Matchup – Old Dominion (25-11, 9-6 Sun Belt) at App State (17-17, 7-7 Sun Belt)
Game Location – Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium (Boone, N.C.)
Game 1 – Friday, April 21 at 6 p.m.
Game 2 – Saturday, April 22 at 3 p.m.
Game 3 – Sunday, April 23 at 1 p.m.
Watch – ESPN+ (Friday only)
Listen – FOX Sports 1310, 100.9 FM
Live Stats – Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion baseball continues its five-game road swing with a Sun Belt Conference series at App State this weekend. Friday's series opener is scheduled for a 6 p.m.start, Saturday's game will start at 3 p.m. and Sunday's finale is set for 1 p.m.
App State will stream Game One on ESPN+, and Ted Alexander will call the entire series on FOX Sports 1310, 100.9 FM. Live stats will also be available.
Around the Horn
The long ball favored ODU on Wednesday as the Monarchs (25-11, 9-6 Sun Belt) combined to hit six home runs en route to an 11-6 win at VMI. Hunter Fitz-Gerald went deep twice, while Kenny Levari, Jake Ticer, Lincoln Ransom and Luke Waters added solo shots. It was ODU's second victory over the Keydets this season after beating them 15-8 at Bud Metheny Ballpark on Feb. 21.
ODU is currently tied for fourth with Texas State in the Sun Belt standings heading into this weekend and is coming off a 2-1 series loss to then-No. 17 Coastal Carolina last weekend. The Monarchs won the series opener 8-6, but the Chanticleers evened the series with a 15-2 victory in Game Two. The rubber match saw the teams locked at 2-2 at the end of the ninth, and a pair of solo home runs in the 10th led to a 4-2 final in favor of Coastal.
Fitz-Gerald leads ODU's starters with a .338 batting average and also owns team highs in home runs (15), runs scored (42), RBIs (46) and total bases (104). Other starters hitting .300 or better include Alex Bouche (.333), Thomas Wheeler (.328), Levari (.321), Waters (.302) and Tyler Wheeler (.345). Ticer is close behind Fitz-Gerald with 13 home runs and Camden Grimes (.295) is also in double figures with 11 homers.
Blake Morgan (3-3, 5.56 ERA) will start Friday's game and Sam Armstrong (6-1, 3.40 ERA) will get the nod on Saturday. Sunday's starter has yet to be named.
Through games played on April 19, ODU ranks fifth in the nation in home runs per game (2.08), sixth in home runs (75), ninth in slugging percentage (.554), 11th in runs scored (319) and 15th in scoring (8.9 runs per game). The Monarchs also lead the league in walks (206), triples (14), triples per game (0.39), walks allowed per nine innings (3.84) and win-loss percentage (.694).
Scouting App State
The Mountaineers (17-17, 7-7 Sun Belt) won their first game at Georgia Southern 10-7 last Friday, but dropped both games of a doubleheader 8-6 and 19-5 on Saturday. App State then lost a close game to UNC Asheville on Tuesday, 7-6. The game was knotted at 6-6 through seven innings, but a solo home run in the top of the eighth allowed the Bulldogs to grab the win.
App State's top three batters are Luke Drumheller (.326), Hayden Cross (.323) and Xavier Moronta (.304). Golston Gillespie (.259) has hit a team-high 10 home runs while Cross leads the Mountaineers with 12 doubles and 34 RBIs. Cross and Austin St. Laurent (.287) have scored 31 runs each and Gillespie has drawn 33 walks. Andrew Terrell (.220) and CJ Boyd (.280) are the top threats on the basepaths: Terrell is 10-for-11 on stolen base attempts and Boyd is 9-for-10. App State is batting .270 as a team with a .416 slugging percentage and .382 on-base percentage.
The Mountaineers will start right-hander Xander Hamilton (6-2, 5.54 ERA) on Friday and righty Bradley Wilson (2-2, 7.71 ERA) on Saturday. Sunday's starter has not been announced.
App State enters the weekend ranked 11th in the country in batters hit by pitch (74). The Mountaineers were picked to finish 12 in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches' Poll with 43 points and are currently eighth in the conference standings.
The Series
ODU and App State are meeting for the first time in conference play and the Monarchs have won all five meetings in the all-time series dating back to the 1997 season.
It will also be the first time the two programs have played each other since 2016 on the final day of the Caravelle Resort Tournament in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A four-run top of the third inning helped the Monarchs build a 6-0 lead midway through the fourth, and ODU went on to win 12-3. Kyle Beam went 3-for-4 with one home run and three RBIs and Connor Myers finished 3-for-5 with a deep fly and a stolen base. Starter Adam Bainbridge earned the win after holding the Mountaineers to one run on five hits and a walk. He struck out one batter in five innings of work.
What's Next
The Monarchs will be in Richmond, Virginia next Tuesday, April 25 as VCU hosts the team for a 6 p.m. game at The Diamond. It will be the first meeting in the home-and-home series this season as the Rams will come to The Bud on May 16.
Baseball Continues Conference Play With Road Trip to App State
