Old Dominion (15-13, 4-5 Sun Belt) at No. 20 Coastal Carolina (20-8, 5-4 Sun Belt)
Game Location – Springs Brooks Stadium (Conway, S.C.)
Game 1 – Friday, April 5 at 6 p.m.
Game 2 – Saturday, April 6 at 2 p.m.
Game 3 – Sunday, April 7 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 will be in Conway, South Carolina this weekend for a Sun Belt series versus No. 20 Coastal Carolina. Friday's series opener is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start at Springs Brooks Stadium. The teams will then play again at 2 p.m. on Saturday and at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Fans can watch the entire series on ESPN+ and live stats will also be available.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (15-13, 4-5 Sun Belt) had their second meeting with No. 15 Virginia on Tuesday night, falling 4-0 to the Cavaliers in what proved to be a pitchers' duel. ODU held one of the top offenses in the country in check for six innings, but could only put together two hits in the loss. The two teams will meet again for the Commonwealth Classic on April 16 at Harbor Park.
ODU is currently ranked 61st in the RPI and is hitting .236 as a team with a .370 slugging percentage and a .338 on-base percentage. The Monarchs have stolen 58 bases in 71 attempts and rank 24th nationally in stolen bases and 25th in stolen bases per game (2.07). Luke Waters is batting .330 to pace the offense, Steven Meier is next with a .283 average, and Kyle Edwards is close behind Meier with a .276 clip. Waters also owns the team highs in home runs (6), RBIs (24), and total bases (57) and has swiped 15 bags in 16 attempts. Meier has scored a team-best 26 runs and is 18-for-18 on stolen base attempts. The junior outfielder enters the weekend ranked eighth in the country in stolen bases and 13th in stolen bases per game (0.64).
This weekend's rotation will see Jay Cassady (0-1, 4.30 ERA) get the nod for Friday's opener, Blake Morgan (1-0, 3.94 ERA) on Saturday, and Dylan Brown (1-2, 4.33 ERA) on Sunday. ODU's pitching continues to keep the Monarchs in games. As of April 4, the team ranks sixth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.15), 10th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.15), 15th in WHIP (1.26), 26th in ERA (4.09) and 32nd in hits allowed per nine innings (8.18). Opponents are hitting .239 against ODU.
Scouting Coastal Carolina
The Chanticleers (20-8, 5-4 Sun Belt) dropped their series opener at ULM, 11-3 last Thursday, but responded with a 4-1 victory on Friday before shutting out the Warhawks 9-0 in Saturday's rubber match. CCU then traveled to Wilmington, North Carolina on Tuesday and dropped a close game to the UNCW Seahawks, 6-4.
Coastal Carolina is ranked 20th by D1 Baseball, 21st in the USA Today Coaches' Poll, 22nd by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), and 24th by Baseball America. Through games played on April 3, the Chants are also 23rd in the RPI.
CCU has five starters hitting over .300: Sam Antonacci leads the way at .388, Derek Bender is second at .371, Jake Books is batting .357, Blake Barthol owns a .348 average, and Graham Brown comes into the series hitting .343. Antonacci is second in Division I in runs scored (47), third in runs per game (1.68), eighth in on-base percentage (.562), 10th in hit by pitch (14), 16th in hit by pitch per game (0.50), and 28th in walks (28). Barthol ranks fourth in runs (44), eighth in home runs (14) and runs per game (1.57), 12th in home runs per game (0.50), and 13th in total bases (89).
As a team, the Chants are second in scoring (10.5 runs per game), third in runs scored (294), sixth in on-base percentage (.444), 13th in walks (178) and home runs per game (1.96), 15th in home runs (55), 17th in slugging percentage (.549), 20th in hits (308) and 28th in batting average (.311) and doubles per game (2.29).
Coastal will start three right handers against the Monarchs, beginning with Alexander Meckley (3-1, 5.66 ERA). The Chants will go with Riley Eikhoff (2-0, 6.60 ERA) for Game Two and Cameron Flukey (1-1, 5.40 ERA) for Game Three. CCU owns a 5.35 ERA as a team with opposing teams hitting .261 against them. Defensively, they lead the nation in both double plays turned (35) and double plays per game (1.25).
The Chanticleers were picked as the preseason favorites to win the Sun Belt with 12 first-place votes and 193 points while Caden Bodine, Zack Beach and Bender were named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team. Head Coach Gary Gilmore is in his 29th season leading the program.
The Series
The all-time series is currently tied at 5-5. ODU hosted a then-No. 17 Chanticleer squad on April 14-16 last season. The Monarchs hit four home runs to win the opener, 8-5, but CCU won the second game 15-2 and took the rubber match 4-2 in 10 innings.
Up Next
ODU continues its five-game road swing next Tuesday, April 10 when the Monarchs head to Greenville, North Carolina for a 6 p.m. meeting with No. 12 East Carolina.
ODU Baseball Travels to No. 20 Coastal Carolina this Weekend
