Old Dominion (2-5, 0-0 Sun Belt) vs. St. Bonaventure (4-3, 0-0 A10) | vs. UT Martin (3-4, 0-0 OVC) | at Middle Tennessee (5-3, 0-0 Conference USA)
Game Location – Reese Smith Jr. Field (Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
Game 1 – Friday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. EST
Game 2 – Saturday, March 1 at 1 p.m. EST
Game 3 – Sunday, March 2 at 1 p.m. EST
Watch – ESPN+ (Game 3)
Live Stats – Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball will be in Murfreesboro, Tennessee this weekend for a round robin tournament hosted by Middle Tennessee.
ODU will play St. Bonaventure on Friday at 5 p.m. EST, UT Martin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and the host Blue Raiders on Sunday at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available for all three games, and Sunday’s game against MTSU will be streamed on ESPN+.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (2-5, 0-0 Sun Belt) are coming off an 8-2 loss at East Carolina on Wednesday. After ECU scored four runs in the first inning, ODU got a run back in the third as TJ Aiken walked, Luke Waters followed with a single, and Kainen Jorge doubled down the left-field line. Later in the sixth, a Maverick Stallings single to left scored Aiken from second to cut the deficit to 5-2. However, the Pirates tacked on two more runs in the seventh on a wild pitch and throwing error and another in the eighth with a solo home run.
Aiken leads ODU at the plate with a .333 batting average. Following him are Efrain Morales (.290), Scotty Young (.286), and Zach Leite (.286). Morales, Jorge (.250) and Kyle Edwards (.160) have all scored five runs each while Morales leads the Monarchs with seven RBIs. ODU is hitting .229 as a team with a .335 slugging percentage and .350 on-base percentage. Old Dominion is also 7-for-9 when attempting to steal.
The weekend rotation will see Ben Moore (0-0, 3.12 ERA) starting on Friday, reigning Sun Belt and NCBWA Pitcher of the Week Dylan Brown (1-0, 0.00 ERA) on Saturday, and Blake Morgan (0-0, 7.45 ERA) on Sunday. Monarch pitching owns a 5.49 ERA with opponents hitting .215 against them. Brown leads the Sun Belt and is second in the nation with 23 strikeouts and 20th in Division I with 15.92 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s also the conference leader in WHIP (0.62) and hits allowed per nine innings (2.77).
Scouting St. Bonaventure
The Bonnies (4-3, 0-0 A10) won three out of four games at Gardner-Webb to start the season, but dropped two of three games to Morehead State last weekend. St. Bonaventure won the first game of a Saturday doubleheader, 6-3, but then fell 1-0 in seven innings in the second game of the twin billing. Morehead State then claimed the rubber match 12-8 on Sunday.
St. Bonaventure has six starters hitting .300 or better. Jayce Tharnish leads the team with a .406 average, Antonio Cordeiro is batting .333, and Morgan Little owns a .313 clip. Mike Gunning enters the weekend hitting .308, Conner Vercollone is at .304, and Harrison Kaufman has a .300 average. Tharnish also owns team highs in runs scored (12), RBIs (9), and stolen bases (5-for-5). Gunning and David Marshall Jr. (.276) have scored 10 runs each. As a team, the Bonnies are batting .282 with a .436 slugging percentage and a .397 on-base percentage.
St. Bonaventure has not named a starter for Friday. The Bonnies have a team ERA of 8.31 and opponents are hitting .276 against them.
Scouting UT Martin
The Skyhawks (3-4, 0-0 OVC) lost two of three games at Georgia State last weekend and are coming off an 18-7 loss in seven innings at Murray State on Tuesday. UT Martin built an early 4-1 lead, but the Racers took over the game with eight runs in the fourth and another nine in the sixth.
TJ Grines is batting .429 and Jonah Katsaboulas is close behind him at .409. Also hitting over. 300 are Brody Capps (.375), Jalen Fithian (.333), and Cameron Greene (.320). Capps has driven in 10 runs and Grines has scored 11 times. The team is hitting a combined .303 with a .462 slugging percentage and a .397 on-base percentage. The Skyhawks are also a threat to steal with 19 swiped bags on 23 attempts, led by Grines with nine stolen bases on 10 attempts.
UT Martin has not announced its weekend rotation. The Skyhawks own a team ERA of 7.97 with opponents hitting .292 against them.
Scouting Middle Tennessee
The Blue Raiders (5-3, 0-0 Conference USA) have won four in a row with a series sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson last weekend and a 10-9 win over Austin Peay State on Tuesday. The Governors made a late charge with three runs in the top of the ninth, but Bryant Beranek recorded a strikeout to end the game and pick up his first save of the season.
Easton Snider leads the team with a .563 average. He also owns the team highs in runs (11), RBIs (10), and stolen bases (5-for-6). Following him in batting average are Tyler Minnick (.419), Clay Badylak (.385), Matt Wolfe (.345), and Nathan Brewer (.324). MTSU is hitting .329 as a team with a .527 slugging percentage and a .424 on-base percentage. The Blue Raiders have also hit 12 home runs as a team so far.
ODU will likely see right hander Drew Horn, who is 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA through two starts. He’s given up just one run on two hits and six walks while striking out 17 in 11 innings pitched. MTSU has a team ERA of 4.48 with opponents hitting .248 against them.
The Series
ODU is up 2-1 all-time when playing St. Bonaventure. The teams met during the 1991 season with the Monarchs winning the first two games, 7-2 and 18-2. The Bonnies then avoided the sweep by claiming the finale, 5-4.
ODU and UT Martin are meeting for the first time on Saturday.
MTSU and ODU have met 22 times prior, with the all-time series knotted at 11-11. Middle Tennessee hosted Old Dominion on March 18-20, 2022. The Monarchs won the series opener 23-7 and then won again 6-3 the next day. MTSU then grabbed the final game, 13-5. The two teams then met again on May 25 that season in the Conference USA Championship, with the Monarchs winning 18-7.
Up Next
ODU will play three games at Auburn next weekend, March 7-9.