May 15, 2011
NORFOLK, VA- UNC Wilmington (28-24/16-11) behind the pitching of Tyler McSwain and homeruns from Andrew Cain and Thomas Pope defeated the Monarchs (26-22/18-9) , 5-3 Sunday afternoon on senior day at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex.
The loss drops ODU into a first place tie with James Madison. The Dukes sweptthe series against Towson with an 11-1 win today.
The Seahawks took a 2-0 in the third on back-to-back RBI bases loaded walks by Thomas Pope and Jake Koenig, which scored Cameron Cockman and David Shambley.
The Monarchs cut the lead to 2-1 in the sixth as junior shortstop Josh Wright (bridgewater, VA. )singled home Brent Frazier (Fairfax Station, VA.) who reached on a double.
In the seventh inning with the score still, 2-1 Andrew Cain belted a two-run homer with Hunter Ridge aboard, followed by a solo shot by Pope. The homer was Cain's ninth of the season, while its was the fifth for Pope, the CAA's top hitter with a .426 batting average.
McSwain, a junior righthander pitched 8.1 innings with seven hits, three runs, two walks and eight strikeouts. At one stretch he retired eight Monarchs in a row before Shawn Sizemore (Newport News, VA. )singled with one out in the Ninth.
After Sizemore singled, he went to third on a throwing error and Joey Burney (Gloucester, VA. ) reached on a fielder's choice. Nate Hartman (Orlando, Fl.) then doubled home Sizemore and Edgar Hernandez (Puerto Rico) groundout scored Burney, But reliever Steven Davis came on to get the final out and his first save of the season.
Shawn Sizemore led ODU and Hartman led ODU with two hits each, while ODU starter Phil McCarthy (Chesapeake, VA. ) pitched seven innings allowing nine hits, three walks and striking out five. Joe Haumacher and Erick Baker pitched the final two innings without allowing a run.
Hartman has upped his batting average to .305 thus far this season.
UNCW was led by David Shambley, Matt Campbell, Andrew Cain, and Thomas Pope who each had two hits today.
ODU returns to action on Tuesday when they travel to Greenville, NC to take on the Pirates of EastCarolina in a 6 p.m. contest.
CAA STANDINGSOld Dominion 18-9James Madison 18-9UNCW 16-11Georgia State 15-12Towson 14-13Delaware 16-14W&M 14-13Northeastern 12-15VCU 11-16Hofstra 10-17George Mason 6-21
UNCW 002 000 300 5-9-1ODU 000 001 002 3-7-1
UNCW Battery: McSwain, Harnage(9), Davis (9) and Shambley ODU battery : McCarthy, Haumacher(8), E.Baker(9) and Hernandez
WP: McSwain (5-4) LP: McCarthy (7-4) Save: Davis (1)HR: UNCW- Cain(9), Pope (5)