JONESBORO, Ark. – After giving up seven runs in the bottom of the first inning, Old Dominion baseball scored the next 18 as the Monarchs won their Sun Belt series opener at Arkansas State 19-14 on Friday night.
"Your good old 19-14 Friday night game! I was proud of how we battled back after being down 7-1 in the first. Lots of big hits for us and it was good to see Hunter Fitz-Gerald, Alex Bouche and Thomas Wheeler have big days! We have a chance to win the series tomorrow and need to come out and play well again," said head coach Chris Finwood.
The Monarchs (29-16, 12-10 Sun Belt) opened the scoring in the top of the first as Luke Waters led off with a single to short and later scored on Bouche's double to left center. The Red Wolves (15-27, 5-15) then pulled ahead with seven runs on six hits in their first turn at the plate.
ODU got a run back in the second inning as Lincoln Ransom homered to left field, then pulled even at 7-7 with a five-run top of the third. After Kenny Levari walked and Fitz-Gerald was hit by a pitch, Bouche came through with another RBI double to the gap in left. Fitz-Gerald cut the A-State lead to 7-4 as he tagged up on a Wheeler sacrifice fly to left. Bouche and Camden Grimes both scored on wild pitches, and Tyler Wheeler tied the game as he scored on a Kyle Edwards double to left center.
A two-run Bouche homer in the fourth put ODU back in front, 9-7. The Monarchs then tacked on another two runs in the sixth thanks to a Fitz-Gerald solo shot to right field and a Ransom RBI single up the middle. The offense continued in the seventh as a Waters RBI triple to center field and a Fitz-Gerald RBI double down the right-field line pushed the lead to 13-7.
Thomas Wheeler's three-run home run highlighted a six-run top of the eighth. The hosts closed the gap, 19-11 with a grand slam in the home half of the frame. A-State then plated another three runs in the ninth before a pair of Joey DeChiaro strikeouts helped wrap up the game.
Robert Cook (3-3) got the win after tossing 2.1 scoreless innings out of the pen. He gave up just one hit, walked three and added one strikeout to his totals.
Bouche finished 4-for-6 with one home run, two doubles, three runs, four RBIs and one base on balls. Fitz-Gerald went 3-for-5 with one homer, two doubles, three runs, three RBIs, a walk and a hit by pitch. Edwards batted 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs, one RBI, one walk and two stolen bases. Also turning in multi-hit performances were Waters (3-for-7), Ransom (2-for-4) and Levari (2-for-6). Thomas Wheeler drove in four runs, scored twice, homered, walked twice and stole a pair of bases in a 1-for-4 outing.
Game Two of the series is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start on Saturday.