the year to pass the 2010 record of Paul Holiman (84). Sisneros would later tack on an 86th RBI in the eighth inning.
The Terriers, however, scored in bunches to create serious separation. Four runs in the fourth and four more in the sixth built the Wofford lead to 13-5.
ETSU made things interesting down the stretch with a pair of RBI in the sixth from Nick Iannantone and Barth, then two more in the eighth from Barth and Sisneros.
Palmese’s RBI single in the ninth cut the deficit to just 13-10, but Ryan McCarthy struck out swinging and Iannantone lined out to end the threat.
Nathan Hickman (3-1) took his first loss of the season on the mound, pitching the first 3.0 innings and allowing seven runs on as many hits.
ETSU finishes the season with a record of 36-20.
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