HOUSTON, Texas -- Old Dominion baseball fell on the road to the Rice Owls, 3-1, on Friday night in game one of the series at Reckling Park. The Monarchs fell to 18-5 overall and 3-1 in the league, while Rice improved to 12-9 and 3-1 in Conference USA action.
Old Dominion scored first, putting up one run in the top of the second inning. Turner Bishop led off with a single up the middle and Jason McMurray reached first on a dropped fly by the right fielder. With two outs on the board, Grey Finwood singled to center field to push Bishop home and give ODU the 1-0 advantage.
The Owls made a push in the fourth inning and had a chance to have runners on first and second with two outs, but Nick Lustrino executed the perfect fake throw to end the threat. He conceded the infield hit when he saw the runner at first take off pre-pitch and then tagged him on his way to third base.
Rice took the lead from ODU (2-1) in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two runs. Charlie Warren singled through the left side and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cody Staab. Ryan Chandler then singled and advanced to second on the throw, but an errant throw by Justin Hayes allowed Warren to score and move Chandler to third. Ford Proctor followed with a blooper to left to score Chandler and give Rice the lead, one that it wouldn’t relinquish.
The Owls added one more run in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Zach Rutherford made a diving snag on a low line drive to short to record the last out, leaving three stranded for Rice. During the Monarchs last chance to try and make a run, starting pitcher Jon Duplantier recorded three strikeouts to end the game.
Duplantier and the Owls’ defense retired 20-of-22 ODU batters from the third inning on, as they held on to the 3-1 victory. Bishop, Finwood and Hayes each finished 1-for-3 on the night, with Finwood recording the lone RBI.
Sam Sinnen was hit with the loss, as he allowed two runs in 5.1 innings. He finished his time on the mound with six hits and two strikeouts. Duplantier earned the win, pitching a complete game with 11 strikeouts.
The Monarchs are back in action tomorrow at 3 p.m. (ET) at Reckling Park against the Rice Owls for game two. The game can be viewed through riceowls.com, while live stats can be found here. The contest will also be broadcasted on STAR 1310 AM in Hampton Roads and on Monarch Media with Doug Ripley again on the call.
ODU | 010 000 000 | 1 3 1
Rice | 000 002 01X | 3 9 1
ODU | Sam Sinnen, Jake Josephs (6), Culver Lamb (7)
Rice | Jon Duplantier
Win | Jon Duplantier (2-2)
Loss | Same Sinnen (2-1)
Save | None
Follow Old Dominion Baseball on Twitter (@ODUBaseball) and find them on Facebook at facebook.com/ODUBaseball.