Bucs Baseball Makes History
Teams around the country start every new season thinking, “This could be our year.”
2025 proved to be the year for the ETSU baseball team.
As the season got underway, the Bucs started well, posting a 15-4 record through the first month of the season, which included a series win against ACC foe Pittsburgh.
Then, ETSU got the attention of the college baseball world on March 18 when it visited No. 1 Tennessee. The Volunteers, who won the National Championship last season, entered the clash with the Bucs with a perfect 20-0 record.
That matchup with the Vols had multiple momentum shifts, but the Bucs came away with a historic 7-6 win over the top-ranked Volunteers in 10 innings.
Following the historic victory, the Blue and Gold continued to keep things rolling throughout the regular season. Overall, the Bucs lost just two series all season. ETSU capped the regular season with an 11-2 win over The Citadel on May 17 and won its first outright SoCon Regular Season Championship since 1980.
The best season in recent memory for the Bucs was highlighted in the SoCon’s postseason honors. Overall, 12 different Bucs garnered All-SoCon accolades. ETSU became the first school to capture the four major awards in the same season in conference history: Player of the Year (Cooper Torres), Pitcher of the Year (Brady Frederick), Freshman of the Year (Axel Melendez), and Coach of the Year (Joe Pennucci).
The top-ranked Bucs swept through the SoCon Tournament, beating Western Carolina and Samford twice to win their first SoCon Tournament Title and earn their fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament in school history.
In the NCAA Tournament, the Bucs dropped close contests to Louisville and Wright State in Nashville to conclude the season with a 41-17 record.
The 2025 Bucs racked up the second-most wins in school history (41), hit the most home runs ever by an ETSU team (121), had 12 All-SoCon selections, won both the SoCon Regular Season and Tournament Championships, and secured the win over then-No. 1 Tennessee in mid-March among other accomplishments.
“They believed in each other,” said ETSU Head Coach Joe Pennucci. “They believed in the coaches and the process. That’s why I think this team was so successful. We did this for everybody.”
This season and team will be remembered for a long time in Johnson City and the surrounding area as a banner year for Buccaneer baseball.
Athletics Accolades
ETSU men's golf dominated the Southern Conference Championship, winning by ten strokes over runner-up UNCG after a phenomenal final day. Their performance at the conference championship earned the squad a spot in Nevada's Reno Regional, where the remarkable season came to an end. Gavin Tiernan concluded the regional tied for 17th individually to wrap up his freshman season as a Buccaneer.
The ETSU men’s soccer team won a share of its second consecutive SoCon Regular Season Championship in 2024.
ETSU volleyball’s winningest Head Coach Lindsey Devine returned to coach the Bucs in 2024 and guided the Blue and Gold to a 13-win improvement from 2023.
By Andy Hicks | Photo by Brian Miller
Read more incredible stories in the Summer 2025 Edition of ETSU Today. #BucsGoBeyond
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