MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Old Dominion Baseball opened its round robin tournament at Middle Tennessee with a 7-4 setback against St. Bonaventure on Friday night.
The Monarchs (2-6) jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a Kainen Jorge sacrifice fly in the first and a St. Bonaventure fielding error in the fourth that allowed Maverick Stallings to come home.
That lead wouldn’t hold though as the Bonnies (5-3) got going with a sac fly of their own in the bottom of the fourth. Conner Vercollone then hit a three-run home run in the fifth to put SBU in front, 4-2.
ODU got back a run in the sixth as Evan Holman walked, advanced to third on a couple of wild pitches, and then came home on an Efrain Morales sac fly to left field.
The Monarchs pulled even at 4-4 with another run in the eighth. After Brody Connors singled to third base and was pinch ran for by Ryan Thomas, Holman laid down a sac bunt and Kyle Edwards followed with an RBI single to right center. The Monarchs had an opportunity to pull ahead as Morales singled to left field and ODU executed a double steal to put runners in scoring position with one out. However, TJ Aiken went down swinging and Luke Waters popped up to second base.
St. Bonaventure quickly loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame with a couple of base hits and a walk. Antonio Cordeiro then drew another walk to put the Bonnies up 5-4 as ODU brought in Bailey Matela out of the pen. SBU’s Morgan Little greeted him with a hit back up the middle, plating two, as the Bonnies added more insurance for a 7-4 lead.
Stallings then reached with a two-out single in the ninth, but Tahraun Hammond grounded out to third to end the game.
Kellen Davis (0-1) received the loss after allowing three runs on two hits and two walks. He recorded three strikeouts in one complete inning in relief. Ben Moore tallied six strikeouts, but was tagged for two runs on three hits and one walk in a four-inning start.
Stallings finished 3-for-5 and scored a run, Morales went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base, and Waters hit 2-for-5 with a double.
The Monarchs are back at Reese Smith Jr. Field tomorrow for a 5 p.m. game against UT Martin.