HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Old Dominion Baseball opened Sun Belt Conference play with an 11-2 setback at No. 22 Southern Miss on Friday night.
The Golden Eagles (13-5, 1-0 Sun Belt) manufactured a run in the bottom of the first as Jake Cook doubled to the gap in right, moved up to third on a ground out to short, and came home on a Davis Gillespie sacrifice fly to right field.
Nick Monistere led off the second inning with a solo home run to left. With one out and runners on the corners, the hosts went up 3-0 on an RBI ground out. An infield single and an ODU throwing error on the play made it a 4-0 deficit.
USM pushed across three more runs in the third. Gillespie reached on another throwing error before Matthew Russo was hit by a pitch. Monistere brought in Gillespie with a base hit through the left side, Russo was waved home on a Joey Urban double to right center, and Monistere crossed the plate on a Tucker Stockman ground out to short.
TJ Aiken got the Monarchs (4-11, 0-1) on the board with a leadoff solo shot in the fourth inning. Later in the sixth, Kyle Edwards hit a two-out single to left field and cut the USM lead to 7-2 when Zach Leite doubled down the first-base line.
Southern Miss had a quick response though. They loaded the bases in the home half of the sixth and Ozzie Pratt rounded out the scoring with a grand slam to left.
Relievers Marco Levari and Jayce Park prevented USM from doing any further damage, but the Monarchs were unable to put a runner in scoring position.
Ethan Hubbell (0-1) took the loss after giving up five runs, four of them earned, on five hits in a two-inning start. Aiken, Edwards and Leite all finished 2-for-4 to lead the Monarchs at the plate, and Aiken’s long ball was his third of the season. Stallings went 1-for-3 on the night for ODU’s other hit.
ODU will look to bounce back tomorrow night when the teams return for Game Two in the series. First pitch at Pete Taylor Park is scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT.