NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion (4-0) baseball team is off to its best start since 2007 and is back in action this weekend, as the program hosts the ODU Baseball Tournament. The Monarchs welcome the Manhattan Jaspers, Virginia Tech Hokies and the Delaware Blue Hens, with all the action happening at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday, Feb. 26
Delaware vs. Virginia Tech (12PM)
Ron Marinaccio (RHP) vs. Packy Naughton (LHP)
ODU vs. Manhattan (4PM)
Sam Sinnen (RHP) vs. Tom Cosgrove (LHP)
Saturday, Feb. 27
Manhattan vs. Delaware (12PM)
TBA vs. Brandon Walter (LHP)
ODU vs. Virginia Tech (4PM)
Jake Josephs (LHP) vs. Kit Scheetz (LHP)
Sunday, Feb. 28
Virginia Tech vs. Manhattan (11AM)
TBA vs. TBA
ODU vs. Delaware (3PM)
Adam Bainbridge (LHP) vs. Burk Fitzpatrick (RHP)
TICKET INFORMATION
Fans that are planning on traveling to Norfolk can purchase tickets the day of the game at the stadium for just $5. ODU baseball voucher books are also on sale. Each voucher book contains 30 vouchers to attend any of the Monarchs' home games this season for just $50. It’s the best value around and you won’t be searching for tickets when it comes time for the Monarchs to host teams like National Champion UVA at Harbor Park. Fans can purchase a voucher book at ynottix.com!
HOW TO TUNE IN
Fans not able to make the trip can watch all of the games live on Monarch Media through odusports.com. It is a paid service and fans can purchase a package to watch the games. Live stats will also be available for all games once the desired contest begins.
ABOUT ODU
The Baseball Monarchs have started the season in spectacular fashion and head into the weekend with perfect 4-0 record after defeating Norfolk State 5-3 on Tuesday on a cold rainy night. The start marks the best for Old Dominion since the team went 4-0 to start the 2007 season.ODU has allowed just six runs in 36 innings and has a pitching staff that holds a 1.25 ERA.Opponents are hitting just .206 against the Monarchs and have hit for extra bases just four times.Sam Sinnen, Jake Josephs, Adam Bainbridge and Joey Benitez have all recorded a win for ODU, while Nick Hartman and Nate Matheson have both notched a save.
Connor Myers and Nick Walker have done a great job leading off for Old Dominion, and have combined for 12 hits, 10 runs and 19 RBI. Walker leads the team with a .462 average, while Myers is not far behind with a .375 mark. Newcomer Kyle Beam also hits .375 for the Monarchs and joins Myers as the only players to knock one out of the park this season. As a team, ODU hits .351 and has already stolen 14 bases out of 19 attempts.
SCOUTING MANHATTAN (0-0)
The Monarchs take on Manhattan on Friday for the Jaspers first game of the season, which also marks the first time these two teams will meet in program history. Manhattan went 18-34 overall and 9-15 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) last season and were recently picked sixth in the MAAC Preseason Poll. Manhattan returns 21 letterwinners, including the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Christian Santisteban who hit .301 as a junior with 53 hits, 14 doubles, three triples, two home runs an 28 RBI. He concluded his collegiate season with a First Team All-MAAC selection and was named the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League Player of the Year after he paced the circuit in hits (58), OBP (.532), slugging percentage (.591), OPS (1.123) and walks (43). He also ranked second in batting average (.377) and RBI (38), while ranking third in home runs (6) and runs (41).
Jim Duffy enters his fifth year at the helm of the Manhattan baseball program. During his time in Riverdale, he has led the Jaspers to the 2012 MAAC Championship and a subsequent NCAA Regional berth as well as a pair of conference tournament appearances. Duffy came to Manhattan after seven seasons as an assistant coach at Seton Hall, where he helped the Pirates win the BIG EAST championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament in 2011.
