By Harry Minium
COLUMBIA, S.C. - A remarkable baseball season in which Old Dominion University claimed so many firsts, won so many big games and went farther than any team in ODU's 90 years, came to a heartbreaking end Tuesday.
The Monarchs fought hard in a pressure-cooker, tug of war game in which every pitch counted, but fell to the University of Virginia, 4-3, in the Columbia Regional final at the University of South Carolina's Founders Park.
With two outs and no on one base in the bottom of the 10th inning, Devin Ortiz drilled a walk-off home run over the left field fence, bringing a long and dramatic season to a sudden end for the Monarchs.
Virginia (33-24) goes on to meet Dallas Baptist this weekend in the Columbia Super Regional, also at Founders Park.
ODU (44-16) goes home after perhaps the greatest season in ODU history. The Monarchs have much to be proud of. They won their first Conference USA title and their first league title of any kind in 25 years. They were ranked as high as seventh nationally in the NCAA RPI and played in their first regional championship game.
And they entered the tournament as the nation's No. 11 seed.
The Monarchs dedicated their season to Coach Chris Finwood after his wife died in April, and he choked up when talking about how much they did to support him.
"They lifted me up," he said. "Instead of me taking care of them, they took care of me."
"What a fantastic group of young men. There are a lot of cliches, leave it on the field, empty the tank, and they certainly apply to this team."
Most of ODU's players were in tears at game's end.
"It's hard at these moments for young people to have perspective," Finwood said. "But it's supposed to hurt. They eventually will have that perspective and realize that the friendships they made on this team will last a lifetime.
"Baseball games come to and end. The friendships never do."
The game was postponed from Monday by rain, and in hindsight, Finwood said he's glad it was, because the game was televised nationally by ESPN2.
"Millions of people watched the game today," he said. "We were the only game on TV.
"They saw the passion and love this team plays with. You don't get that without having to go through all the things they had to go through to play this year."
ODU's 2020 season was cut short by the pandemic and the Monarchs spent much of the last year in a "bubble" in which their social lives consisted of only seeing each other.
"The closeness that we built I think helped us have a special year and win a conference championship," he said.
"I hope this will be the vessel that helps them to become successful in their lives, that they become great husbands and great fathers."
A team that had good pitching but lived most on the strength of its powerful bats, ODU simply couldn't produce enough runs against a Virginia pitching staff that pitched valiantly. Stephen Schoch, who got the save in relief against South Carolina on Sunday, got the win Tuesday.
Ortiz, Virginia's designated hitter most of the season, began the game with four shutout innings, double the number innings he had thrown this year.
Starter Hunger Gregory pitched as well as he has all season, shutting U.Va. for five innings by retiring the first 16 batters he faced. The Monarchs got two hits in the first five innings and stranded five baserunners, but a team that outscored its opponents by 188 this season could not plate anyone.
They finally scratched in the top of the sixth, when Carter Trice, the freshman from Mechanicsville Virginia, singled sharply to second and then advanced to second when a hurried throw went over the first baseman's head. Trice stole third and then scored on a single from Brock Gagliardi, who placed the ball right where he needed to.
Gagliardi is a pull hitter, and Virginia had the shift on, with the shortstop behind second base and the second baseman to short right field. Gagliardi scooted a grounder to right where the shortstop usually plays, scoring Trice.
Virginia finally broke Gregory's perfect game with one out in the bottom of the sixth, when Logan Michaels laced a double to left field. Finwood then called on reliever Jason Hartline and forced Chris Newell to ground out and struck out Jake Gelof to end the inning.
Virginia tied things up in the bottom of the seventh, when Nic Kent hit into an apparent double play, which scored Max Cotier from third. The umpires looked at the replay and reversed the double play, ruling Kent was safe.
That left runners on the corners, with one out, and Alex Tappen grounded a single through the left side, scoring Kyle Teel and giving the Cavaliers a 2-1 lead.
Finwood called on closer Noah Dean to shut down the rally, which he did, striking out Gelof and forcing a Michaels flyout.
ODU retook the lead in the top of the eighth. After Kyle Battle and Andy Garriola walked, Gagliardi drilled a single to center field, scoring Battle. Matt Coutney loaded the bases reaching on an error by the second baseman.
Tommy Bell then singled to center field, scoring Garriola. Finwood signaled Gagliardi to try and score but he was thrown out at the plate.
Nonetheless, ODU led, 3-2, and was just six outs away from the regional title.
Alas, Schoch, the 6-foot-5, bearded, and fiery side-armed senior, didn't allow a hit the rest of the way.
Dean got the first out on a Newell flyout but walked Gelof before striking out Cotier. Teel singled, bringing Ortiz, who pitched four scoreless innings for the Cavaliers before being moved back to designated hitter, to the plate.
Ortiz walked on a wild pitch, which allowed Gelof to score, knotting the score at 3-3.
ODU then called on Aaron Holliday, who picked up the save against South Carolina, to extinguish the rally, which he did, forcing Tappen to fly out.
Holiday was firing heat, with his fastball clocking in at 98 miles per hour, and threw well. He allowed only one hit – the game winner from Ortiz.
Holiday was in tears after the game and Finwood went out of his way to console him.
"I told him that he pitched great," he said. "I told him that he didn't let us down."
Finwood said that when one of his teams "dog piles on the mound" to celebrate a regional title, "it will be on the back of this team.
"They fought their tails off until the very end.
"You can't ever count out someone who won't give up. Our guys never gave up."
Game Notes
ODU finished the season with a record of 44-16, its most wins since a 43-16 campaign in 1986 … Gregory pitched 5.1 innings and allowed just the one hit … Bell and Gagliardi each had two his for the Monarchs … Kyle Battle walked twice to tie Ron Walker for the ODU single-season record for walks in a season with 56 … Battle's 18 homers this season are tied for the second most in ODU history.
ODU Drops a Heartbreaker to Virginia, Which Wins Columbia Regional Final on a Walk-Off Home Run
