NORFOLK, Va. – The No. 24-ranked Old Dominion baseball team supplied the power on Friday, hitting seven home runs in a doubleheader sweep of Stony Brook. The Monarchs (12-1) hit five homers in a 9-3 win in the first game before adding two more in an 8-3 win in game two.
ODU is now on a nine-game winning streak. Chris Finwood improved to 299-237 in his 11 seasons as the head coach of the Monarchs
Game 1: Old Dominion 9, Stony Brook 3
Carter Trice and Tommy Bell both homered twice, and Jason Hartline struck out four over three innings of work as the Monarchs took the front end of the doubleheader, 9-3. It was the third multi-homer game of Trice's career and the first ever by Bell, the five-year veteran.
Tommy Gertner worked around a leadoff walk in the top of the first inning, and the ODU bats wasted little time getting hot. Kenny Levari reached on an error by the second baseman to get the frame going before Trice turned on his 2-1 offering and deposited it over the wall in left.
The Seawolves used a pair of two-out hits in the top of the third to tie the score, but the Monarchs capitalized on another Stony Brook error in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead. Trice reached on an error by the shortstop and then stole both second and third base, which allowed him to score on a grounder by Andy Garriola.
Gertner set down the side in order in the fourth and faced the minimum in the fifth, erasing a leadoff single with a double play. Garriola doubled with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, but ODU could not bring him in.
Gertner's day was done after the fifth inning. He allowed two runs on two hits and a walk while striking out a season-best six in his longest outing of the year.
The legs of Evan Giordano tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the sixth. He led off the Seawolves' half of the inning with a single and then stole second. Giordano moved up to third on a groundout before scoring on another groundout.
Just like the third inning, ODU regained the lead in their half of the sixth. Bell lifted a two-out solo shot into left for his first homer of the game.
In a familiar scene this year, Hartline entered in the seventh inning looking to slam the door on Stony Brook. He issued a two-out walk in the seventh but quickly stranded the runner. Trice then delivered his second long ball of the game, another two-run shot that scored Levari, and Robbie Petracci tacked on an insurance run with a two-out double.
Hartline negated a leadoff error in the eighth with a pair of strikeouts and a pickoff play at first. Bell led off the bottom of the inning with his second home run, and Thomas Wheeler followed right behind with a solo shot into right. The Monarchs had runners on first and second with one out but could not do further damage. Hartline then notched two more strikeouts in a clean ninth inning.
ODU had 13 hits in the game with eight going for extra bases, including five home runs. Those five homers match a season high by the Monarchs. Despite the power display, the Monarchs struck out just once in 40 plate appearances.
Bell went 3-for-4 with two solo home runs in his first game since Feb. 27. Brock Gagliardi shared the game-high in hits with Bell and also went 3-for-4.
Joey Rodriguez (3-0) picked up the win. Hartline earned his fourth save of the season, surpassing his total from last season.
Ben Fero (0-1) took the loss for the Seawolves, allowing four runs, two earned, on seven hits over 5.2 innings.
Game 2: Old Dominion 8, Stony Brook 3
Old Dominion launched two more home runs in the second game and received superb pitching from Nick Pantos and Noah Dean in an 8-3 win.
The Seawolves capitalized on an ODU error in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead, but the visitor's advantage was short-lived. After two quick outs in the bottom of the inning, Garriola singled into left to keep the Monarchs alive and to set up a two-run home run off the bat of Matt Coutney.
Pantos navigated messy innings in the second and third, and the Monarchs tacked on a run in the bottom of the third, when Chris Dengler scored from second on a two-out fielding error by the shortstop.
Pantos then struck out the side in the fourth for his first clean inning of the game. Dengler provided a two-out single into center to score Bell and make it a 4-1 game after four innings.
Stony Brook went down in order in the top of the fifth thanks to a fourth-straight strikeout by Pantos and a pair of groundouts. Garriola doubled with one out in the bottom of the fifth and scored on a Petracci home run.
Pantos struck out the last man he faced and stranded a runner on second in the sixth inning. Wheeler reached on a one-out error in the sixth and stole both second and third base but was cut down at home attempting to score on a grounder by Dengler.
A redshirt senior from Rockville, Maryland, Pantos (3-0) scattered seven hits over six innings and allowed just one unearned run while striking out 11. He did not issue a walk while picking up the win.
Stony Brook got two runs back in the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Matt Brown-Eiring singled to drive in one. Stanton Leuthner then drew a walk to push across another run. With the Seawolves still threatening, Finwood turned to Dean out of the bullpen, who struck out the first batter he faced to defuse the situation.
Coutney delivered a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh to produce the final score. Dean threw a clean inning in the eighth before striking out three in the ninth for his third save.
Dean struck out five without allowing a hit over 2.1 innings – the longest outing of his career.
ODU's pitching combined for 17 strikeouts in the second game. On the day, the Monarchs fanned 28 Seawolves while issuing only five walks.
Garriola went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored. Coutney had two hits and drove in four, and Petracci added two hits.
The Monarchs and Seawolves take Saturday off due to scheduled inclement weather and will conclude the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
No. 24 Baseball Crushes Seven Homers in Doubleheader Sweep of Stony Brook
