LAFAYETTE, La. – For the third straight day, Old Dominion Baseball could not solve Louisiana's pitching as the Monarchs dropped their series finale to the Ragin' Cajuns, 2-0.
Just like last weekend's finale with Georgia Southern, Sunday's game was a pitcher's duel. Both sides combined for just nine hits with the Monarchs (13-11, 2-4 Sun Belt) tallying five while striking out 10 times. Meanwhile on defense, ODU's arms combined for five strikeouts, issued just two walks and limited the hosts to four hits. The Monarchs also turned one double play.
"Good ball game today," said ODU Head Coach Chris Finwood. "We pitched really well and played good defense. Just couldn't get a big hit and had some chances. Tough weekend. Hopefully we will learn from it and get better."
The Ragin' Cajuns (16-8, 5-1) applied some pressure in the bottom of the second. After Duncan Pastore led off with a single to right center, he reached second on a Lee Amedee sacrifice bunt and took third on a wild pitch. Kenny Levari then fielded a Conor Higgs ground ball and fired to Alex Bouche at first, but the first base umpire ruled the throw pulled Bouche off the bag. Pastore came home on the play, but upon further review the call was overturned and Higgs was ruled to be out.
ODU had an opportunity to do some damage in the third inning. With two outs, Kyle Edwards singled to left, Steven Meier dropped down a bunt single, and Luke Waters was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Louisiana was able to get out of the inning unscathed though as Jake Ticer grounded out to first.
ODU had another chance in the fifth as Evan Holman hit a one-out double down the left-field line, but the Cajuns retired the next two Monarch batters. In the bottom of the frame, Amedee drew a leadoff walk, moved up to second on a ground out to short, and advanced to third on a Higgs foul out down the right-field line. Edwards kept Amedee from coming around however as he caught a Jose Torres line drive right at him.
Louisiana finally scratched across a run in the sixth. With one away, John Taylor was hit by a pitch and took second on a wild pitch. ODU brought in Jacob Gomez to face Maddox Mandino, who worked a full count against the lefty. Gomez's next pitch missed its mark, and the ball hit off of Holman's glove allowing Taylor to reach third. Taylor then scored on a Kyle DeBarge sac fly to right center as the Cajuns took a 1-0 lead.
The Cajuns added an insurance run in the eighth as Torres doubled to right field and came home on a Taylor triple to center field. In the ninth, Ticer led off with a base hit to right, but Louisiana took care of the next three Monarchs to end the game.
Bailey Matela (1-1) was responsible for the deciding run and received the loss. He faced four batters in one inning of work, did not give up a hit or issue a walk, and hit one batter. Starter Ben Moore tossed 3.1 scoreless frames, tallying three strikeouts with two hits and no walks. Trent Buchanan threw a scoreless inning with one strikeout and one walk, and Gomez allowed one run on two hits and a walk while adding a strikeout in 2.2 innings in relief.
Holman finished 1-for-2 with a double and ODU's lone walk of the game while Edwards, Meier, Ticer and Levari all turned in 1-for-4 outings.
ODU will be back at Bud Metheny Ballpark this Thursday through Saturday when the Monarchs host South Alabama for three games.
ODU Baseball Falls 2-0 in Series Finale at Louisiana
