Matchup – Old Dominion (23-8, 8-4 Sun Belt) at No. 9 East Carolina (24-8, 4-2 American)
Game Location – Clark-LeClair Stadium (Greenville, N.C.)
Start Time – Tuesday, April 11 at 6 p.m.
Watch – ESPN+
Listen – FOX Sports 1310 AM, 100.9 FM
Live Stats – Click Here
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion baseball is on the road this Tuesday as the Monarchs travel to Greenville, North Carolina for a 6 p.m. meeting with No. 9 East Carolina. The game is the first in the home-and-home series this season as ODU will host ECU for the Commonwealth Classic on May 9 at Harbor Park.
Fans can watch Tuesday's game on ESPN+ or tune into Fox Sports 1310 AM, 100.9 FM to hear Ted Alexander call the action. Live stats will also be available.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (23-8, 8-4 Sun Belt) dropped two of three games to Southern Miss this past weekend, ODU's first series loss in Sun Belt play. ODU had won nine-straight series dating back to last season. Game One went to the Golden Eagles, 4-2 on Thursday. The weather would not cooperate on Friday, and ODU evened the series with an 8-7 win in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader. The second game of the twin billing saw the Monarchs dig themselves a 9-2 hole. ODU scored three runs in the seventh and another three in the eighth to get to within 10-8. Southern Miss added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, and ODU had runners in scoring position and the tying run at the plate with one out in the bottom of the ninth. However, the visitors retired the next two batters to snuff out the rally.
Logan Duffy had a productive series against the Golden Eagles. The freshman from Manchester, New Jersey went 6-for-8 (.750) with a 1.375 slugging percentage and .750 on-base percentage for the three games. He made his first two collegiate starts, hit his first home run, tripled, scored three runs and drove in two more. The effort raised his batting average from a .400 clip to .615.
Alex Bouche leads ODU's starters with a .370 average. Also hitting over .300 are Hunter Fitz-Gerald (.350), Thomas Wheeler (.339), Kenny Levari (.328), Luke Waters (.325) and Tyler Wheeler (.319). Fitz-Gerald leads the Monarchs with 39 runs and 42 RBIs. ODU is one of five schools in the country with three or more players with double-digit home runs: Fitz-Gerald and Jake Ticer (.299) have hit 12 each while Camden Grimes (.295) is right behind them with 11. The Monarchs are tied for third alongside Campbell and Georgia, South Carolina has four players with double-digit homers, and Florida Gulf Coast is first with five players.
Thomas Wheeler tripled twice against Southern Miss. He now has six for the season and 16 for his career, one behind the NCAA Division I active leader, Georgia's Ben Anderson. Wheeler also stole two bags in as many attempts and is now 13-for-14.
Landen Burch (2-0, 4.58 ERA) will make his fourth start of the season on Tuesday. He's given up 10 runs on 15 hits and six walks and has recorded 23 strikeouts in 19.1 innings pitched. The freshman from Corning, New York has held opposing batters to a .205 average.
ODU enters the midweek contest ranked fifth nationally in home runs per game (2.00), sixth in home runs (62), seventh in scoring (9.5 runs per game) and slugging percentage (.562), and 10th in runs (293) and triples (14).
Scouting East Carolina
The Pirates (24-8, 4-2 American) have won four in a row and are coming off an American Athletic Conference sweep of UCF. ECU took both games of a Thursday doubleheader, 17-7 in seven innings and 11-5. In the series finale, Justin Wilcoxen hit a walk-off single as the Pirates won 3-2 in 12 innings.
Wilcoxen is hitting .351 to lead ECU's starters. Following him are Jacob Jenkins-Cowart (.333), Joey Berini (.330), Josh Moylan (.315) and Carter Cunningham (.301). Jenkins-Cowart has belted a team-high eight long balls while Moylan leads the Pirates with 11 doubles and 30 RBIs. Luke Nowak (.296) is the top threat on the basepaths with 12 steals in 15 attempts. ECU is hitting .299 as a team with a .476 slugging percentage and .402 on-base percentage.
Left-hander Zach Root (2-1, 3.91 ERA) will get the nod for the Pirates. A freshman from Fort Myers, Florida, he has allowed 12 runs (10 earned) on 17 hits and 12 walks through 23 innings and 10 appearances. Root owns 20 strikeouts and opponents are batting .207 against him.
As of April 10, the Pirates are sixth in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.21), 11th in WHIP (1.22), 14th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.25) and 15th in ERA (3.63). In the latest polls, ECU is ranked ninth by D1Baseball, Baseball America and the NCBWA. The team is also 10th in the USA Today Coaches' Poll and ranked 15th by Collegiate Baseball.
ECU was picked as the unanimous preseason favorite to win the American Athletic Conference, receiving all seven first-place votes and a total of 49 points. Senior Carter Spivey was selected as the conference's Preseason Pitcher of the Year and was joined on the Preseason All-Conference Team by Jenkins-Cowart. Alec Makarewicz (.268) was named the league's Player of the Week on Monday after hitting .563 (9-for-16) with six runs and eight RBIs in the team's four games last week.
The Series
ODU is ahead in the all-time series, 35-30 and won both meetings last season. The Monarchs hosted the Pirates on March 15, 2022 and trailed 7-3 when Brock Gagliardi hit a solo shot in the fourth and Carter Trice hit a three-run blast in the fifth to tie the game. With the score knotted at 8-8, Tommy Bell drew a full-count bases-loaded walk with two outs in the bottom of the 10th.
On April 6 in Greenville, the Monarchs rallied with a four-run top of the ninth to edge the Pirates, 8-7. Trice started off the frame with a double and scored on an Andy Garriola base-hit to left. Matt Coutney followed with a single and Robbie Petracci brought everyone in with a three-run bomb deep over the right field fence. Noah Dean then struck out a pair to collect his fifth save of the season.
What's Next
ODU is back at Bud Metheny Ballpark this weekend for a Sun Belt Conference series against No 17 Coastal Carolina. Friday's game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start. The teams then meet again at 4 p.m. on Saturday and wrap up with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.
Road Game at No. 9 East Carolina Up Next for ODU Baseball
