Monarchs Away at Texas State this Weekend

Old Dominion (24-19, 11-10 Sun Belt) at Texas State (22-24, 8-13 Sun Belt)

Game Location – Bobcat Ballpark (San Marcos, Texas)

Game 1 – Friday, May 3 at 7 p.m. ET

Game 2 – Saturday, May 4 at 3:30 p.m. ET

Game 3 – Sunday, May 5 at 12 p.m. ET

Watch – ESPN+ (Game 3)

Live Stats – Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball will be in San Marcos, Texas this weekend for a Sun Belt series at Texas State. Friday’s series opener is slated for a 7 p.m. ET start at Bobcat Ballpark. The two teams then return for a 3:30 p.m. ET game on Saturday and will play at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Texas State is only streaming the series finale and live stats will be available.

Around the Horn

The Monarchs (24-19, 11-10 Sun Belt) picked up its third straight Sun Belt series win last weekend as ODU won two of three games versus ULM. Kenny Levari doubled and later scored on a walk-off wild pitch in the 12th inning to secure a 2-1 victory over the Warhawks on Friday. The visitors then evened the series with a 5-4 decision in 11 innings on Saturday. In Sunday’s rubber match, ULM erased a 5-0 ODU lead in the top of the third, but the Monarchs outscored the Warhawks 10-0 the rest of the way to secure the series win with a 15-5 final.

Kenny Levari was named to the Sun Belt Baseball Podcast’s Starting Nine this week while John Holobetz earned a spot on the Pitching Staff of the Week. Levari hit .400 with a .933 slugging percentage against ULM. He homered twice with five RBIs in Sunday’s win. Holobetz tossed 5.1 scoreless frames out of the pen on Friday, racking up six strikeouts while holding the Warhawks to just two hits.

ODU comes into the series ranked 68th in the RPI and in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Sun Belt standings with Coastal Carolina and James Madison. Luke Waters leads the team with a .300 batting average, Levari is next at .282, TJ Aiken is right behind Levari and hitting .281, and Kyle Edwards owns a .277 average. Waters and Levari have combined for 15 home runs, with Levari leading the team with 35 RBIs second with 31. Steven Meier (.253) has scored a team-high 34 runs and is 22-for-23 on stolen base attempts. The Kennewick, Washington native ranks 31st in the nation in stolen bases and 37th in stolen bases per game (0.51). As a team, the Monarchs are batting .244 with a .381 slugging percentage and a .344 on-base percentage.

Jay Cassady (0-2, 2.83 ERA) will start Friday’s game, with ODU’s starters for Saturday and Sunday still to be determined. Through games played on May 1, the Monarchs rank sixth in the country in WHIP (1.24), eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.97), ninth in ERA (3.97), 13th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.29) and 15th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.91). Old Dominion pitchers are holding opposing hitters to a .235 average against them.

Scouting Texas State

The Bobcats (22-24, 8-13) dropped both games of a Friday doubleheader at Arkansas State, 5-4 and 8-7, but avoided getting swept with a 10-0 shutout of the Red Wolves of Saturday. TXST then traveled to San Antonio for a midweek game at UTSA on Tuesday and came up short, 11-9.

Only 10 teams will make it to the Sun Belt Championship, and TXST finds itself 11th in the league standings with three conference series remaining in the regular season. The team is also listed 127th in the latest RPI rankings. Ryne Farber leads the bats with a .383 average. Following him are Kameron Weil (.346), Aaron Lugo (.308) and Daylan Pena (.285). Lugo, Pena and August Ramirez (.273) have hit 24 long balls between the three of them. Pena and Chase Mora (.253) have both driven in 39 runs while Lugo is the leader in runs scored with 46. Lugo (8-for-9), Weil (7-for-11) and Mora (6-for-6) are the top threats to steal. The Bobcats are hitting .270 as a team with a .420 slugging percentage and a .380 on-base percentage.

The TXST rotation will see right hander Austin Eaton (3-4, 4.62 ERA) on Friday and righty Drayton Brown (1-3, 2.98 ERA) on Saturday. The team has not named a starter for Sunday. Texas State has a team ERA of 5.24 with teams hitting .274 against them. As of May 1, the Bobcats rank 17th nationally in double plays turned (41) and 28th in double plays per game (0.89).

Head Coach Steven Trout is in his fifth season leading the program. The Bobcats were picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll and Mora represented TXST on the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team.

The Series

ODU and TXST met for the first time last season when the Monarchs hosted the Bobcats on April 28-29 at Bud Metheny Ballpark. After an 11-1 setback that Friday, Old Dominion won the first game of a Saturday doubleheader, 2-1, but dropped the second game 12-11 in 10 innings.

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 and VCU will meet for their second game in a home-and-home series next Tuesday in Richmond. First pitch at The Diamond is scheduled for 6 p.m.