Old Dominion (5-13, 1-2 Sun Belt) vs. Georgia State (15-7, 3-0 Sun Belt)
Game Location – War Memorial Stadium (Hampton, Va.)
Game 1 – Friday, March 21 at 3 p.m.
Game 2 – Saturday, March 22 at 3 p.m.
Game 3 – Sunday, March 23 at 1 p.m.
Watch – ESPN+ (Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3)
Listen – Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM (Game 3 only)
Live Stats – Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball has its first home series of the season this weekend when the Monarchs host Georgia State for three games at War Memorial Stadium, home of the Peninsula Pilots.
The two teams will play at 3 p.m. on Friday and Saturday before closing out the Sun Belt series at 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ and will have live stats available. Andy Mashaw will also cover the series finale on Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM.
Tickets for single games at War Memorial Stadium can be purchased through the Peninsula Pilots website and go for $10 for general admission, $15 for grandstand seating, and $20 for field level box seats. ODU students with a valid student ID will be admitted free.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (5-13, 2-1 Sun Belt) could not overcome an early 5-0 deficit on Wednesday night at William & Mary, falling 10-8 to the Tribe. Nick Sulpizio suffered the loss, while Hunter Baynes and Jayce Park turned in a pair of scoreless multiple-inning appearances out of the bullpen. Zach Leite led ODU with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate. The junior from Dana Point, California nearly hit for the cycle. He hit a leadoff home run in the second inning, doubled in the fifth, and singled in the sixth.
Leite leads ODU with a .327 batting average and 13 RBIs. Tahraun Hammond is hitting .294, Scotty Young has a .286 clip, and TJ Aiken comes into the weekend batting .275. Kyle Edwards (.269) has scored 13 runs and ranks second in the league with 10 stolen bases and 0.56 stolen bases per game. Kainen Jorge (.258) has scored 14 runs and has a team-high 16 walks. The Monarchs are hitting .239 as a team with a .350 slugging percentage and a .342 on-base percentage.
The weekend rotation will see Ben Moore (0-2, 8.68 ERA) on Friday, Dylan Brown (1-0, 3.71 ERA) on Saturday, and Blake Morgan (2-1, 4.66 ERA) on Sunday. Brown leads the conference and ranks 20th in the country with 13.84 strikeouts per nine innings and 23rd nationally with 41 strikeouts. ODU owns a team ERA of 6.84 with opponents hitting .273 against them.
Through games played on March 19, the Monarchs are 11th in the Sun Belt standings and 72nd in the RPI.
Scouting Georgia State
The Panthers (15-7, 3-0 Sun Belt) swept South Alabama last weekend to open conference play, but dropped a close game at West Georgia, 12-11 on Tuesday. GSU took an early 7-0 lead, but the Wolves scored multiple runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings to rally for the victory. Jesse Donohoe (2-for-4) homered twice, scored three runs and drove in two to please GSU at the plate.
GSU has six players hitting .300 or better. Kaleb Freeman leads the way with a .387 average, Andon Lewis is next at .357, and Michael Maginnis is third with a .333 clip. Following them are Wills Maginnis (.325), Jae Williams (.311) and John Beverley (.300). The team is currently second in Division I with 173 walks, ninth in on-base percentage (.448), 119th in doubles (51) and home runs (39), 12th in runs (204), 13th in slugging percentage (.558), and 14th in triples (9). The Panthers have also swiped 34 bags on 48 attempts.
Freeman is the national leader in doubles (15), doubles per game (0.68), walks (34), ad walks per game (1.55). He’s also ninth in the country with a .582 on-base percentage and is second in the Sun Belt with a .787 slugging percentage.
The Panthers will start three right handers this weekend. Caleb White (4-1, 4.50 ERA) will get the nod on Friday, Ross Norman (3-2, 4.78 ERA) will start on Saturday, and Cole Roberts (3-1,4.91 ERA) will be on the hill on Sunday. GSU has a combined ERA of 6.11 with opponents hitting .275 against them. The team is first in the conference with 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings.
GSU is second in the conference standings and 99th in the latest RPI rankings.
The Series
GSU has a narrow lead in the all-time series, 17-16. ODU closed out the 2023 regular season at Georgia State and won two of three games to clinch a spot in the Sun Belt Championship as the No. 8 seed. The Monarchs won the series opener, but dropped the second game 5-3. ODU then won the rubber match 20-6 in seven innings as four different players combined to hit five home runs.
Up Next
The Monarchs will be in Johnson City, Tennessee next Wednesday, March 26 for a 3 p.m. game at East Tennessee State.