The East Tennessee State University (ETSU) baseball team will return to Johnson City for a three-game series against The Citadel, beginning Friday, April 16. The games are scheduled from Friday through Sunday at Thomas Stadium, with the first matchup set for 5 p.m. and available on ESPN+.
This series marks ETSU’s return home after an eight-game road stretch. The Buccaneers currently hold a record of 23-11 this season and have performed strongly at home, winning 16 out of 18 games and outscoring opponents by more than 100 runs.
Key contributors for ETSU include first baseman Curless, who hit two three-run home runs in the team’s recent game against No. 5 Georgia. Curless has totaled 13 home runs and driven in 50 runs over just 34 games this season while drawing more walks than strikeouts. Shortstop Ferguson is also notable for reaching base successfully in his last 35 consecutive games, which is the sixth-longest active streak nationally.
On the pitching side, Bell and Harpster have started every weekend series for ETSU so far this year. In their combined starts, the Buccaneers have won fifteen out of eighteen games, with fourteen of those starts lasting five innings or longer.
The Citadel enters the series with a record of 17-19 overall and is coming off a win over Charleston Southern. The Bulldogs are known for their small ball approach and rank second nationally with forty-four sacrifice bunts this season. Their projected starting pitcher on Friday night is Will Holmes, who ranks second in the Southern Conference with fifty-six strikeouts.
Historically, The Citadel leads the all-time series between these teams with sixty-seven wins out of one hundred fifteen meetings. Last season in Charleston, The Citadel won two out of three games against ETSU.
