CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Despite suffering through an hour and a 50 minute rain delay, Old Dominion closed the 2016 regular season with a 6-5 victory over red hot Marshall on Saturday at Appalachian Power Park. With the win, the Monarchs enter the Conference USA tournament with a 32-22 overall record and a 15-15 league mark. Marshall closed the year with a 32-19 record and a 21-9 record in conference play.
The rain delay began at 12:35 p.m. with the Monarchs leading 5-2 and lasted until 2:25 p.m. Following the delay, Marshall scored three runs on a homer and a wild pitch in the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game at 5-5. Chris Livers then came in to pinch hit for Turner Bishop to open the ninth inning and registered the biggest hit of his career with a solo home run to left field to give ODU the 6-5 edge. Relief pitcher Nick Hartman, who entered the game in the seventh, continued his strong outing and retired all three batters in the bottom of the frame to secure the win for the Monarchs.
The Monarchs jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the fourth inning, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Turner Bishop and a two-out two-run RBI single through the left side from Kyle Beam. Starting pitcher Culver Lamb did not allow Marshall to get a hit over the first three frames, but the Thundering Herd rebounded and scored two runs on two hits in the bottom of the fourth to pull within one run (3-2).
After a two-out infield single by Zach Rutherford, Connor Myers jacked his team-leading sixth home run of the season over the left field wall to give the Monarchs the 5-2 advantage before the rain delay started in the sixth inning.
Myers led the Monarchs with three hits in four at bats, including a two-run homer. Will Morgan also registered two hits, while Beam knocked in two runs. Two Marshall players registered two hits and two RBIs.
The Monarchs will be back in action in Hattiesburg, Miss. for the 2016 Conference USA Championship, starting on Wednesday. Both Old Dominion and FIU came away with wins today, as both teams finished the year with a 15-15 record. Due to ODU owning the tiebreaker after sweeping the Panthers, the Monarchs will enter the tournament as the No. 6 seed and FIU will be No. 7. The Monarchs will take on Rice or Southern Miss in the opening round. The bracket is set to be released by the conference office following the completion of the final game today.
ODU| 010 220 001 - 6 10 1
MAR| 000 202 100 - 5 7 0
ODU| Culver Lamb, Joey Benitez (5), Brett Smith (6), Nick Hartman (7)
MAR| JD Hammer, Caleb Ross (7), Wade Martin (7), Joshua Shapiro (8), Burris Warner (9)
Win| Nick Hartman (4-5)
Loss| Joshua Shapiro (4-5)
Save| None
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