MONARCHS SWEEP MARSHALL TO TAKE OVER FOURTH PLACE IN C-USA
CHARLESTON, WV—ODU senior lefthander Andy Roberts and junior righthander Victor Diaz pitched the Monarchs to a doubleheader sweep of Marshall as the Monarchs won 9-1 in game one and 8-3 in game two take over fourth place in Conference USA. ODU is 31-20 overall and 17-13 in C-USA, earned their first league three-game sweep of the season and have won six of the series.
In game one, the ODU Monarchs scored all nine runs on eight hits in the first inning to roll to a 9-1 C-USA victory. Junior catcher Mike Perez knocked in three runs and firstbaseman Josiah Burney knocked in two for ODU. Senior lefthander Andy Roberts (4-3) went the distance allowing only three hits with one walk and no strikeouts to improve his record to 4-3.
Marshall's lone run came on a solo homerun by pinchhitter Spencer Iacovone in the seventh inning.
The Monarchs ended up with nine hits on the day led by freshman Nick Walker and junior Taylor Ostrich who both had two hits and two runs scored.
In game two, Nick Walker led the game off with a homer, while Connor Myers knocked in three runs and Josh Eldridge added two runs in the Monarchs 8-3 win.
Marshall cut ODU’s lead to 3-2 in the second, but the Monarchs scored four in the third. Josiah Burney doubled home PJ Higgins, Josh Eldridge singled in Burney, and after Ben Slaton scored on an error, Brian Bashara doubled home Connor Myers to give the Monarchs a 7-2 lead. In the fourth, Myers singled in Higgins for an 8-2 lead.
Roberto Fajardo’s sacrifice fly brought home Jonathan Beary for the Thundering Herds final run of the game.
Victor Diaz pitched five innings for the win to run his record to 4-2. Dean Ali and Brad Gero pitched the final two innings of scoreless ball.
ODU pounded out 14 hits as Taylor Ostrich, PJ Higgins, Josiah Burney and Connor Myers each had two hits, while Josh Eldridge had three hits. Marshall was led by Johnathan Beary with two hits, while Corey Bird, Robert Fajardo and TJ Diffenderfer each knocked in a run.
The Monarchs return to action on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at VMI. Listen to the game live on STAR1310AM with Doug Ripley providing the play by play.
GM1
ODU 900 000 0=9-9-1
MAR 000 000 1=1-3-2
ODU- Roberts and Perez
MAR- Taylor, Hopkins(1), Ross(1), Elder(6), Kessler(7) and Reed
HR: Marshall-Iacovone(1)
WP: Roberts (4-3) LP: Taylor(3-7)
GM 2
ODU 304 100 0=8-14-0
MAR 110 010 0=3-4-1
ODU- Diaz, Ali(6), Gero(7) and Higgins
MAR-Boster, Thackston(3), Wilson(3), Blackburn(4),Stanley(4), Hunter(5), Sittinger (6)
HR-Walker(3)
WP: Diaz(4-3) LP: Boster (2-2)