March 21, 2013
NORFOLK, VA--The ODU Baseball Monarchs (10-9/2-4) host the Towson Tigers (12-7/4-2) in a three-game CAA home series beginning Friday night at 6 p.m. in the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex. Listen to the game on Star1310 with Director of Broadcasting Ted Alexander along with Doug Ripley. Saturday's game is scheduled for 3 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Towson will be led by CAA Co-Player of the Week Dominic Fratantuono who hit .545 with three doubles, a homer and 11 RBI's last week for the Tigers. He currently ranks eighth in the CAA with a .429 batting average. Andrew Parker is tied for second in the CAA with four homers, while Kurt Wertz leads the league with three triples.
The Tigers have two pitchers in the CAA's top 10. Mike Volpe is 3-0 with a 2.35 ERA, while Mike Ryan is sixth in the CAA with a 5-1 record with a 2.57 ERA.
Towson is scheduled to throw Mike Volpe (3-0/2.35 ERA) on Friday, Paul Beers (0-2/6.20 ERA) on Saturday, and Brandon Gonnella (1-1/ 5.82 ERA) on Sunday.
The Monarchs are scheduled to throw Dean Ali (1-1/2.08 ERA) on Friday, Ryan Yarbrough (1-1/3.98 ERA), and Andy Roberts (1-1/ 2.21 ERA).
ODU is led in hitting by Ben Verlander with a .404 batting average with six homers, 12 RBI and a .865 slugging percentage. Ben Slaton is second at .350, while Josh Eldridge leads the team with 18 RBI. Verlander ranks ninth in the CAA in hitting and is tied with Tucker Tobin of George Mason for the homerun lead , and leads the league in slugging percentage.
Dean Ali ranks third in the CAA in pitching stats with a 2.08 ERA and teams are only hitting .202 against him. Ali also ranks third in strikeouts at 9.35 per nine innings. Brandon Smith is second in the league with four saves.
Series Record: ODU leads, 22-20. Last year, the Monarchs won two of three at Towson.