Old Dominion (28-10, 10-8 C-USA) vs. LA Tech (28-14, 12-6 C-USA)
Location – Bud Metheny Ballpark (Norfolk, Va.)
Game 1 – Friday, April 29 at 6 p.m.
Game 2 – Saturday, April 30 at 3 p.m.
Game 3 – Sunday, May 1 at noon
Follow – ESPN+ (Friday) | CUSA.tv (Saturday & Sunday) | ODU Sports Radio Network (Friday) | Live Stats
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion baseball team continues a crucial stretch of conference play this weekend when it hosts second-place LA Tech for three games. Friday's contest is set for 6 p.m. and is live on ESPN+ and Money Talk 1310 AM 100.9 FM and 97.3 HD2. Saturday's game begins at 3 p.m. with a noon finale on tap for Sunday. The final two games of the series are streaming live on CUSA.tv.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs won the first two games of its weekend series with Florida Atlantic. Blake Morgan threw six innings of four-hit ball with three strikeouts before handing off to Pete Nielsen and Connor Muly in a 14-0 win on Friday. ODU then scored nine unanswered runs and received home runs from Robbie Petracci, Carter Trice, Matt Coutney and Andy Garriola in an 11-7 win on Saturday. Coutney then homered two more times in Sunday's loss to set the single-season program record.
The Monarchs boast four of the top-10 home run hitters in the conference and three of the top-20 in the nation. Coutney is tied for the Division I lead with 21, Garriola is seventh with 18, and Trice is 20th in the nation with 15. Petracci's 10 homers are good for 10th in C-USA. The quartet of hitters are all top-five in the conference in slugging with Coutney ranking fourth in the nation (.869).
Garriola (58, fifth) and Coutney (54, 10th) are both top-10 in the conference in hits. Garriola leads C-USA and is fifth nationally with 61 RBIs.
Morgan (4-0) is the Division I leader in ERA (0.70). He has not allowed a run over 17 innings since moving to the weekend rotation. Nick Pantos (6-0, 3.20 ERA) will start in his usual Saturday role. He leads the Monarchs with 58 strikeouts. Sunday's starter is not yet determined
Scouting LA Tech
The Bulldogs come to Norfolk having lost three of their last four contests. LA Tech dropped two-of-three against Middle Tennessee over the weekend and lost 8-7 at Little Rock on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs are fourth in the conference in scoring (7.2), third in hits allowed per nine innings (8.13) and fourth in homers (53). Additionally, LA Tech ranks ninth in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.40), 29th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.1) and eighth in walks allowed per nine innings (2.99).
Taylor Young paces the team in average (.348), runs (55) and stolen bases (16) and is tied for third with seven homers. Steele Netterville leads LA Tech with 11 homers. Cole McConnell is the RBI leader with 52.
Cade Gibson (4-2, 3.88 ERA) is expected to start on Friday. He leads the team in innings (58.0) and strikeouts (70). Ryan Jennings (3-1, 4.73 ERA) will follow on Saturday. Sunday's starter has not been announced.
What's Next?
The Monarchs hit the road for a weekend series with No. 4 Southern Miss.
Voucher Books!
The 2021-22 Old Dominion voucher book is available for sale on ynottix.com. Each voucher book contains 25 tickets and is priced at $50, which is a 60 percent savings off the single-game ticket price. Vouchers are good for any regular season home game played at the Bud Metheny Baseball Stadium. Vouchers can be presented at the gate for admission. Single-game tickets can also be purchased for $5.
Click here to purchase the 2021-22 ODU voucher book.
The Extra Finnings Podcast
The Extra Finnings Podcast is back for the 2022 season, which features an in-depth look at the ODU baseball program. Catch the most recent episode of the Extra Finnings Podcast, here.
Baseball Hosts Second-Place LA Tech for Weekend Set
