March 27, 2013
NORFOLK, VA--The ODU Baseball Monarchs (13-10/4-5) host the Seahawks of UNC Wilmington (17-8/4-1)in a three-game CAA series beginning Friday night at 6 p.m. in the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex.
Friday night's contest will be Military appreciation night as all active and retired military will be honored by showing a military ID at the ticket entrances to the stadium. T-shirts will also be given away to the first 50 spectators to enter the stadium.
Saturday's game will start at 3 p.m. as the Monarchs will host Autism Awareness Day. Sunday's first pitch will be at 1:00. Both Friday and Saturday's contest can be heard live on Star1310 radio with ODU Director of Broadcasting Ted Alexander providing the play-by-play, along with Doug Ripley.
Both ODU and UNCW own victories over Charleston Southern, and East Carolina, and both teams have lost to nationally ranked NC State. The Seahawks also beat nationally ranked Kent State twice.
Thus far the Seahawks, coached by Mark Scalf who is in his 22nd season, have two pitchers in the CAA's top 10. Sophomore Jordan Ramsey is 3-2 with a 1.70 earned run average with two complete games, while junior Matt Batts is 3-1 with a 3.05 ERA. Both Ramsey and Batts are tied for second in the CAA with 35 strikeouts each.
UNCW's Michael Bass leads the CAA in stolen bases with 12 and runs scored with 31 and he ranks third in the League with four homers, and fifth in batting at .424. Ryan LaGrange is sixth in hitting at .419.
The Seahawks are scheduled to throw lefthander Matt Batts (3-1/3.05 ERA) on Friday, righthander Jordan Ramsey (3-2/1.70 ERA) on Saturday and lefthander Christian MacDonald (2-0/ 4.30) on Sunday.
ODU will counter with junior righthander Dean Ali (1-1/2.18 ERA) on Friday, junior lefthander Ryan Yarbrough (1-2/4.82 ERA) on Saturday and junior lefthander Andy Roberts (1-1/2.30 ERA) in Sunday'sfinale.
Junior outfielder Ben Verlander leads the Monarchs in hitting at .443 which ranks him third in theCAA. He is also among the league leaders in total bases with 62, on base percentage at .473 and slugging percentage at .886. Sophomore leftfielder Josh Eldridge ranks 10th in the CAA with 21 RBI.Junior designated hitter Ben Slaton is second on the team with 16 RBI, while freshman centerfielder Connor Myers leads with six stolen bases.
Like UNCW, ODU has two pitchers ranked among the league's top 10. Dean Ali is fourth with a 2.18earned run average, while junior lefthander Andy Roberts is fifth at 2.30. Ali also has the second lowestopponent batting average, holding the opposition to a .200 average against him. His 32 strikeoutsis fifth best in the CAA, while senior reliever Brandon Smith is tied with William & Mary's MitchellAker in saves with five.