CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball dropped its first of three meetings with Virginia this season, falling 8-0 to the No. 14 Cavaliers on Wednesday afternoon at Disharoon Park.
"The difference in the game was their veteran lineup winning the two-strike and two outs game," said ODU head coach Chris Finwood. "We certainly have to be better in both of those areas and it showed up today. We will improve in both of those areas as the season unfolds. Some of it's mechanics and some of it is grit and toughness. They outplayed us today and we will learn from this one!"
Virginia opened the scoring in the bottom of the second as Harrison Didawick hit a solo home run to right field. In the top of the third, ODU had its first runner in scoring position as Evan Holman reached on a fielding error and advanced to second. Kyle Edwards drew a walk to put two runners on, but Kenny Levari ended the half inning with a fly out to left. The Cavaliers (4-0) pushed across another run in the bottom of the frame thanks to a failed pickoff attempt and an Anthony Stephan double down the right-field line.
The Monarchs (3-1) had another opportunity to cut into the UVA lead with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth inning. After Luke Waters flew out to center field, Jake Ticer drew a four-pitch walk and Alex Bouche singled to right. Gavin Abrams then went down swinging before Maverick Stallings found a hole through the left side of the Virginia defense. Steven Meier hit a 1-2 offering towards the Virginia second baseman, who flipped it to the shortstop for the force out at second.
In ODU's next turn at the plate, Edwards battled in a 12-pitch at-bat that saw him earn another base on balls. He then stole second and moved up to third on a Waters fly out to right, but was left stranded as Ticer went down looking. UVA went up 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth as Henry Godbout doubled down the left-field line and later scored on a Griff O'Ferrall single that ate up ODU pitcher Kellen Davis. The Cavaliers pushed across another four runs on five hits in the sixth inning to take a 7-0 lead and tacked on another run in the seventh as Henry Ford scored from second on a Didawick double down the left-field line.
Jacob Gomez (0-1) was handed the loss after allowing one run on two hits in a two-inning start. Bouche led the Monarchs at the plate, batting 2-for-3 on the day. Stallings finished 1-for-3 on the afternoon and Waters collected ODU's other hit with a 1-for-4 outing.
ODU is back at Bud Metheny Ballpark this weekend for three games against Rutgers. The teams open the series this Friday at 3 p.m., then meet again Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Monarchs Fall to No. 14 Cavaliers on Wednesday
