ODU MONARCHS (22-15/10-8) Vs. UTSA Roadrunners (25-12/10-5)
Bud Metheny Baseball Complex - Located on 43rd street & Parker Avenue
Thursday (6:05 p.m.) Friday (6:05 pm.) Saturday (12 noon) all times are Eastern
BARK IN THE PARK ON SATURDAY
Bring your dog to the game – Free ODU travel dog bowl for first 300 fans in the gate
SPCA Donations being accepted in the form of canned pet food, cat litter, detergent, paper towels & Bleach. $2 off adult ticket with donation of supplies.
Tickets: $5 adults $4 for Faculty Staff, children, & Military
$3 for groups of 10 or more
NORFOLK, VA—The ODU Monarchs (22-15/10-8) host the second place Roadrunners of UTSA (25-12/10-5) in a three-game C-USA series beginning Thursday at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex. Thursday and Friday evening games at 6:00 p.m., while Saturday contest will begin at 12 noon.
The Roadrunners are led by thirdbaseman RJ Perucki with a .352 batting average along with 50 total hits, three homers and 33 RBI. Firstbaseman Mike Warren is hitting .331 with 35 RBI and Centerfielder Jesse Baker is hitting .288 with a team best five homers and 31 RBI. In C-USA, Warren ranks second in the league in RBI while Baker is second in homers, and third in stolen bases (9). As a team, UTSA is hitting .289.
The Roadrunners expected to start righthander Brock Hartson (3-1/1.88) on Thursday, lefthander Nolan Trabanino (6-1/1.78) on Saturday. Sunday’s starter has not been determined. Relievers Logan Onda (2-1/2.62) and Matt Sims (2-3/3.86) are tied for third in C-USA in saves with five each. As a team, UTSA has a 2.52 team ERA.
This is the first ever meeting between the two schools in baseball.
The Monarchs enter the game with one of the nation's top defenses at .978 which ranks 18th.
Sophomore PJ Higgins is hitting .346 with 24 RBI and 30 runs scored along with a team best
14 doubles. Higgins leads C-USA in total hits with 55. Taylor Ostrich is second at .317, Nick Walker at .309 and Josiah Burney at .306. Ben Slaton has three homers with a .294 batting average, and Jordan Negrini is at .299 with 16 RBI.
Burney leads ODU and is tied with FIU's Garcia in homers with six. He also leads C-USA in slugging at .602 and ranks fourth in RBI with 32.
On the mound, senior lefthander Andy Roberts has a 2.77 earned run average to go with his 3-0 record will get the nod on Thursday, while fellow senior lefthander Ryan Yarbrough is 4-4 with a 2.96 ERA will start on Saturday. Junior righthander Victor Diaz (1-2/ 3.11) is scheduled to start on Saturday afternoon.
ODU reliver Brad Gero has six saves with a 3.16 ERA, while Dean Ali is 4-2 with a 4.83 ERA, followed by Connor Overton at 1-1 with a 284 ERA. As a team, ODU is hitting .284 overall with 14 homeruns and a 3.48 team ERA with two shutouts. As a team, ODU is hitting .284 with a team ERA of 3.48.
COMPARING THE TEAMS
ODU UTSA
Hitting: .284 .289
Runs : 223 222
2B: 78 73
3B: 8 9
HR: 14 19
BB: 138 139
SO: 222 234
SB: 30-42 25-43
FLD: .978 .972
ERA: 3.48 2.52
CG: 1 2
SHO: 2 4
SAV: 10 10
C-USA STANDINGS
Rice 13-15 26-13
UAB 10-5 24-12
UTSA 10-5 25-12
So.Miss 10-5 21-17
ECU 9-6 21-15
FIU 10-8 26-10
ODU 10-8 22-15
Midd.Tenn 8-7 18-19
Marshall 8-9 14-20
FIU 7-11 19-16
Tulane 6-11 15-20
LA Tech 4-14 10-24
Charlotte 2-13 9-24-1
GAMES THIS WEEKEND
Tulane at Charlotte
Midd. Tenn. at ECU
West Va. Tech at Marshall
FAU at FIU
LA Tech at Southern Miss.
UAB at Rice