The magic number is five for the East Tennessee State baseball team heading into the final two series of the regular season although head coach Joe Pennucci doesn’t want to be tricked into watching that too closely.
ETSU (35-12, 11-4 Southern Conference) comes into this weekend’s home series against Wofford riding a six-game win streak. The Bucs hold a two-game lead in the SoCon standings over The Citadel, who they play next weekend, and Samford, against whom they won two of three earlier this season.
Winning five of their next six games would give the Bucs their first outright league title since back-to-back titles by the Charlie Lodes-coached teams of 1981-82.
“I don’t even look at that. I haven’t paid any attention to a magic number,†ETSU coach Joe Pennucci said. “It’s irrelevant. It’s about the next pitch, the next at-bat, the next game. If we’re playing to our best, we’re usually on the right side of the scoreboard.â€
They certainly have been on the right side lately, coming off a 12-5 win at UNC Asheville on Tuesday night. The number that has drawn the most attention is a new single-season record of 107 home runs. Cooper Torres and Grant Gallagher lead the team with 21 and 20 home runs respectively, but the team has put up other big numbers.
ETSU has batted .311 as a team, drawn 237 walks (48 by Gallagher alone) and scored 415 runs.
“Our offense has been relentless for the most part,†Pennucci said. “If there’s one critical piece, maybe we strike out too much. But I’ll take some of that with some of the power numbers we’ve had. It’s a tough lineup one through nine and sometimes one through 12, depending on what the matchup is.â€
Torres leads the team with a .373 batting average followed by Blake Jacklin hitting a .363 clip. Joey Little, Lenny Montesano, Will Smoot, Henry Ferguson, Cody Miller and Axel Melendez are all hitting north of the .300 mark. In addition, Torres leads ETSU with 69 RBIs and 62 runs scored.
Pennucci showed a playful side during Thursday’s interviews, egging on Torres to flex his muscle to highlight the power he’s shown.
The Bucs have also gotten the job done on the mound with Jace Hyde sporting a 6-0 record. Carter Fink (6-2) and Michael Harpster (5-3) have also done well in starting roles, while Brady Frederick has a 6-1 record and two saves as a reliever.
“Our starting pitching has been able to keep us in the game long enough where our offense can go to work, and then some of the bullpen pieces have carried off of that,†Pennucci said. “Frederick to (Derek) McCarley, those guys give different looks, and they can keep us in the game and let our offense work. Our defense has done a pretty good job too, which has gotten a little overshadowed.â€
Pennucci likes the consistency shown with the same three starting pitchers from back in the fall. Even at that point, Pennucci though this group had a chance to be special. With their next victory, they will match last season’s win total and tie them for the program’s fourth most in a single season.
The Bucs like being able to control their own destiny in the conference race. The coach said there is no secret to how they plan on keeping the momentum going.
“We’re going to keep doing the same things that we’ve done all year,†Pennucci said. “It’s what happened in this pitch and what’s happening in next pitch. If we continue to do that, we’ll put ourselves in a really good situation to be where we want to be going into postseason. I’m proud of the way that our guys have gone about their business.â€
