CHARLOTTE, N.C. – After dropping Friday's series opener 10-2, Old Dominion University baseball responded with an 11-2 drubbing of Charlotte on Saturday afternoon at Hayes Stadium.
The Monarchs (13-2) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. After Hunter Fitz-Gerald singled to left and Jake Ticer drew a walk, Alex Bouche brought them both in with a triple to right field. He then trotted home on a Kenny Levari sacrifice fly to right. ODU tacked on two more runs in the second thanks to RBI singles from Luke Waters and Fitz-Gerald. With two outs and Bouche standing on second in the top of the third, Thomas Wheeler legged out a triple to right. He then came around on a Tyler Wheeler single to third base as the Monarchs pulled ahead, 7-0.
Charlotte finally scratched across a run in the home half of the fourth. Will Butcher doubled down the left-field line and moved up to third on a Brandon Stahlman ground out back to Sam Armstrong. A Josh Patrick single to first base allowed Butcher to cross the plate and the 49ers (6-9) were on the scoreboard.
Thomas Wheeler drove in another run in the fifth and Bouche picked up his third RBI of the day with a base-hit in the sixth, giving ODU a 9-1 lead. Charlotte got a run back in the seventh as a Jake Cunningham single to right scored Blake Jackson from second base. However, solo home runs from Fitz-Gerald in the eighth and Thomas Wheeler in the ninth sealed the victory for the Monarchs.
Armstrong (3-0) fanned six batters and held the 49ers to one unearned run on four hits, one walk and one hit batter in a five-inning start. ODU then brought in Jacob Gomez, and he tallied four strikeouts with one run on as many hits and a pair of walks through three innings in relief. Robert Cook pitched the ninth and retired the side in order.
"I thought Sam Armstrong was outstanding today," said head coach Chris Finwood. "He mixed his pitches really well, had a really good fastball and was very effective through 85 pitches and five innings. He gave us a fantastic start against a very good Charlotte office. Jacob Gomez came in and threw three solid innings and Robert Cook finished it up for us."
Thomas Wheeler had a perfect day at the plate as he finished 5-for-5 with a home run, a triple, three runs and three RBIs. Bouche went 3-for-3 with a triple, three runs, three RBIs, and two walks. Tyler Wheeler scored once and drove in a run in a 3-for-5 outing, and Fitz-Gerald batted 3-for-6 with the long ball, two runs scored and two RBIs. ODU's other hit came from Waters, who ended up 1-for-5 as he walked once, scored once, and drove in a run. Waters, Bouche and Thomas Wheeler also stole one bag each.
"Obviously the Wheeler brothers had a big day," continued Finwood. "Need to see those two in the lineup back-to-back having a day like that. Thomas was fantastic with a 5-for-5 day and a double short of the cycle, and then Tyler had a lot of big at bats in the game as well."
The teams wrap up the weekend with a 1 p.m. start to Game Three on Sunday.