NORFOLK, Va. -- Will Morgan got one final good swing out of his old bat.
Morgan's broken-bat RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning broke a 1-1 tie and gave Old Dominion (8-11, 1-2 C-USA) a 2-1 victory over Florida Atlantic in the series finale on Sunday at the Bud Metheny Complex.
"That was an older bat that he'd been trying to save," said head coach Chris Finwood about Morgan. "I told him he retired it in style with that game-winning RBI. That was big for us."
In a pitchers' duel between Morgan Maguire and FAU's Vince Coletti, Florida Atlantic (15-5, 2-1 C-USA) struck first, scoring a run on a wild pitch in the fourth inning. The Owls carried that lead into the seventh, until Tommy Bell's bases-loaded, two-out RBI single tied the game.
Then in the eighth, Bryce Windham drew a walk and Vinnie Pasquantino advanced him to third with a single. Morgan then delivered the game-winning knock.
Hunter Gregory tossed two shutout innings in the eighth and ninth to earn the win. Maguire, who posted his third straight quality start, allowed one unearned run in 6.1 innings, while striking out six.
"I thought Mo pitched really well for us," said Finwood. "He's been probably our most consistent starter."
Isaiah Nelson bridged the gap between Maguire and Gregory with 0.2 innings of perfect relief.
"We were looking for guys to step up out of the bullpen and today we got that," said Finwood.
Up next, the Monarchs host Princeton for a two-game midweek series. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 6 p.m.
Postgame thoughts from @CoachFinny5. #Monarchs pic.twitter.com/m3JMaJKmsb
— Old Dominion Baseball (@ODUBaseball) March 18, 2018
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