BOWLING GREEN, KY—Western Kentucky (9-9/2-1) erupted for seven runs in the fifth to defeat Old Dominion Sunday, 9-5 in the third and final game of the C-USA series, and winning two of the three games. ODU junior designated hitter Derek Francis (Manhattan, KS.), senior outfielder Josh Eldridge (Lorton, VA.) and sophomore outfielder Connor Myers (Middletown, MD.) had two hits each for ODU (8-7/1-2).
The Monarchs took a 3-1 lead in the second inning when sophomore Nick Walker’s (Virginia Beach, VA.) RBI sacrifice fly plated Josh Eldridge. Francis then belted his first homer as a Monarch, a two-run shot to make it 3-1 with senior catcher Mike Perez (Fairfax Station, VA.) aboard.
WKU scored seven runs on eight hits in the fifth highlighted by a two-run RBI double by catcher Ryan Messex. Firstbaseman Ryan Church led WKU with three hits and three RBI’s, followed by Phillip Diedrick with three hits.
ODU added a run in the sixth when Josh Eldridge stole third and came home on a throwing error and in the seventh, Taylor Ostrich’s (Carroll, IA.) sacrifice fly RBI plated shortstop Jason McMurray (Des Moines, IA.). Josh Eldridge hit .636 (7-11) in the series for ODU.
The Monarchs return home to host VMI Tuesday and Wednesday at 6 p.m., then 10th ranked Rice comes to town for a three-game C-USA series beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
ODU 030 001 100=5-9-4
WKU 100 070 10x=9-14-5
ODU-Hartman, Matheson(5), S.Sinnen(5),Bainbridge (6), Busbice(7), Rutherford(8) and Perez
WKU – A.King, Elder(6), Thurston(8), Morrison(9) and Messex
WP: King(1-1) LP: Sinnen(1-1)
HR:ODU- Francis(1)