NORFOLK, Va. – Chris Finwood's Old Dominion (1-0, 0-0 CUSA) baseball team opened the 2020 season with a 9-5 win over Towson at Bud Metheny Baseball Complex on Friday. In a game that saw momentum see-saw between the two teams, the six-run fourth inning by the Monarchs was the key to the victory.
After Towson scored in the first, ODU answered with a single run in the second when Austin LaFollette singled home Tommy Bell. The score remained tied until the fourth when the Monarchs tallied six times, starting with three straight singles with one out. The third single by Matt Burch, scored Chris Dengler. After a walk loaded the bases, Matt Coutney singled home two runs as Kyle Battle and Burch both scored. Bell followed with ODU's fifth base hit of the inning, pushing Ryan Teschko across the plate. A fielding error on Brock Gagliardi's grounder allowed Courtney to score, and Jared Hancock accounted for the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly, scoring Bell. ODU led 7-1 at that point.
The pesky Tigers would not go away, scoring single tallies in the fifth and sixth innings and two runs in the seventh to narrow the ODU lead to 7-5. The Monarchs added a pair of insurance runs in the eight to wrap up the scoring. In that eighth inning, Hancock had an infield single, scoring Teschko from third. Bell, who advanced to third on the play, scored on a passed ball.
"It was a good ballgame, probably a closer game than 9-5. We got a couple in the bottom of the eighth to break it open," explained head coach Chris Finwood. "I thought we played ok. I know the guys were excited offensively. It wasn't a great day to hit and we scored nine runs, but the game was won because we played better defense than them."
Towson was charged with three errors and a passed ball in the contest while the Monarchs played error-free. Junior Hunter Gregory got the opening day starting nod and pitched 4.1 innings with six strikeouts. Four other Monarch pitchers saw action for ODU with Aaron Holiday reliving Gregory in the fifth and getting the win. Noah Dean pitched the final two innings without allowing a run and recording four strikeouts to get the save. Overall, the pitching staff for ODU had 16 strikeouts and gave up six walks. ODU had 10 base hits to Towson's nine. The Monarchs also benefited from seven walks. Towson starter Josh Seils went 3.1 innings and took the loss. Seven Monarchs had base hits in the opener with Bell and Dengler each getting two. Coutney and Hancock each had two RBI.
The three-game series will continue Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. with Ryne Moore as the projected starter for ODU.