Minium: ODU Baseball Getting Some Love from the NCAA RPI and Collegiate Baseball Poll

NORFOLK, Va. – Over the years the DI Baseball NCAA RPI rankings and Collegiate Baseball Division 1 Poll have tended to underrate Old Dominion's program.
 
So, imagine his surprise when ODU head coach Chris Finwood woke up Monday morning and saw his Monarchs in the top 25 in both rankings.
 
After sweeping three games in their Sun Belt Conference series opener at Louisiana-Monroe, the Monarchs made a gargantuan leap of 25 places, from 48th to 23rd, in the RPI.

ODU (18-2 overall, 3-0 Sun Belt Conference) is the top-ranked Sun Belt team and is ahead of all but four of the 15 ACC schools, including Virginia Tech and Clemson.
 
ODU is ranked 24th in the Collegiate Baseball Poll and was unranked last week.
 
The RPI is a more important ranking since the NCAA Tournament Committee uses it as a tool to help decide who gets a bid and who doesn't, but Finwood said "every ranking, every poll helps our program."   
 
Finwood said that winning three road games against a Sun Belt team was surely a factor in the movement in the NCAA RPI. The Sun Belt has nine teams in the RPI top 100, more than any other conference other than the ACC and SEC.

"Road wins are weighted more than winning at home, and they should be," he said.
 
But more than anything, he said, the pre-conference schedule that ODU played, which has been described in baseball circles as "soft," was perhaps a little tougher than may have been surmised.


 Thomas Wheeler slides into third against ULM.

"All the geniuses who have been like 'You guys haven't played a good schedule.' Well, all that everybody's done since we beat them is win," he said.
 
He's got a point. After dropping two of three at ODU, St. John's is 13-5 and has won six games in a row.
 
After losing to ODU by a combined 40-0 in two games, Princeton (6-11) went on to win three out of its next four and had previous victories over Georgia and Duke. In spite of its record, Princeton is 88th in the RPI. 
 
VMI (13-8) has won eight of 12 games in March. Fordham lost its first 10 games but then won six of its next nine. Saint Joseph's is 7-8 but has won six of its last eight.
 
ODU's 18-2 record is surprising given that the Monarchs lost most of the hitting and pitching that led to 41 victories last season. Asked why they are winning, Finwood shrugged his shoulders.
 
"That's a great question, and if I had the answer to that, I wouldn't have to coach anymore, I'd just be writing books," he said. "We've got some guys who are used to winning. It may just be as simple as that. They know how to win and that's a skill in itself. But I don't think we're anywhere close to playing our best baseball."
 
That's a good thing because ODU is just one third of the way through its schedule and the competition gets much better in the coming weeks.
 
ODU hosts Liberty, which is 8-11 but ranked 73rd in the RPI because of its difficult schedule, on Wednesday, before hosting three games this weekend against Sun Belt foe Marshall.
 
Then, next Tuesday, the Monarchs travel to No. 3 Virginia.
 
ODU also hosts No. 35 Southern Miss on April 6-8. Following a game at No. 10 East Carolina on April 11, ODU hosts No. 51 Coastal Carolina April 14-16.

Finwood said that being ranked in the top 25 this early in the season makes it easier to finish there. 


Robbie O'Neal rounds the bases after hitting a home run this past weekend in Monroe, Louisiana.  

"Last year, we were ranked way below where we are ranked now," he said. "And we just sort of inched our way up. If you're there already, and if you can win enough of your games, you can stay there or improve.
 
"If you're in the 20s at the end of the year, you'll be playing in the NCAA Tournament. And that's where we want to be."
 
Being ranked can help your reputation, he said, and ODU's reputation has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years.
 
ODU finished 41-17 last season, winning 10 of its last 12 games, and appeared to have a sterling NCAA Tournament at-large resume with a victory at then No. 5 Virginia and a sweep of two games against nationally ranked ECU. But ODU was among the last teams left out of the field.
 
In 2021, ODU was 44-16 and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but was forced to play in Columbia, South Carolina because Bud Metheny Ballpark did not meet NCAA standards to host a tournament game. ODU defeated homestanding South Carolina, but lost in the regional final to Virginia in 10 innings.
 
Being forced to go on the road as a No. 1 seed resulted in a fund-raising effort that has produced about $18 million of the $20 million ODU needs to refurbish the stadium. The overhaul is scheduled to occur in 2024.
 
The Monarchs were 12-4 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and that makes ODU's combined record from 2019, through so far this season, a sterling 115-39.

The Monarchs have developed the reputation as an offensive juggernaut, and this team is no exception.


Sophomore John Holobetz has played a key role for ODU's young pitching staff. 

ODU is third nationally in home runs with 49 and in home runs per game at 2.3, third in batting average (.335), third in slugging percentage (.615) and second in scoring (10.8 runs per game).
 
But as Finwood said, the Monarchs can and must continue to improve.
 
"We are hitting some home runs, which is good, but we're striking out too much, especially against the good guys," he said. "We're getting a little bit better on defense. We had a really good week pitching last week. We played five games and gave up six runs. In college baseball that's pretty good."
 
ODU's pitching staff is not only good, it's young.
 
Dylan Brown (2-0, 2.84 ERA), Bailey Matela (2-0, 0.00 ERA) and Ben Moore (2-0, 2.25 ERA) are all freshman and John Holobetz (1-1, two saves, 4.91 ERA) is a sophomore, as is Blake Morgan (2-1, 5.11 ERA).
 
"And they are all major contributors for us," Finwood said.
 
"People talk a lot about our scoring, but we've really pitched well in 16 or 17 the 20 games we've played.
 
"And our young guys, they're just going to get better and better."

 Contact Minium at hminium@odu.edu or follow him  on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram