March 5, 2012
NORFOLK, VA-- The ODU Baseball Monarchs return to action Tuesday afternoon when they host the Flames of Liberty (12-1) in a scheduled 3 p.m. start at the Bud Metheny Baseball Comples.
Liberty is led in hitting by infielder Bryan Aanderud with a .449 average and 15 RBI. Outfielder Michael Robertson is at .367 with 12 RBI and infielder Zack Haleyis hitting .366. Senior righthander Patrick Eckelbarger is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA andsenior righthander John Niggli is 3-0 with a 0.44 ERA.
Senior catcher Josh Tutwiler is hitting .333 with five RBI, while senior second baseman Brandon Shelton leads the squad in total hits wtih 10. On base percentageleaders are Austin McGowan (.714), Brian Bashara (.500), Josh Tutwiler (.419) andShelton at .447.
Senior shortstop Josh Wright and senior firstbaseman Chris Baker both lead theMonarchs with two homers each.
Reliever Brandon Smith is 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA, while Brett Harris has a 3.00 ERA.Phil McCarthy leads the team in strikeouts with 14 in 10 innings of work, followedby Ben Tomchick with 13 in 15.2 innings of work.
ODU leads the series with Liberty, 34-17. Liberty is scheduled to throw righthander Jacob Kemmerer, while ODU will start Phil McCarthy.
After Tuesday's game, the Monarchs begin CAA play when they host the Fightin BlueHens of Delaware in a three-game series starting Friday at 6 p.m.