GREENVILLE, N.C. – Old Dominion baseball couldn't overcome an early 4-0 deficit as the Monarchs fell 7-3 at No. 9 East Carolina on Tuesday night at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
"I thought we pitched pretty well tonight. They hit the two two-run homers to go up early. We battled back in it, but we didn't make enough plays defensively and we have to do better offensively to beat them down here," said head coach Chris Finwood.
The Pirates (25-8) opened the scoring with a two-run bottom of the first. After Lane Hoover led off with a double to right center, Carter Cunningham homered to right field for the 2-0 lead. Kenny Levari was just a few feet shy of tying the game in the top of the second with a fly ball to left, but ECU's Luke Nowak made the catch on the warning track. Hoover then pushed the Pirate lead to 4-0 with a line-drive two-run blast in the home half of the second.
ODU loaded the bases with one out in the fourth as Jake Ticer and Logan Duffy singled and Levari walked. A Kyle Edwards two-out base-hit to center field then cut the Pirate lead in half, 4-2.
ECU went up 7-2 in the seventh. Hoover got the frame started with a single to left and advanced to third on a Cunningham double down the right-field line. Josh Moylan brought in Hoover with a single through the left side, and Cunningham came home on a Jacob Starling ground out to second. Nowak then doubled to left to drive in another run.
The Monarchs (23-9) got a run back in the eighth as Hunter Fitz-Gerald hit a 1-2 pitch off of the batter's eye. In the ninth, Levari hit an infield single before O'Neal and Jay Tarkenton both went down swinging. Luke Waters hit a fly ball deep to right, but Cunningham made the catch at the wall for the final out.
Landen Burch (2-1) received the loss after getting tagged for four runs on three hits and four walks. He recorded two strikeouts in two innings of work. At the plate, Fitz-Gerald went 1-for-4 with the home run. Thomas Wheeler had a 1-for-2 night with two walks, Edwards hit 1-for-3 with two RBIs, and Levari also finished 1-for-3. Ticer and Duffy both turned in 1-for-4 efforts and scored a run each.
ODU hosts No. 17 Coastal Carolina for a Sun Belt series this weekend at Bud Metheny Ballpark. Friday's opener is scheduled for 6 p.m., Saturday's game will be a 4 p.m. start and Sunday will begin at 1 p.m.