NORFOLK, Va. – Andy Garriola hit a solo homer but that was all the offense that Old Dominion University baseball mustered on Friday night in a 4-1 setback to Binghamton.
Down 4-0 in the sixth, Garriola hit a one-out blast to right field to bring the score to 4-1. Matt Coutney was hit by a pitch and Lincoln Ransom followed with a double down the left field line to put runners on second and third. Binghamton (2-2) brought in Gabe Driscoll who struck out Brock Gagliardi and got Tommy Bell to foul out to end the threat.
Old Dominion (3-1) again threated in the eighth when Garriola led off with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch but was left stranded.
In the ninth, Thomas Wheeler was hit by a pitch with one out, but BU closer Jack Collins got a strikeout and fly out to clinch the win for the Bearcats.
Garrett Matheny led off the game with a double for Binghamton and scored on a double from Tommy Reifler to put Binghamton up 1-0.
The Bearcats tacked on two more in the second when Matheny drove in a pair with another double down the left field line.
BU made it 4-0 in the fourth when Nick DiVietro scored on an ODU error.
Garriola led the Monarchs with a 2-for-4 day at the plate, while Matheny was 2-for-5 for the Bearcats.
Tommy Gertner suffered the loss for ODU, allowing four runs, three earned in three innings. Joey Rodriguez, Trey Fisher, Brett Smith, Blake Morgan, Pete Nielsen and Connor Muly combined to shutout Binghamton in the final six innings, allowing just two hits.
Thomas Babalis earned the win, pitching 5.1 innings, allowing four hits and one run. Collins pitched the final two innings, striking out three.
The two teams are back in action tomorrow at the Bud Metheny Ballpark at 2 p.m. Stay tuned to ODUSports.com and twitter, @ODUBaseball and facebook.com/ODUBaseball, for the latest ODU baseball news.
Baseball Stifled In Series Opener Against Binghamton, 4-1
Andy Garriola