NORFOLK, Va. – The No. 24-ranked Old Dominion baseball team pounded out 23 hits, including five homers to complete the three-game sweep of Bryant 23-7 Sunday afternoon at the Bud Metheny Ballpark.
A beautiful, windy day at the Bud saw a season-high crowd of 572 see 30 combined runs and 34 hits on the day. Kenny Levari went 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs, Carter Trice had three hits and Chris Dengler went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, five RBIs and his first career homer to lead the Monarchs.
Bryant scored three in the first off ODU starter Sam Armstrong, but Levari led off the game for the Monarchs by hitting a towering home run over the scoreboard in right field.
Dengler drove in a run in the second on an RBI single and Andy Garriola tied the score in the third with a solo homer.
Old Dominion (9-1) took its first lead of the game on a Dengler RBI double and Levari followed with an RBI single to score Dengler and give ODU a 5-3 lead.
The Monarchs scored five runs in the fifth to take a 10-3 lead. Thomas Wheeler drove in a run with an RBI triple and Matt Coutney followed with an RBI single. Coutney was thrown out stealing but Jared Hancock and Dengler walked, and both scored on a triple by Levari. Trice singled to score Levari for a 10-3 ODU lead.
Bryant scored three runs in the top of the sixth but the Monarchs came back with four runs in the bottom half. Robbie Petracci doubled with one out and with two outs the Bulldogs intentionally walked Coutney. Hancock singled to score Petracci and Dengler followed with a three-run blast to put ODU on top 14-6.
ODU scored four more in the seventh on a Petracci RBI single and Hancock delivered a three-run blast to give ODU an 18-6 lead.
Bryant scored a run in the eighth, but ODU scored five more runs in the bottom half, highlighted by a three-run home run from Coutney to give ODU a 23-7 advantage.
Joey Rodriguez earned his second win of the season, erasing the only batter he faced in the fourth inning.
ODU returns to the Bud on Tuesday, March 8 to host Princeton for a two-game series.
No. 24 Baseball Powers Past Bryant to Earn Sweep, 23-7
