RICHMOND, Va. -- The Old Dominion Baseball Monarchs defeated returning Super Regional participant, VCU, 3-1, on a warm Wednesday afternoon at The Diamond. ODU improved to 10-2 overall, the programs best start since 2006, while the Rams fell to 6-5 on the season.
Nick Lustrino and Zach Rutherford both went 2-for-4 on the day, with Rutherford driving in a run. Catcher Kurt Sinnen posted one hit, one run and one RBI in three at bats. Freshman pitcher Brett Smith earned the win for ODU, after pitching in 4.2 innings and fanning three. Nick Hartman picked up his third save of the year, as he closed the final two innings with three strikeouts.
After a scoreless two innings, the Monarchs lit up the scoreboard in the top of the third. With two outs, Connor Myers singled to right field and then stole second base to put himself in scoring position. Rutherford then followed with a double up the left field line to score Myers and put ODU on top, 1-0. ODU had a chance to put more runs on the board in the fourth inning, as the team had the bases loaded, but VCU pitcher Benjamin Dum forced a fly out to right field by Justin Hayes to end the inning.
VCU began to threaten in the sixth inning, but left two runners stranded on first and third. The Monarchs lit up the scoreboard again in the eighth inning after a lead-off home run by Kurt Sinnen.
The Rams scored their only run in the bottom of the eighth after Darian Carpenter hit a two-out homer to left field. In the final inning, ODU scored another run to hold a 3-1 lead. After Myers reached on a fielding error by the shortstop, Rutherford laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance him to second base. Nick Walker then followed with a single up the middle to score the speedy Myers.
VCU had a chance to score in the bottom of the inning, as Jimmy Kerrigan advanced to second base after a single and an error. Cody Acker grounded out to second base, but put Kerrigan on third in the process. Hartman ended the Rams’ threat by forcing a pop up and striking out the final batter.
Benjamin Dum suffered the loss for the Rams, going four innings with three hits, one run and one error. He also fanned three, but walked two batters.
The Baseball Monarchs are back in action this weekend, as the team travels to West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers for a three-game series starting on Friday at 3:00 p.m. The game will be streamed live here.
ODU | 001 000 011 - 392
VCU | 000 000 010 – 181
ODU | Brett Smith, Grayson Bailey (5), Thomas Busbice (6), Morgan Maguire (7), Nick Hartman (8)
VCU | Benjamin Dum, Matt Jamer (5), Jack Alkire (7), Michael Dailey (9)
Win | Smith (1-0)
Loss | Dum (2-1)
Save | Hartman (3)