March 4, 2007
NORFOLK, VA -- Just one day after throwing his second straight complete game shutout, Anthony Shawler (Chesapeake, VA) stepped into the box in the bottom of the fifth with his Monarchs down 7-5. With a runner on third he drilled a two-run home run over the right field wall to tie up the game. The Gaels of Iona College (2-7) would get out of the inning, but ODU would outscore their opponents 9-1, including David Burns fourth home run of the season, in the final 3 1/2 innings to seal the four-game sweep. The Monarchs sealed the four-game sweep with a 16-8 victory.
Shawler has been a pleasant surprise on both sides of the baseball for the Monarchs this season. He was named the CAA Pitcher of the Week for a one-hitter against Rutgers and returned to form on the mound yesterday with another complete game shutout. When he's not pitching, the sophomore does it with the bat, as he's hitting .275 on the year with four extra-base hits. The home run was the first of his 2007 campaign and the fourth of his career.
On the mound, Hunter Hall earned the victory in his second straight lights out relief appearance. Against Radford last Wednesday Hall pitched 4.2 innings of one-run, two-hit baseball. In the win Sunday, Hall pitched a near identical 5 innings of two-hit, one run baseball. The only base hits he allowed were a home run in the ninth to Iona's Andrew Passerelle and a single to right field in the seventh. He improves to 2-1 on the year as his ERA sinks to a season-low 5.40.
The Monarchs had 19 hits in the game with every Monarch with at least one hit and scoring at least once in the game. David Burns led the way with a 3-for-5, three-RBI, two-runs scored game while Brooks Sinnen added three hits, two RBI's, and two runs scored. Jake McAloose had a game-high four hits in six at-bats.
The Gaels were led by Allie Abatiello with three RBI's and two runs scored on 2-of-4 hitting. He hit a first pitch fastball over the right field wall in the first inning to give the Gaels a 2-0 lead. Alex Frederick was saddled with the loss after 1.2 innings, giving up four hits and six runs.
The teams combined for 14 errors in the contest coming from 10 different players. The eight errors for the Monarchs ties the school record since Old Dominion has been playing in Division I.
Old Dominion improves to 11-6 overall and will take the field Tuesday as the Flames of Liberty travel to Norfolk with first pitch set for 3:00 pm.