MIAMI, Fla. -- Old Dominion recorded its first Conference USA road series sweep since taking down Marshall in 2014 with an 11-1 victory over FIU on Sunday afternoon at the FIU Baseball Stadium.The Monarchs improved to 23-10 overall and 6-6 in C-USA, while FIU fell to 15-19 on the season and 4-8 in league play.
Jason McMurray led ODU with a 2-for-4 showing with one run and two RBIs. Connor Myers continued his strong weekend with two runs and two RBIs after going 1-for-3. Adam Bainbridge earned the win after going 5.0 innings with three hits and three strikeouts.
The Monarchs continued their trend of scoring in the first inning to take an early lead after putting two runs on the board. Nick Walker led off with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With the bases loaded, Walker scored the first run on a wild pitch, giving Myers the chance to score Zach Rutherford as he grounded out to short for his 20th RBI of the season.
ODU left four runners stranded from the second to the fourth inning, but scored another run to take a 3-0 lead with a solo shot to left field by Myers, his fourth homer of the year. Bainbridge shutout the Panthers during his time on the mound before being spelled by Nick Hartman in the sixth inning.
Hartman picked up right where Bainbridge left off and retired 6-of-8 batters he faced over the next two innings, including three strikeouts. The Monarchs’ bats came alive in the top of the eighth inning, as the team scored eight more runs. Old Dominion faced three different pitchers during the inning, but adjusted to each pitcher’s style and registered four hits and two walks.
Hartman was spelled in the eighth by Brett Smith after he pitched 2.2 innings and allowed just three hits and fanned three. The Panthers managed to score one run in the bottom of the eighth, but the game still ended early, as the Monarchs held a 10 point lead (11-1) at the conclusion of the frame. The C-USA travel day rule states that if a team is winning by 10-plus runs after the seventh inning on Sunday, the game ends.
The Monarchs will be back in action on Tuesday at William & Mary at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed through tribeathletics.com, while live stats will be available here once the contest begins. Fans can also tune in on STAR 1310 to the radio broadcast with Ted Alexander and Doug Ripley on the call. ODU defeated the Tribe, 7-1, on April 12 at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex to move to 8-3 against W&M under head coach Chris Finwood.
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