Matchup – Old Dominion (20-4, 5-1 Sun Belt) at No. 5 Virginia (22-2, 7-2 ACC)
Game Location – Davenport Field at Disharoon Park (Charlottesville, Va.)
Start Time – Tuesday, March 28 at 3 p.m.
Watch – ACCNX
Listen – FOX Sports 1310
Live Stats – Click Here
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion baseball will face a ranked opponent for the first time this season when the Monarchs travel to Charlottesville, Virginia for a 3 p.m. game at No. 5 Virginia on Tuesday.
Originally scheduled for a 5 p.m. first pitch, the contest was moved up in an effort to avoid inclement weather in the forecast. Fans can watch the game on ACCNX and Ted Alexander will call the action on FOX Sports 1310. Live stats will also be available.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (20-4, 5-1 Sun Belt) are one of 11 programs in the country to reach 20 wins before April after a 2-1 Sun Belt series win over Marshall this past weekend at Bud Metheny Ballpark. The Herd grabbed the opening game 6-1 on Friday, but ODU evened the series with a 21-5 final on Saturday and won Sunday's rubber match, 12-2 in eight innings.
After a pair of setbacks against Liberty last Tuesday and to Marshall on Friday, the Monarch offense bounced back hitting a program-record eight home runs on Saturday. Three of those came from Jake Ticer (.325), who now shares the team lead with Hunter Fitz-Gerald (.378) and is tied for eighth nationally with 12 home runs for the season. Camden Grimes (.324) also had a solid week, batting .429 (6-for-14) with four home runs, two doubles, four runs, seven RBIs and one walk through ODU's four games. The senior from Mechanicsville, Virginia had a two-homer outing against Liberty and then went deep twice Saturday versus the Herd.
Going into Tuesday's game, seven of the team's nine starters are hitting over .300, led by Alex Bouche with a .390 clip. ODU is currently ranked third in the country in home runs (57), home runs per game (2.38), scoring (10.6 runs per game) and slugging percentage (.613). The Monarchs are also fourth in hits (285), runs (255) and batting average (.329), seventh in on-base percentage (.438), and ninth in triples (11).
Robert Cook (2-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his first start as a Monarch on Tuesday. Through six appearances and 11 innings pitched, he has allowed one unearned run on five hits and nine walks while recording 13 strikeouts. Opposing batters are hitting .128 against him.
Scouting Virginia
The Cavaliers (22-2, 7-2 ACC) opened their season with a 14-game win streak and are coming off an ACC series sweep of Florida State. Virginia edged FSU 3-2 in 10 inning on Friday, followed with a 12-4 decision and Saturday and completed the sweep with a 15-4 final on Sunday. Virginia is listed at the No. 5 spot in the latest D1Baseball poll, released earlier Monday.
Virginia also has seven of its nine starters batting over .300. Leading the way is Kyle Teal with a .452 average, next is Henry Godbout at .373 and Ethan O'Donnell is third with a .372 clip. Jake Gelof (.351) has hit a team-best eight home runs with 37 RBIs and Teel has scored 30 runs. Griff O'Ferrall (.344) and O'Donnell have stolen a combined 12 bases on 15 attempts. Through games played on March 26, the Hoos are the national leaders in doubles (71) and doubles per game (2.96). They are second in batting average (.335) and ERA (2.57), are third in hits (289) and fourth in shutouts (4).
The Cavaliers will start left-hander Connelly Early, who is 5-0 with a 1.71 ERA. The junior out of Midlothian, Virginia has given up five runs on 19 hits and five walks through 26.1 innings, six appearances and five starts. Early is second on the team with 34 strikeouts and is holding opposing hitters to a .209 clip.
The Series
ODU is ahead 29-26 in the all-time series. Last season, the Monarchs won an April 12 meeting in Charlottesville 9-2 against a Cavalier squad that was ranked fifth at the time. A second meeting on April 26 at Harbor Park was canceled due to bad weather.
What's Next
ODU travels to Statesboro, Georgia this weekend for a conference series at Georgia Southern. Friday's opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Game Two on Saturday will start at 2 p.m. and Sunday's finale will begin at 1 p.m. All three games will air on ESPN+ and fans can tune into FOX Sports 1310 to hear Ted Alexander.
Monarchs and No. 5 Cavaliers Square Off in Charlottesville Tuesday