Projected Starter: Tom Cosgrove (LHP, So., 1-5, 4.94 ERA) 2015 Stats
Over his freshman season, Cosgrove went 1-5 with 40 strikeouts and an ERA of 4.94 over 54.2 innings of work. The Staten Island native highlighted his rookie season with 7.0 scoreless innings in a victory at Rutgers, earning him MAAC Rookie of the Week honors.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH (2-2)
The Hokies are making an appearance at the Bud for the first time in 16 years. The last time Virginia Tech traveled to Norfolk was March 14-15, 2000 and took two from the Monarchs, 15-3 and 3-2.The last time these two teams met was in 2007 at the Coastal Carolina Tournament, where the Monarchs came out on top, 10-3. The Hokies lead the overall series, 56-17, including a 26-10 edge on the road.
This season, Virginia Tech holds a 2-2 record after defeating East Tennessee State, 11-0, for its second straight shutout of the year. The win was part of the first back-to-back shutouts since May of 2012 for the Hokies. Andrew McDonald, who missed last season due to an injury, earned the first win of his career after pitching four innings with one strikeout. Phil Sciretta leads the team overall with a .444 batting average, eight hits, two runs and four RBI. On the mound, Kit Scheetz and McDonald both have a 1-0 record with a 0.00 ERA, while Scheetz leads the team with six strikeouts and a 0.91 batting average.
Patrick Mason is in his third season as the Hokies’ head coach, after being hired on June 27, 2013. He became the 24th head baseball coach at the school, but just the fifth in the last 66 years of the program. Mason was promoted to the position of associate head coach at Tech in the fall of 2012, as had served as the pitching game coordinator and recruiting coordinator in his three seasons prior to his promotion. Last season, Mason guided the Hokies to an eighth-place finish in the ACC and a berth into the league’s championship tournament. He also coached Tech’s first Academic All-American in more than 10 years.
Projected Starter: Kit Scheetz (LHP, RJr., 1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Scheetz appeared in 11 games, making nine starts, which was third most on the team last season. He posted a 5.22 ERA in a total of 50.0 innings, struck out 30 batters, walked 14 and posted a 3-4 record. This season he picked up a win in his first start of the year against The Citadel and allowed just two hits and no runs in 6.2 innings. He also posted six strikeouts and walked just one batter.
SCOUTING DELAWARE (2-1)
The Blue Hens are the Monarchs’ last opponent of the weekend and ODU holds a slight 16-15 advantage in the all-time series. Delaware posted a 26-24 record last year and advanced to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament for the fourth straight year. The Blue Hens were picked sixth in the CAA Coaches Preseason Poll and returned just one starter, Diaz Nardo. Nardo earned Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American honors in 2015 when he hit .281 with five home runs and a team-high 35 RBI.
Delaware will come to the Bud with a 2-1 record in 2016, after taking on Stetson in Deland, Fla. last weekend. In the last game against the Hatters, the Blue Hens recorded 20 hits and scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning to secure a 12-10 victory. All nine starters recorded a hit for Delaware, including leftfielder Jordan Glover who finished 5-for-6 with two runs scored and three RBI. Austin Niggebrugge went 4-for-5 with three runs, while Kevin Mohollen added three hits, two runs and a pair of RBI.
Delaware Athletics Hall of Fame member, Jim Sherman, is now in his 16th year as the head coach of the Blue Hens baseball program. Sherman, who was inducted into the Delaware Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008, the Delaware Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Cape Cod Summer Baseball League Hall of Fame in 2012, is the 15th head coach in UD history and just the third since 1956. He has compiled a 443-372 record and a 196-181 mark in league play. He has led the Blue Hens to the conference tournament 10 times over his 15 years, guiding the team to the league’s championship game four times with an America East title and NCAA Tournament berth in 2001 and CAA runner-up finishes in 2004, 2007 and 2012.
Projected Starter: Burk Fitzpatrick (RHP, Jr., 0-0, 9.00 ERA)
Fitzpatrick transferred to Delaware from the University of Maine, where he appeared in 16 games and finished with a 1-0 record in 2014. He sat out last season with the Blue Hens and made his first appearance in the 12-10 win over Stetson on Feb. 21. He pitched four innings and allowed four hits and six runs.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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