April 24, 2009
NORFOLK, Va. -- Rookie right-hander Brett Harris (Chesapeake, Va.) recorded his fourth complete game of the 2009 season and struck out four in helping the ODU baseball Monarchs to an 8-4 victory in the opening game of this weekend's series with the Tribe of the College of William & Mary in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Friday night at the Bud Metheny Complex.
The win ups the Monarchs overall record to 17-21 overall and 9-7 in the CAA, while the Tribe fell to 17-21 overall and 6-10 in the league race.
The Monarchs found themselves down early as the Tribe's lead off hitter, Jeff Jones, homered to left center on the second pitch of the game. However, Old Dominion took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the third as Harris hit a two RBI single up the middle.
William & Mary came back in the top of the fourth capturing three runs on five hits. The Tribe's right fielder, Rob Nickle, smacked his eighth home run of the year to right field and a James Williamson single to left scored Chris Forsten to give the vistors a two run advantage.
Down 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth, the Monarchs came up with a pair of hits and capitalized on thee of the Tribe's seven errors on the night to tie the game up at 4-4 all. After reaching second base on a pair of William & Mary errors, the Monarch's Chris Buss (Rosemount, Minn.) circled third and came home for ODU's first run of the inning on a Edgar Hernandez (Luquillo, PR) single to centerfield. Following Hernandez getting caught stealing second base, centerfielder Max Most (Port Washington, N.Y.) found his way to third base after walking and getting two extra bases following a miscue by the Tribe catcher Chris Forsten as Most attempted to steal second base. Shortstop Gerard Hall (Washington, D.C.) followed up with a single to send Most in for an RBI and a 4-4 tie.
The Monarchs drove in three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead for good. After William & Mary's Garrison Sarrett loaded the bases with no outs, Hall drove in his second run of the night with a sacrifice fly to left scoring Cameron Scott (Culpeper, Va.) from third. Although William & Mary looked to Matt Davenport on the mound next to hold ODU on the bases, third baseman Jake McAlloose (Va. Beach, Va.) single to second base to advance Hernandez home. Left fielder Donnie Corsner (Va. Beach, Va.) helped round out the Monarch's three-run inning with a sacrifice fly to cenferfield giving Most his second run of the game.
Old Dominion added in another insurance run in the bottom of the seventh. The second batter of the inning, Buss singled and reached third on another William & Mary error giving Cameron Scott a chance to send him in on a sac fly to right field.
William & Mary's Sarrett recorded the loss as he drops to 0-1 on the year. Sarrett pitched one and a third inning giving up three runs and two hits. Harris, who also notched two RBIs while at the plate for the Monarchs, improved to 5-3 on the mound.
Hall went 2-of-4 for ODU along with a pair of RBIs and a run. The Tribe's lead off man, Jones, finished the game 3-of-4 with a run and a run batted in.
The Old Dominion Monarchs and Tribe of the College of William & Mary take the field tomorrow, Saturday, April 25th in game two of the three-game series. First pitch is 4:00 p.m.