May 27, 2011
UNCW vs. ODU Game 5 Highlights
CAA Baseball Championship Post-Game Interviews
WILMINGTON, NC-- Edgar Hernandez (Luquillo, Puerto Rico) bases loaded sacrifice fly and the solid pitching of junior Phil McCarthy (Chesapeake, Va.) lifted the Monarchs of Old Dominion to a 4-3 victory over UNC Wilmington in a CAA elimination game placing the Monarchs in Saturday's Championship game for the first time since 1999.
ODU must beat top seeded James Madison twice on Saturday to earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Game time is 1 p.m. at Brooks Field on the campus of UNC Wilmington.This is the first time since 1994 that the number one and two seedswill battle for the CAA crown.
In the first inning Brent Frazier (Fairfax Station, VA.) singled and Josh Wright (Bridgewater, VA.)doubled, then Chris Baker's (Chesapeake, VA.) groundout plated Frazier to give the Monarchs a 1-0 lead.
The Seahawks came right back in the bottom of the frame on Hunter Ridge's RBI single which brought home Michael Bass.
In the second inning freshman All-CAA Rookie selection Joey Burney (Gloucester, VA.) belted his eighth homer of the season over the rightfield wall to give ODU a 2-1 lead. That was Burney's first hit of the tournament.
The Seahawks took the lead in the fifth on RBI hits from Hunter Ridge and Thomas Pope, but the Monarchs came right back and tied the game in the sixth on a two-out solo homer by Chris Baker, his 10th of the season.
In the top of the ninth Shawn Sizemore (Newport News, VA.) singled, Burney reached on an error and Nate Hartman (Orlando., FL.) walked which set up Edgar Hernandez' bases loaded sacrifice fly to left which scored Sizemore from third and give ODU the lead, 4-3.
McCarthy pitched out of a jam in the eighth after David Shambleyled off with a single followed by Alex Hill reaching on an error.The two weresacrificed to second and third with one out, but McCarthy got Cameron Cockman toground out to second and then fanned Michael Bass to get out of the inning.
McCarthy is now 9-4 with a 4.05 ERA. He walked only two batters tonight with eightstrikeouts and eight hits allowed.
Senior Adam Wisniewski (Norfolk, VA. )came on in the ninth to pick up his school single season record 15th save. Brent Frazier and Shawn Sizemore both had two hits for ODU. ODU last won the CAA title in 1996.
ODU 110 001 001= 4-8-4UNCW 100 020 000= 3-8-1
ODU Battery: McCarthy, Wisniewski (9) and HernandezUNCW Battery: Bradley, Kornblum(6),Timoney(7) and Campbell
WP: McCarthy (9-4) LP: Timoney(2-2)Save: Wisniewski(15)HR-ODU-Burney (8), Baker (10)