Monarchs Host ULM for Three-Game Set

Old Dominion (22-18, 9-9 Sun Belt) vs. ULM (18-22, 6-12 Sun Belt)
Game Location – Bud Metheny Ballpark (Norfolk, Va.)
Game 1 – Friday, April 26 at 6 p.m.
Game 2 – Saturday, April 27 at 4 p.m.
Game 3 – Sunday, April 28 at 10:30 a.m.
Watch – ESPN+ (Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3)
Live Stats – Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball has a Sun Belt series against ULM this weekend at Bud Metheny Ballpark. Friday's series opener is scheduled for 6 p.m., Saturday's game will begin at 4 p.m., and Sunday's series finale will start at 10:30 a.m.

Fans can watch all three games on ESPN+ with Andy Mashaw providing the play-by-play and live stats will also be available.

Around the Horn
The Monarchs (22-18, 9-9 Sun Belt) held a narrow 2-1 advantage over in-state rival VCU on Tuesday, but a bases-loaded double by Kenny Levari highlighted a five-run seventh inning as ODU came away with the 7-1 victory. Starting pitcher Nick Sulpizio earned his first career win as seven different Monarch arms combined to hold the Rams to just two hits in the game.

Leading ODU at the plate are TJ Aiken (.326), Luke Waters (.311), Alex Bouche (.274) and Levari (.270). Aiken, a freshman from Greenwood, South Carolina, has started in left field for the past eight games and has hit .385 (10-for-26) in that span. Levari enters the weekend on an 11-game hit streak while Steven Meier (.250) has reached base in 11 straight games. The Monarchs continue to lead the Sun Belt with 66 steals and 1.65 steals per game. Meier has swiped one third of that total with 22 steals on 23 attempts, and Waters has been successful on 16-of-18 attempts. As a team, ODU is batting .242 with a .379 slugging percentage and a .343 on-base percentage.

The Monarchs will stick with Jay Cassady (0-2, 3.28 ERA) as their Friday starter and Blake Morgan (2-1, 3.91 ERA) as the Saturday starter. Sunday's starting pitcher is still to be determined. Through games played on April 24, ODU pitching ranked 10th in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.85), 11th in WHIP (1.27), 15th in ERA (4.06), 16th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.43), and 19th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.97). Old Dominion's arms are holding opposing hitters to a .236 average against them.

ODU is listed 56th in the most recent RPI rankings and the Sun Belt has the fifth-best RPI in the conference rankings. The league currently has 10 of its 14 member institutions ranked in the Top 100.

Scouting ULM
The Warhawks (18-22, 6-12) avoided a sweep at Southern Miss last weekend. After dropping the first two games in the series 14-3 in seven innings and 13-3 in eight innings, ULM won the third game by a final of 5-1. The team then hosted Little Rock on Tuesday, falling 4-2 to the Trojans.

ULM is hitting .274 as a club and owns a .425 slugging percentage and a .375 on-base percentage. The team has six starters hitting over .300: Michelle Artzberger leads the way with a .356 average, Bryce Blaser is second at .345, Easton Winfield is batting .329, Shawn Dalton Weatherbee is at 319, Colby Lunsford has a .309 average and Jayson Zmejkoski owns a .308 clip. Jake Haggard (.250) has driven in 32 runs while Winfield is the leader in both home runs (9), runs scored (40), and stolen bases (13-for-15). Artzeberger ranks second in the Sun Belt with 0.40 doubles per game and Lunsford and Winfield are tied for fourth in the league with three triples each.

Left-hander Cam Barlow (1-3, 5.35 ERA) will get the start for the Warhawks on Friday and right-hander Daniel Gonzalez (1-2, 6.11 ERA) will get the nod on Saturday. ULM has not named a starter for Sunday. The team owns an ERA of 6.07, which ranks 11th in the conference, and opponents are batting .269 against them.

The Warhawks were picked to finish 13th in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches' Poll and currently rank 160th in the RPI as of April 25. Head Coach Mike Federico is in his seventh season leading the program.

The Series
This weekend marks the first meeting between the two programs.

ODU vs. In-State Teams
The Monarchs have played nine games against in-state schools so far this season and are currently third in winning percentage behind Virginia and Virginia Tech. ODU still has two more games against in-state schools during the regular season, both on the road. Old Dominion will play at VCU on May 7 and at Richmond on May 14.
 

*Through games played on April 23

Get Your Gear!
Need some ODU gear to rep the Monarchs? The ODU Bookstore has you covered as the on-field hats the Monarchs wear during games are now in stock.

Up Next
ODU will travel to San Marcos, Texas next weekend for a Sun Belt series at Texas State. The series opener on May 3 is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start. The two teams then return for a 3:30 p.m. ET game at Bobcat Ballpark on May 4 and a 12 p.m. ET series finale on May 5.