Old Dominion (7-15, 3-3 Sun Belt) at App State (12-12, 3-3 Sun Belt)
Game Location – Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium (Boone, N.C.)
Game 1 – Friday, March 28 at 6 p.m.
Game 2 – Saturday, March 29 at 3 p.m.
Game 3 – Sunday, March 30 at 1 p.m.
Watch – ESPN+ (Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3)
Live Stats – Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball continues its five-game road trip and resumes Sun Belt play with three games at App State this weekend. The Monarchs and Mountaineers will open the series at 6 p.m. on Friday, return for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday, and wrap up with a 1 p.m. start on Sunday.
All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will also be available.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (7-15, 3-3 Sun Belt) fell 12-7 at ETSU on Wednesday. ODU pulled to within 6-5 in the top of the fifth, but the Buccaneers pulled away with five runs in the bottom of the inning. It was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
ODU has three players hitting .300 or better: Zach Leite leads the way with a .344 average, Scotty Young is batting .318, and Kyle Edwards enters the weekend hitting .301. Edwards leads the team with 18 runs scored and is second in the conference with 13 stolen bases and 0.59 swiped bags per game. Luke Waters (.235) has driven in 17 runs, Leite is close behind him with 15 RBIs, and Edwards owns 12. The Monarchs are batting .252 as a team with a .383 slugging percentage and a .352 on-base percentage.
On the mound, it will be the same rotation of Ben Moore (1-2, 7.23 ERA), Dylan Brown (2-0, 3.58 ERA), and Blake Morgan (2-2, 4.11 ERA) this weekend. Brown ranks 13th in the nation with 13.50 strikeouts per nine innings and 18th with 49 strikeouts. Monarch pitching is currently third in the SBC with 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings and owns a combined ERA of 6.62. Opposing batters are hitting .270 against them.
Through games played on March 26, ODU is 68th in the RPI. The team is also in a five-way tie for sixth place in the Sun Belt standings through the first two weeks of conference play.
Scouting App State
The Mountaineers (12-12, 3-3 Sun Belt) got swept at Georgia Southern last weekend, but came back to win 11-10 in extra innings on Tuesday night against High Point. Knotted at 10-10 in the bottom of the 10th inning, Braxton Church scored from first on a Graham Smiley double into the left-field corner. App State had trailed 10-7 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
App State has five players hitting .300 or better. Tyler Lichtenberger leads the way with a .407 average, Juan Correa is second at .329, and Joseph Zamora is third with a .311 clip. Following them are Kameron Miller (.305) and Jonathan Xuereb (.300). Dillon Moquin (.286) has been hit by pitch 12 times and ranks eighth nationally in hit by pitch per game (0.60). Correa is 11th in the country with 0.47 home runs per game and 28th with nine homers, both of which are league bests. He’s also second in the SBC with 1.32 RBIs per game and is third with a .737 slugging percentage. App State has a combined .289 batting average with a .462 slugging percentage and a .405 on-base percentage.
The team is currently ninth in Division I with 18 sacrifice flies. The Mountaineers are also 17th in doubles (57) and 25th in doubles per game (2.38). App State is third in the Sun Belt in scoring with 8.0 runs per game and lead the league with two shutouts. They’re currently tied for sixth in the conference standings and are 188th in the RPI.
Right handers Caleb Cross (2-1, 4.76 ERA) and Everette Harris (0-2, 9.39 ERA) will start on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The Mountaineers have not named a starter for Saturday. App State has a team ERA of 7.77 with opponents batting .301 against them.
The Series
ODU hosted App State for its final homestand at The Bud last season on May 10-12. After falling 5-2 in the opener and 4-3 in 10 innings in the second game, the Monarchs avoided being swept as Steven Meier hit a walk off solo home run to clinch an 11-10 victory in 12 innings. The Monarchs hold a 7-4 lead in the all-time series.
Up Next
ODU will be in Charlottesville, Virginia next Tuesday for a 6 p.m. game at Virginia.