Old Dominion (13-8, 2-1 Sun Belt) at Louisiana (13-8, 2-1 Sun Belt)
Game Location – M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park (Lafayette, La.)
Game 1 – Friday, March 22 at 7 p.m. ET
Game 2 – Saturday, March 23 at 3 p.m. ET
Game 3 – Sunday, March 24 at 12 p.m. ET
Watch – ESPN+ (Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3)
Live Stats – Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball is headed to Lafayette, Louisiana this weekend for a Sun Belt series at Louisiana. Friday's first pitch from M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The teams will return for a 3 p.m. ET game on Saturday, then wrap up the weekend with a 12 p.m. ET start on Sunday.
All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ and fans can also follow along with live stats.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (13-8, 2-1 Sun Belt) started off conference play with a 2-1 series win over Georgia Southern last weekend, securing a pair of 11-1 run-rule victories over the Eagles before dropping the finale 2-1. ODU then hosted Richmond on Tuesday, defeating the Spiders 3-2 thanks to a strong outing by Vincent Bashara and a Luke Waters solo home run in the eighth inning.
Waters owns the team's best batting average at .346, Alex Bouche is next at .314, and Kyle Edwards is hitting .288. Waters has hit four homers and also has a team-high 20 RBIs while Kenny Levari (.261) has three long balls, six doubles and 19 RBIs. Steven Meier (.265) has scored 21 times and Edwards enters the weekend with one homer, one triple, and eight doubles. The Monarchs are hitting .248 as a team with a .387 slugging percentage and a .353 on-base percentage. ODU is currently 14th in the country with 48 stolen bases and 15th with 2.29 stolen bases per game. Waters has swiped 14 bags in 15 attempts and ranks ninth nationally in stolen bases and 20th in stolen bases per game (0.67). Meier is a perfect 12-for-12, good for 22nd in stolen bases.
ODU will go with its same rotation as last week: Jay Cassady (0-1, 4.50 ERA) on Friday, Dylan Brown (1-1, 3.86 ERA) on Saturday, and Ben Moore (0-0, 1.23 ERA) on Sunday. Through games played on March 20, the Monarchs are eighth in Division I in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.14), 10th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.20), 15th in WHIP (1.25), and 34th in ERA (4.08). Opposing teams are hitting .235 against them.
Scouting Louisiana
The Ragin' Cajuns (13-8, 2-1) dropped their Sun Belt opener at Arkansas State 11-8 last Friday, but beat the Red Wolves 7-6 on Saturday and again 8-5 on Sunday. Louisiana run-ruled Southern 17-7 in seven innings on Tuesday and followed with a 4-1 win over McNeese on Wednesday.
Trey LaFleur owns the second-best batting average in the league at .404. Josh Alexander is second on the team with a .328 clip and Kyle DeBarge is third with a .303 average. DeBarge has the team highs in home runs (8), RBIs (23), and runs (21). Caleb Stelly (.233) is a perfect 5-for-5 when attempting to steal, Conor Higgs (.281) is 4-for-5, and Maddox Mandino (.357) and Bryan Broussard Jr. (.225) are both 4-for-4. The Cajuns are batting .281 as a team with a .442 slugging percentage and a .365 on-base percentage.
Louisiana's rotation will consist of left hander Andrew Herrmann (1-1, 3.04 ERA) for the opener, right hander Carson Fluno (1-0, 3.66 ERA) for Saturday, and lefty Chase Morgan (1-1, 2.66 ERA) on Sunday. The team comes into the series with a 4.38 team ERA with opponents batting .225 against them. The Cajuns lead the Sun Belt and rank 14th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (11.2) and 17th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.54).
Louisiana received two first-place votes and was picked to finish second in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches' Poll. DeBarge was named the Preseason Player of the Year along with garnering Preseason All-Sun Belt Team honors. Head Coach Matt Deggs is in his fifth season leading the program.
The Series
ODU and Louisiana are meeting for the first time this weekend.
Up Next
ODU will be back at The Bud next weekend when the Monarchs host South Alabama for three games.
ODU Baseball Travels to Louisiana for Sun Belt Series with the Ragin' Cajuns
