CHARLESTON, WV—ODU seniors Ben Slaton and Tyler Urps each knocked in two runs to lead the Monarchs (29-20/15-13) to a 6-3 Conference USA victory over Marshall (20-26/10-15) Friday afternoon at the Appalachian Power Park.
ODU jumped out with four runs in the second on RBI hits from Connor Myers, Jordan Negrini, and Tyler Urps. Urps’ hit brought home Negrini and Myers to give ODU a 4-0 lead.
Marshall came back with three runs in the bottom of the second keyed by a two-run triple from Eric Escobedo, cutting the Monarchs lead to one.
In the ODU fifth inning, Nick Walker led off with a single and PJ Higgins singled with one out, with Josiah Burney walking to load the bases. Senior designated hitter Ben Slaton singled through the right side to bring home Higgins and Walker for a 6-3 ODU lead.
The Monarchs defense helped keep the Herd from scoring anymore runs. ODU turned two double plays and in the seventh inning with Marshall runners on first and second, Connor Myers threw out pinchhitter Chase Vogelbach at the plate while he was trying to score from second on Aaron Bossi’s two-out hit.
ODU had 11 hits on the day led by Nick Walker, PJ Higgins and Josh Eldridge with two each. Marshall also had 11 hits led by Robert Fajardo with three.
Senior righthander Dean Ali (5-2) picked up his fifth win of the season in relief and fellow senior reliever Brad Gero picked up his 10th save of the season for ODU. Relievers Ali, Conner Overton and Gero did not allow a run in the final five innings of play.
The two teams play Saturday in Charleston at 7 p.m. Listen to the game live on STAR1310 AM radio with Doug Ripley providing the play-by-play.
ODU 040 020 000=6-11-0
MAR 030 000 000=3-11-2
ODU- Harris, Ali(5), Overton(7), Gero(8) and Higgins & Perez(9)
MAR- Margaritonda, Thackston(6), Hopkins(8), Ross(9) and Reed
WP: Ali (5-2) LP: Margaritonda (2-6) Save: Gero (10)