Feb. 18, 2006
NORFOLK, VA--Junior righthander Jason Godin (Stafford, VA) tied a school record with 17 strikeouts in a complete game effort, and the Old Dominion Monarchs defeated the Navy Midshipmen 11-4 on Saturday at the Bud Metheny complex. ODU is now 6-1 with the victory while Navy falls to 5-1-1. Junior Patrick Nichols (Chesapeake, VA) added a three-run homer for ODU.
ODU got the scoring started in the 1st inning when junior Mike Zahm (Omaha, NE) belted a triple that scored Jimmy Miles (Orlando, FL), and crossed home himself on a Bryan Cipolla (Plainview, NY) sacrifice fly. Navy knotted up the score at 2-2 in the top of the 3rd off a B.J. Bickel RBI single and a Jonathan Johnston RBI groundout.
However, the Monarchs broke the game open in the bottom of the third when Jesse Schoendienst led off the inning with a single, Miles followed that up with another base hit, and Chris Keenan walked to load the bases. Navy pitcher Mark McCoy than walked Zahm to score Schoendienst, then Cipolla knocked in a pair with an RBI single. Justin Gregula and Keith Hahn also knocked in runs with singles in that game-opening inning.
Nichols would add some insurance for the Monarchs in the 7th inning as he slammed a two-run homer over the left field fence to bring the score to 11-4. After some early jams, Godin settled down and gave up only two hits and no runs after the fourth inning. He struck out seven batters in the last 3 innings, including sitting down the side in the eighth inning. Godin tied Monarch great Justin Verlander's record for most strikeouts in a game set in May of 2002.
Zahm had three hits for the Monarchs, while Gregula, Miles, and Zahm added two apiece. Cipolla contributed three RBI's, making that eight in two games for last year's team RBI leader.
The Monarchs return to action on Sunday to finish their three-game set with the Midshipmen. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m at the Bud.
Navy 002 200 000ODU 205 020 20X
ODU Battery: Godin and Nichols (9)Navy Battery: McCoy (3), Hammond (5), Suarez (7), Lee and Johnston (8)