Old Dominion (10-7) vs. Georgia Southern (8-8)
Game Location – Bud Metheny Ballpark (Norfolk, Va.)
Game 1 – Friday, March 15 at 6 p.m.
Game 2 – Saturday, March 16 at 3 p.m.
Game 3 – Sunday, March 17 at 1 p.m.
Watch – ESPN+ (Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3)
Live Stats – Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball is set to open Sun Belt play this weekend as the Monarchs host Georgia Southern for three games at Bud Metheny Ballpark. The series gets under away with a 6 p.m. start on Friday. ODU and GS will then meet again Saturday at 3 p.m. before closing out the weekend with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday.
Fans can stream the series on ESPN+ with Andy Mashaw providing play-by-play. Live stats will also be available.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (10-8) split their midweek series against Princeton, dropping a close game on Tuesday 10-8 but bouncing back with a 12-1 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday. Kenny Levari hit 3-for-5 (.600) in the two games with a double, two runs scored, three walks and four RBIs. Evan Holman and Alex Bouche both hit 3-for-7 (.429) against Princeton, Jackson Tone went 3-for-8 (.375) and drove in six runs, and Maverick Stallings turned in a combined 2-for-6 (.333) effort. In Wednesday's win, four ODU pitchers combined to hold the Tigers to just two hits with Garrett Harker (1-0) getting the decision.
ODU is batting .245 as a team with a .359 slugging percentage and a .355 on-base percentage. Leading the team at the plate is Bouche with a .316 clip, following by Luke Waters and Kyle Edwards with a pair of .313 averages. Waters, Edwards and Levari (.250) own 14 RBIs each while Steven Meier (.263) has scored 17 runs. Edwards currently ranks fifth in the country with four sacrifice flies while Meier and Waters are 25th nationally with 10 stolen bases each. As a team, the Monarchs have swiped 41 bags on 46 attempts and rank 10th in NCAA Division I in stolen bases and 12th in stolen bases per game (2.41).
The Monarchs will shake up their rotation against GS. Jay Cassady (0-1, 4.91 ERA) will make his first start as a Monarch on Friday, Dylan Brown (1-1, 4.67 ERA) will start Saturday's game, and Ben Moore (0-0, 2.08 ERA) will start on Sunday. ODU's pitchers own a team ERA of 4.68 with opponents hitting .244 against them. ODU is 15th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.16), 24th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.30), 36th in WHIP (1.31) and 38th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.4).
Through games played on March 13, Old Dominion is listed 78th in the RPI.
Scouting Georgia Southern
The Eagles (8-8) completed a series sweep of Radford last weekend, defeating the Highlanders 5-4 on Friday, 7-1 on Saturday and 12-4 on Sunday. GS then hosted Kennesaw State on Tuesday and came away with their fourth-straight victory, 7-4. After giving up a three-spot to the visitors in the top of the third inning, GS's JPP Herrholz answered with a grand slam in the bottom of the frame. KSU pulled even with a run in the fourth, but the Eagles pulled ahead with a run in the fifth and added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth.
GS has three starters hitting .300 or better: Josh Tate has the team's best average with a .375, Jarrett Brown is next at .342, and Kent Schmidt is batting .306. Sam Blancato (.222) and Jonathan Jaime (.333) have both hit two home runs while Tate and Schmidt have four doubles each. Blancato owns the team highs in RBIs (14) and walks (14) and Tate has scored 19 runs. Tate leads the Sun Belt and ranks sixth nationally in stolen bases (12) and ninth in stolen bases per game (0.75). The team is batting .245 with a .333 slugging percentage and a .374 on-base percentage.
The Eagles will go with righthander Thomas Higgins (1-1, 3.32 ERA) for the series opener and lefties Mitchell Gross (0-1, 5.68 ERA) and Ty Fisher (2-1, 4.15 ERA) on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. GS has a combined ERA of 4.88 with opponents hitting .279 against them.
Georgia Southern is currently 58th in the latest RPI rankings and was picked to finish seventh in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches' Poll. Jarrett Brown and Sam Blancato represented the Eagles on the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team. Head Coach Rodney Hennon is in his 25th season with the program.
The Series
The Eagles have a slim lead in the all-time series, 4-3. The Monarchs made the trip to Statesboro, Georgia on March 31-April 2 last season and won the first two games, 7-5 and 12-7. GS then avoided the sweep by taking the series finale 16-0 in seven innings.
ODU and Georgia Southern met each other in the opening round of the 1996 Atlantic Regional hosted by Clemson, a game that went to the Eagles 6-0.
Up Next
ODU and Richmond will play the first game in their home-and-home series next Tuesday, March 19 when the Spiders come to Norfolk for a 6 p.m. game at The Bud. The two teams will meet again later this season when the Monarchs travel to Richmond on May 14.
ODU Baseball Opens Sun Belt Play Against Georgia Southern this Weekend
