CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Kyle Edwards three-run home run highlighted a four-run top of the ninth as Old Dominion completed a 7-6 comeback win at Charlotte on Sunday afternoon at Hayes Stadium.
A rubber match between the two programs, the host 49ers (3-3) led 6-3 heading into the final inning. Down to its final three outs, Zach Leite helped start the rally with a leadoff double to left center. Charlotte challenged the close play at second, but upon review it was ruled that Leite had slid in safely.
With Tanner Schaedel pinch running for Leite, Brody Connors drew a one-out walk before Evan Holman found a hole through the right side of the defense for an RBI double. Down 6-4 with the potential game-tying run on second, Edwards sent a 1-2 pitch just over the wall in left field.
In the bottom of the ninth, Maverick Stallings made a great defensive play as he ranged to his left to collect a ground ball, spun and fired in time to get the out at first. ODU then brought in reliever Alex Hunt, who issued a walk and hit another batter, but recorded a pair of strikeouts to clinch the series victory.
“Proud of our guys,” said ODU Head Coach Chris Finwood. “Things weren’t really going our way and we gave them their runs in the fifth. Then we had some good at bats in the ninth capped by Kyle’s three-run homer to give us the lead.”
The game started out as a pitcher’s duel between ODU’s Blake Morgan and Charlotte’s Andrew Kribbs. Charlotte applied pressure in the first as the 49ers loaded the bases, but Morgan induced a couple of pop ups to escape the threat. The lefthander from Marlton, New Jersey worked around a leadoff walk in the second and then recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the third.
Meanwhile Kribbs struck out the side in the first, gave up a double to Leite in the second but recorded another three strikeouts in the frame, and retired the Monarchs in order in the fourth.
ODU finally broke through with three runs in the fourth. With two outs, Edwards singled through the left side and stole second before Efrain Morales walked. Charlotte went to the bullpen for redshirt freshman lefthander AJ Camp, and TJ Aiken made the 49ers regret that decision with his second home run in as many days. A long ball down the right field line, the play went to review and Aiken’s three-run blast was upheld.
That 3-0 lead didn’t last long though as Monarch pitching got into trouble in bottom of the fourth. Morgan was able to retire two batters, but a couple of hit batters, a wild pitch and a Gunderson double to right center had the home team within a run, 3-2.
After Morgan walked the next two batters, ODU brought in Luke Ridley and Cole Lanford, but neither reliever could halt the damage. Another two walks and a hit batter allowed the 49ers to pull ahead, 5-3. Charlotte then added another run in the sixth as Dawson Bryce singled to short, stole second, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Carson Bayne single to left field.
Hunt (1-0) received the win after tallying four strikeouts with one walk in 1.2 shutout innings. Morgan allowed five runs on two hits and six walks. He struck out five in a 4.2-inning start.
“Alex Hunt really was dominant in the eighth and ninth,” Finwood said of his pitcher. “Good road series win versus a good opponent.”
Edwards finished 3-for-4 in the game with his first homer of the season. He scored twice and also stole a base. Aiken went 1-for-4 with the three-run blast and a walk, and Leite doubled twice in a 2-for-4 day at the plate. Morales contributed a 1-for-3 effort with a double, a walk and a run, and Holman hit 1-for-4 with the RBI double.
Up next for ODU is a midweek game at East Carolina. Originally scheduled for 4 p.m. this Tuesday, the game has been moved back to a 3 p.m. start on Wednesday after ECU’s series opener against No. 6 North Carolina was postponed to Monday due to weather.