ETSU rallies past Western Carolina

from staff reports

   JOHNSON CITY -- The East Tennessee State Buccaneers on Sunday, blasted three round-trippers in overcoming a five-run Western Carolina lead in ETSU's 16-10 win over the Catamounts.
   Tim Turner, Matt Traylor and Kirk Keithley all went deep for the Bucs, with Turner's blow a second-inning grand-slam as Bucs bats came alive against four Western Carolina hurlers.
   ETSU starting pitcher Donnie Sharp didn't live up to his name as he surrendered nine runs (all earned) on 10jhits in just three and one-third frames of work as the Cats jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the fourth.
   Josh Kite, Mike Bauer and Jackson Simerly held the Cats to just one unearned run the rest of the way, with Kite evening his record at 1-1 with the victory.
   The Bucs rallied for the lead in the fourth, plating five runs to grab an 11-9 lead as ETSU loadd the bases for Justin Clear who plated one run with a fielder's choice.
   A walk to Jeremy Terry forced home another run for the Bucs and Brandon Cross' single tallied two more to give ETSU it's first lead of the game.
   Keithley's blast made it a 12-9 contest, and the Bucs put the game away with a four run eighth, with Clear and Terry each driving in RBI's.
   Kite pitched one and two-thirds innings of one-hit relief in earning the win. Kite struck out three and issued one free pass.
   Turner finished the day three-for-four, with five RBI, while Terry and Traylor each went three-for-five at the dish, with Terry driving home four runs on the day.
   ETSU improved to 20-30 overall (12-14 SoCon), while the Catamounts now stand 31-18 overall (20-10 SoCon).