By Harry Minium
COLUMBIA, S.C. - It was a gut-wrenching game, where every pitch, every at bat, every ground ball mattered.
Old Dominion University and the University of South Carolina matched off in a tense, three hour pitching duel Saturday night at Founders Park, and although ODU's stock in trade has been its powerful bats, it was the Monarch pitching staff that gave ODU one of the biggest victories in school history.
Riding the shoulders of starter Ryne Moore, who pitched seven brilliant innings, the Monarchs defeated the Gamecocks 2-1 before a raucous crowd of 7,315, the largest ever to see an ODU team play.
Old Dominion (44-14) is one victory away from a berth in the super regional, or what in basketball parlance would be called the Sweet 16. The Monarchs meet Virginia Sunday night at 6. If ODU wins, the Monarchs advance to their first super regional ever. If the Cavaliers win, ODU and U.Va. will play again Monday night, with the winner going to the super regional.
Virginia defeated South Carolina Sunday afternoon to advance to Sunday's game.
Coach Chris Finwood said the Monarchs needed a great performance from Moore after he went deep into his bullpen in Friday's 4-3 victory over Jacksonville, and the junior from Limerick, Pennsylvania delivered.
Moore threw 121 pitches, struck out eight, allowed three hits and only one run in seven innings. And he forced a flyout in the bottom of the seven to get out of the inning with the bases loaded.
"That was a 'For the Love of the Game' movie type moment," Finwood said. "He just kept making big pitch after big pitch. He's been fantastic for the the last five weeks. I can't say enough good things about him.
"He's been an absolute warrior out there. What a gutsy, gusty performance."
ODU took the lead in the top of the eighth on a rare pitching error from starter Thomas Farr, a highly-regarded Major League Baseball prospect who also threw well.
Kenny Levari and Carter Trice began the inning with singles and moved to second and third on a Brock Gagliardi groundout.
With two outs, South Carolina elected to send Matt Coutney to first to avoid his strong bat. He homered for ODU in the second inning.
But with Farr tiring, shortstop Tommy Bell took the count to 3-2 and was walked, scoring Levari.
Bell earned the walk, Finwood said.
"It was a veteran at bat," he said. "He laid off of a few low breaking balls.
"He had a good swing on a foul ball and got down two strikes and just battled."
Aaron Holiday, who had been struggling this season, then came in to relieve Moore, and claimed the save.
Holiday struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth.
He hit Brady Allen with a pitch in the bottom of the ninth and then advanced him to second on a passed ball.
But with South Carolina fans standing and screaming, he struck out Andrew Eyster to win the game, and begin a loud celebration among the 500 or so ODU fans who made the trip to Columbia.
"Aaron Holiday the last two outings has been the guy we envisioned him to be since he came here," Finwood said.
"It's been an up and down journey. But I was just watching him with smoke coming out of his ears in the eighth and ninth.
"That's what coaching is all about. That kid has struggled and he just got it figured out. And he picked a good time to get it figured out."
Although ODU is seeded No. 11 in the NCAA Tournament, this victory was almost certainly considered surprising in many corners.
South Carolina was playing at home, and there are few programs with a better baseball resume. South Carolina is an SEC team, with two national championships, 32 NCAA Tournament appearances and seven East Division SEC titles.
ODU hadn't won a league title in 25 seasons until last week and entering the Columbia regional, had not won an NCAA tournament game in 26 years.
And yet the Monarchs prevailed, under difficult circumstances.
The crowd booed, chided and generally gave the Monarchs a hard time, and as Finwood predicted would be the case, that did not faze them.
In fact, Moore said the crowd juiced him up, especially when Gamecock fans got on him.
"This was one of the biggest crowds I've ever played in front of and I was just having a blast out there," he said.
"The crowd was just awesome. I loved that stuff. When you come to college, this is the kind of crowd you want to play in front of. It was just unreal. I was locked in from the first pitch and trusted these guys behind me."
The Gamecocks scratched out their only run in the fourth inning, in part because of unforced errors by ODU.
With one out, Braylen Wimmer doubled, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Colin Burgess was then hit by a pitch, leaving runners at the corners. Joe Satterfield then hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Wimmer.
Moore then struck out George Callil on a called third strike.
ODU threatened in the top of the six, putting two men on base with two outs. Kyle Battle then walked to load the bases. But Levari grounded out to first and the Monarchs stranded three baserunners.
An inning later, Coutney lofted a towering fly ball to right field that a day earlier, would have cleared the outfield fence. But the wind direction changed during the day, blowing from right to left, and that was enough to keep the ball in play by a few feet.
ODU had another scoring chance in the top of the seventh, when Thomas Wheeler doubled to left center with two outs. Battle then smashed a sharply-hit ball to right field, right to Eyster, who gloved it with no problem.
But then came the game-winning run.
ODU fans cheered and shouted the "ODU, ODU" chant for 20 or so minutes as the South Carolina crowd filed out.
"Our fans were fantastic," Finwood said. "I think they really helped us. They were all here right behind our dugout.
"They were as loud as they can be."
Finwood said he feels a groundwell of support from ODU fans which the school hasn't experienced since before the pandemic shut down the University and college sports for much of the last 15 months.
"I can't say enough about how much that support means to these guys," Finwood said. "I know our fans are having a blast.
"To see the school year, and everything we went through with COVID, it's really gratifying for us to be the team that's bringing everybody back.
"Everyone's enjoying it and partying and tailgating before the games. It does my heart good to see everyone out. It feels a lot more normal.
"It's been a long year. For us to be the stewards of that is pretty special. We're grateful for that."
Game Notes
Matt Coutney became the fourth Monarch in double-figures in homers with his 10th of the year … The previous largest crowd for ODU came in 2015, when the Monarchs drew 6,029 when they hosted Virginia at Harbor Park … Tommy Bell's RBI walk in the eighth was just his 12th of the season and was hit by a pitch for a team-leading 18th time … It was the second time this season won a game 2-1, defeating Ball State by the same score on March 14. The 121 pitches by Ryne Moore were the most in his career, while the eight strikeouts were a season-high … Carter Trice record a single and a double for his 23rd multi-hit game of the season … Holiday did not allow a hit in two innings, striking out four to earn his first save of the season.
Minium worked 39 years at The Virginian-Pilot, where he was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and won 28 state and national writing awards. He writes news stories, features and commentaries for odusports.com and odu.edu Follow him on Twitter @Harry_MiniumODU, Instagram @hbminium1 or email hminium@odu.edu
ODU Baseball Team Rides the Shoulders of Ryne Moore to Claim 2-1 victory over South Carolina
