May 16, 2006

Final Stats

Johnson City, Tenn. - Through four innings, all nine East Tennessee State starters had at least one hit, with three players having three hits, as the Buccaneers cruised to a 16-8 victory over Western Carolina Tuesday afternoon at Cardinal Park. The Catamounts (30-23) will conclude the regular season with three home games versus Furman. Game one of the series is set for 7 pm Friday. However, the schedule has been changed for Saturday with the teams playing a doubleheader starting at 2 pm. Western will also honor its seniors on Saturday.

Leading the way for the Bucs (29-22) was reserve catcher Bubba Herbold, who went 5-for-5 with five RBI. Leadoff hitter Chuck Hargis also had a big day going 4-for-6 with three RBI, being a home run shy of the cycle.

In the first, Western's Tim Hallam had a leadoff walk and moved to second on Donnie Wilson's walk. Steven Strausbaugh brought home Hallam on a hit-and-run single with Wilson advancing to third. Trey McDaniel followed with an RBI single to right, giving WCU an early 2-0 lead.

In the home half of the first, Hargis had a leadoff double and scored two batters later on Shane Byrne's single up the middle. The Buccaneers tied the game in the second. After a two-out double by Harbold, Hargis delivered an RBI triple to center.

ETSU broke the game open in the third, scoring six runs on six hits with two WCU errors. Blake Church singled and moved up on a wild pitch. C.J. Lee singled to right to score and moved to third on a hit-and-run single by Matt Traylor. Lee would score on an error with Ben Allen plating Traylor with single to left. A single to right by Herbold and an error on the play allowed Michael Courtney to score. Hargis delivered an RBI ground out and Stephen Douglas drove in the final run of the inning with a double to right.

The Bucs padded their advantage, scoring four runs in the fourth for a 12-2 advantage. ETSU loaded the bases after a leadoff single and back-to-back hit by pitches. Courtney drove in Church with a single to right. Western turned a double play, but the Bucs still had runners on second and third, each of whom scored on Herbold's single to left. Hargis then brought home Herbold with an RBI single.

Western ended its drought in the sixth when Jonathan Greene, who was 3-for-4 on the dday, had a two-out home run, giving him 10 homers on the season. ETSU got that run back in the sixth. Courtney had a leadoff triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Allen.

The Cats got another solo home run in the seventh as Scott Ward, who had three RBI, hit his third round-tripper of the season. Once again, the Bucs were able to answer in the bottom of the inning, scoring a total of three in the frame to take a 16-4 lead. Church started the seventh by being hit by a pitch, moved to second on a single and scored on a single by Anthony Russell. Herbold got his fifth hit of the day, driving in Lee and Russell on the play.

In the eighth, Western loaded the bases with two outs and Ward made the score 16-6 with a two-run single to left-center. In the ninth and after a leadoff error, Hallam hit a two-run home run for his first blast of the season and second of his career.

Tony Sheffield, who was the first of six ETSU pitchers, go the win, improving to 1-2. He allowed three hits and two runs over three innings. Mike Buda (0-1) suffered the loss for Western. He allowed six hits and six runs (three earned) in one inning's work.