GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG baseball team embarks on its longest road stretch of the 2019 season beginning this weekend when the Spartans head to Johnson City, Tenn., for a three-game set against Southern Conference foe East Tennessee State.
The first game of the series begins on Friday, May 3rd, when the two teams clash at 3 p.m. That game will feature the pitching matchup of UNCG's Phillip Sanderson (4-3, 5.66 ERA) and the Bucs' Micah Kaczor (5-0, 2.02 ERA).
The two teams return to the diamond on Saturday afternoon when the Spartans will send freshman hurler Austin Koehn (2-1, 2.81 ERA) to the mound to face Landon Knack (8-2, 2.93 ERA) in a 2 p.m. contest. The series concludes on Sunday, May 5th at 1 p.m. with Daniel Sweeney (5-3, 3.47 ERA) set to take the mound for ETSU. UNCG's Sunday starter has not been announced at this time.
The Spartans enter the game with a 26-15 record, after winning four straight games, and an 8-7 mark in Southern Conference action. UNCG is currently fourth in the league standings, one game in front of East Tennessee State entering weekend play.
The Bucs begin the weekend with a 28-14 overall mark, 7-7 in SoCon action, placing them fifth in the league. ETSU, who is 21-4 at home on the season, snapped a four-game losing streak with a recent 10-8 victory over UNC Asheville on Tuesday evening.
UNCG-ETSU Series Quick Notes
-UNCG and East Tennessee State have gone head-to-head on 43 occasions with the Spartans holding a 29-14 edge in the all-time series. The Spartans have claimed 10 of those 29 victories since the 2014 campaign, under the direction of head coach Link Jarrett.
-UNCG, which has now had double-digit hits in five of its last six games, has seven players with at least 10 multi-hit performances on the season. They include Caleb Webster (15 games), Josh Madole (14), Jacquez Koonce (13), Zach Kuchmaner (12), Austin Embler (11), Ryan Caveness (10) and Hogan Windish (10).
-The pair of Chad Sykes and Corey Jackson have proved to be one of the best bullpen duos in the Southern Conference in 2019. While they rank atop the UNCG staff they also are among the top hurlers nationally. Sykes is ranks in five major categories including ERA, where he is first with a 0.65, 36th in hits allowed per nine innings (5.83), 52nd in strikeouts per nine innings (11.45), 60th in saves (seven) and 68th in WHIP (1.03). Jackson is 35th in appearances (23), 103rd in strikeouts per nine innings (10.54) and 105th in hits allowed per nine innings (6.80).
-Five Spartans currently share the longest current hitting streak (four games)—Zack Budzik, Austin Embler, Zach Kuchmaner, Jacquez Koonce and Caleb Webster.
-The Spartans and Bucs have only one common non-conference opponent on their schedule in 2019-Virginia Tech. UNCG faced the Hokies twice in late February, suffering a 12-4 setback on Feb. 24th and a 2-1 loss the following afternoon on Feb. 25th. ETSU played a home-and-home series with Virginia Tech this season. The first game took place in Blacksburg, Va., with the Hokies prevailing 9-3. The Bucs welcomed Virginia Tech to Johnson City, Tenn., on April 10th, and suffered a 4-2 setback in the second game between the two programs.
-Slugger Zach Kuchmaner leads the way for the Spartan lineup in triples with four, which has him ranked 34th nationally and second in the Southern Conference in that category.
ON DECK FOR THE SPARTANS
Upon completion of the three-game series with East Tennessee State, UNCG will take to the road in Lexington, Va., when the Spartans face VMI on May 10-12. The six-game road trip by the Spartans marks their longest road stretch of the season.
