CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Old Dominion baseball held one of the top offenses in the country scoreless for six innings, but dropped its midweek game at No. 15 Virginia, 4-0 on Tuesday night at Davenport Field at Disharoon Park.
ODU had an opportunity in the top of the first inning as Steven Meier hit a one-out double down the left-field line. He would proceed to steal third base, but Luke Waters went down swinging and Kyle Edwards grounded out to second.
The game was suspended in the middle of the third inning due to a weather advisory for the area. Despite the delay, which lasted for an hour and 15 minutes, ODU's pitching continued to hold the third-highest scoring offense in the country in check. Nick Sulpizio, Hutson Trobaugh, Kellen Davis and Brandon Pond scattered three hits and retired the side in order in the first, fifth and sixth innings.
The Monarchs (15-13) had another runner in scoring position in the top of the sixth. With two outs, Meier singled to center field and UVA's Harrison Didawick bobbled the ball, the error allowing Meier to slide into second. Waters then drew a walk, but the pair were left stranded as Edwards went down swinging.
The Cavaliers (23-6) finally broke through in the seventh. Pond retired the first two batters he faced in the inning, but then hit UVA's Ethan Anderson and was lifted for Marco Levari. A wild pitch moved Anderson to second, and he raced home on a Luke Hanson single to right field.
Virginia pushed its lead to 4-0 with another three runs on four hits in the eighth. After Jacob Ference and Casey Saucke both singled up the middle to start the frame, Didawick laid down a sacrifice bunt to move them into scoring position. Henry Ford then tripled off the wall in right field and scored the final run of the game on a Henry Godbout base hit to left.
Brandon Pond (0-2) received the loss after giving up the deciding run. He didn't allow a hit or issue a walk and struck out three in 2.2 innings pitched. Vincent Bashara was responsible for the other three runs and Meier had both of ODU's hits in a 2-for-4 day at the plate.
The Cavaliers came into the game ranked second in the country in batting average at .347, but were held to a .258 clip with eight hits in 31 at bats. ODU also held Virginia well below its average of 10.3 runs per game.
The Monarchs are headed to Conway, South Carolina this weekend for a Sun Belt series at No. 20 Coastal Carolina. Friday's series opener is set for a 6 p.m. start. The two teams will return to Springs Brooks Stadium for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday and round out the weekend with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday.
ODU Baseball Drops Pitching Duel to No. 15 Virginia
