JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – After exploding for 17 runs in a series-opening win on Friday, ETSU baseball slowed its pace in a Saturday doubleheader against UNC Greensboro.
The Bucs lost a pair of tight games at The Thom – 5-4 in the early afternoon and 3-2 in the evening. It was the Blue and Gold’s first series loss of the season and just the fifth and sixth defeats the Johnson City squad had suffered at home all year.
“They were better than us today,” head coach Joe Pennucci said on Saturday night. “It’s simple, they were better than us. They pitched better, they hit better.”
Still, in that first loss of the day, ETSU third baseman Grant Gallagher hit his 17th home run of the season – a mark that leads all of NCAA Division I baseball.
Pennucci believes its the demeanors of guys like Grant that continue to give confidence going forward.
“You know, it’s exciting for Gallagher,” Pennucci said of his offensive success this season. “It’s tough, when you have that weird, crooked number in the home run column, which we have a couple of them. You know, they’ll try to go after that guy.”
“He’s done a good job of hitting mistakes and doing his thing – he’s a level-headed kid like most of our guys are,” he continued. “I feel pretty confident that this team is going to be fine. We’ve just got to learn from this and, you know, take the good with the bad. It isn’t always good and it isn’t always bad, right?”
The Bucs (22-9, 3-3 SoCon) will get another shot at Radford on the road Tuesday. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.