BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Old Dominion baseball team cruised to a doubleheader sweep of Florida Atlantic on Saturday afternoon, downing the Owls, 10-3 in game one and 8-2 in game two.
The Monarchs' 10th straight win improves their overall record to 24-5, including a 10-1 mark in conference play.
"I thought our guys played their tails off today," ODU head coach Chris Finwood explained. "All three parts of the game; pitching, hitting and defense. We had two really good starts by Nick Pantos and Hunter Gregory and a bunch of big at bats. It's so hard to win down here and I'm really proud of the total team effort!"
In game one of the doubleheader, both teams opened up with runs in the first inning. ODU took a 2-1 lead through the second inning following a sacrifice fly from shortstop Tommy Bell.
Freshman Carter Trice added a run for the Monarchs (24-5, 10-1 C-USA) in the fifth inning, scoring Kenny Levari, who reached base on a fielder's choice.
Thomas Wheeler jacked his second home run in as many days to lead off the sixth inning. Bell singled, Robby Barrientos was hit by pitch and Kyle Battle walked to load the bases. Bell capitalized off a wild pitch to score. The onslaught continued as Kenny Levari walked, and Trice walked to plate one run. Andy Garriola delivered an RBI single to extend ODU's lead to 6-1. Matt Coutney, Lincoln Ransom and Wheeler all added RBIs to grow the Monarchs' lead to 10-1, putting the game away for good.
Starting right-handed pitcher Pantos was solid on the mound as he struck out five batters in 5.0 innings of work. The junior allowed just three hits and one run during the outing.
Bullpen arm Joey DeChiaro tossed the final 2.0 innings of action, giving up two FAU (15-16, 4-7 C-USA) runs. The freshman struck out two batters in relief.
ODU fell behind early in game two of the doubleheader, trailing 2-0 through two innings of action. Trice's RBI double tied up the ball game, 2-2 as he sent home Levari. Garriola's RBI single, coupled with Coutney's three-run shot made it a 6-2 Monarch lead.
The Monarchs tacked on two insurance runs in the fifth for an 8-2 lead.
Gregory pitched his second-straight complete game as a Monarch. The Chesapeake, Virginia native struck out eight Owls, and pitched six scoreless frames after giving up two runs in the first inning.
On the day, Garriola went 3-for-6, knocking in two RBIs, while Coutney recorded five RBIs. ODU now has produced 54 home runs this season.
To view the C-USA standings, click here.
Up Next
ODU goes for their second C-USA series sweep at 10 a.m. tomorrow at FAU Baseball Stadium.
Baseball Clinches Series with Doubleheader Sweep over FAU
