RICHMOND, Va. – An Alex Bouche grand slam in the sixth inning helped Old Dominion baseball secure an 11-4 win over VCU on Tuesday night at The Diamond.
"Our guys played well tonight. We pitched really well and Vincent Bashara gave us a good start. We had a bunch of good at bats and a number of two-out RBI hits. Bouche had a big day and that's a lot of runs to score in that ballpark. Good start to the week for our boys," said head coach Chris Finwood.
The Monarchs (27-13) quickly loaded the bases in the top of the first inning as Luke Waters walked, Kenny Levari singled through the left side and Camden Grimes was hit by a pitch. A Hunter Fitz-Gerald sacrifice fly to left opened the scoring, and another two hit batters gave ODU a 2-0 lead.
Two more walks and a Waters double to right center pushed the ODU lead to 4-0 in the top of the fourth. Bouche made it 5-0 in the fifth as he scored on a Thomas Wheeler double to left. The Bud Bombers then pulled away with another five runs on three hits in the sixth. After a Chris Dengler leadoff double, the Rams (20-21) retired the next two Monarch batters. However, Grimes and Fitz-Gerald drew back-to-back walks to load the bases and Bouche brought everyone home with his 10th home run of the season. Ticer then went back-to-back as his solo home run to right gave ODU a 10-0 advantage.
VCU finally broke up the shutout bid with a three-run bottom of the sixth. Both sides then plated one run each in the eighth as Fitz-Gerald homered to center field and the Rams got back a run with two walks and a base hit to left field.
Bashara (2-0) tossed four shutout innings to pick up his second win in as many starts. The Norfolk, Virginia native scattered three hits, struck out four and didn't issue a walk.
Bouche finished 3-for-5 with the grand slam, four RBIs and two runs scored. Ticer went 2-for-3 with the solo shot, a pair of runs, one walk and one hit by pitch. Waters doubled, drove in two runs, scored once, added a base on balls and swiped a bag in a 2-for-5 outing. Fitz-Gerald hit 1-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs, two runs and one walk, and Wheeler also turned in a 1-for-3 effort with a double, two RBIs and a hit by pitch.
With the win, ODU increased its lead in the all-time series to 91-60. The two teams will meet again on May 16 as the Monarchs welcome the Rams for a 4 p.m. game at Bud Metheny Ballpark.
ODU returns to its home field this weekend as the Monarchs host Texas State for a Sun Belt series. It will mark the first-ever meeting between the two programs.