NORFOLK, Va. – Game Two of the Sun Belt Conference series was tied at 1-1 after four innings, but Old Dominion baseball was unable to slow down the No. 17 Coastal Carolina offense as the Monarchs fell 15-2 on Saturday afternoon at Bud Metheny Ballpark.
"Game got away from us today. They obviously swung the bats really well and after Sam Armstrong, we were just non-competitive on the mound. Have to put this one behind us and come out ready to go on Sunday. Another big game and I'm looking forward to seeing how we show up," said head coach Chris Finwood.
Graham Brown opened the scoring in the top of the third, his two-out solo home run to left giving the Chanticleers (22-11, 10-4 Sun Belt) a 1-0 lead. ODU then pulled even with a run in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Jake Ticer doubled to the gap in right before Kenny Levari was hit by a pitch. Tyler Wheeler then popped up a 3-1 offering right in front of the plate that hit off catcher Caden Bodine's glove. Starting pitcher Jacob Morrison picked up the ball, but was too late to apply the tag on Ticer as he slid in safe at home.
Orlando Pena put Coastal back in front 2-1 in the fifth as he homered to left. The Chanticleers then broke open the game with a four-run top of the sixth. Bodine led off with a solo shot over the scoreboard and Zack Beach added a three-run homer later in the inning.
Both sides scored a run in the eighth inning. A Beach single through the right side, a pair of ODU errors and Ty Dooley bunt single allowed CCU to add to its lead, 7-1. The Monarchs (24-10, 9-5) got the run back in their next turn at the plate. With one out, Thomas Wheeler doubled to left center. Hunter Fitz-Gerald grounded out to second, and Coastal was caught off-guard as Wheeler ran all the way home on the play.
From there, Coastal put the game out of the reach with another eight runs on five hits and an error in the top of the ninth.
Armstrong (6-1) was saddled with his first loss of the season after giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks. He struck out six in 5.1 innings pitched. Kyle Edwards went 1-for-1 as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth. Ticer doubled and scored a run in a 1-for-3 effort while Tyler Wheeler, Josh Trujillo and Chris Dengler also went 1-for-3. Thomas Wheeler had ODU's other hit, batting 1-for-4 with a double and one run.
The series win is up for grabs Sunday as the teams meet for a 1 p.m. start to the rubber match.