RICHMOND, Va. – The Old Dominion (14-4) baseball team remained undefeated on the road as the Monarchs picked up a 5-3 win over VCU (9-10) on Tuesday afternoon. Trailing 3-1, freshman Carter Trice delivered a two-run double to tie up the ball game, 3-3 in the sixth inning. Tommy Bell and Ryan Teschko each plated Monarchs in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, to secure ODU's in-state win over the Rams.
"It was a good ball game. I was proud of our guys for hanging in there and coming back to get another road win against a good team," expressed ODU head coach Chris Finwood. "We pitched and defended very well and finally got a couple big hits. Trice's two RBI double to tie the game in the sixth was huge for us. The bullpen was outstanding throwing seven shutout innings!"
Brad Dobzanski earned his first victory as a Monarch, striking out two Rams in one inning of work. Freshman Noah Dean picked up his second save of the season.
VCU struck first, jumping out to a three-run lead in the second inning. Matt Coutney earned ODU's first run of the game with a fielder's choice in the top of the fourth inning to close the deficit to two.
Kyle Battle singled and Kenny Levari walked to put two Monarchs in scoring position in the seventh. Trice's double sent the two Monarchs through home plate. In the eighth, Bell sent a single to left field to bring in pinch runner Dominick Claxton. In the ninth, following singles from Levari and Trice, Teschko delivered a sacrifice fly to tack on the final run of the ball game.
Aaron Holiday, Joey Rodriguez, Joey DeChiaro, Dobzanski, Jason Hartline and Dean were on the hill in relief to combine for seven innings of scoreless baseball.
Trice, the Mechanicsville, Virginia native went 2-for-5 with two RBIs, while Levari had two hits and two runs, going 2-for-4.
ODU boasts a 7-1 mark over in-state opponents this season. Additionally, with the win, Finwood is now just one victory away from reaching 500 head coaching wins.
Edwin Serrano was charged the loss for the Rams.
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Up Next
ODU opens up Conference USA play on Friday, March 26 as the Monarchs welcome FIU to the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex for a four-game series. All the action can be heard on the ODU Sports Radio Network and streamed on CUSA.tv.
Baseball Powers Past VCU, 5-3
Keith Lucas