Old Dominion (8-17, 4-5 Sun Belt) at Virginia (15-11, 6-6 ACC)
Game Location – Davenport Field at Disharoon Park
Start Time – Tuesday, April 1 at 6 p.m.
Watch – ACCNX
Listen – Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM
Live Stats – Click Here
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball rounds out a five-game road stretch with a midweek contest at Virginia this Tuesday in Charlottesville. First pitch at Disharoon Park is scheduled for 6 p.m.
UVA will stream the game on ACCNX and live stats will also be available. Fans can hear Andy Mashaw calling the action on Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (8-17, 4-5 Sun Belt) avoided getting swept by App State this past weekend in Boone, North Carolina. After dropping the Sun Belt series opener 9-4 on Friday, the Mountaineers took Game One of a Saturday doubleheader, 6-1. ODU responded with a 7-6 win in the second game of the twin bill thanks to back-to-back doubles by Zach Leite and Kainen Jorge and what proved to be the deciding run on an RBI single from Tahraun Hammond.
Scotty Young currently leads ODU with a .360 batting average, with Leite is trailing him closely with a .351 clip. Following them are Efrain Morales (.282), Hammond (.279), and Kyle Edwards (.277). Luke Waters (.215) leads the Monarchs with 18 RBIs with Leite right behind him with 17. Edwards and Jorge (.250) have combined to score 35 runs and Jorge has drawn a team-high 18 walks. The Monarchs are 29-for-36 when attempting to steal, with Edwards at 14-for-15, good for second in the SBC in steals and steals per game (0.56). As a team, Old Dominion is batting .250 with a .383 slugging percentage and a .349 on-base percentage.
Jayce Park (0-2, 5.79 ERA) will make his second start in what will be a staff day for ODU. The freshman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has allowed six runs on 10 hits and four walks while striking out eight over 9.1 innings and eight appearances. The Monarchs have a team ERA of 6.69 with opponents batting .277 against them.
Scouting Virginia
The Cavaliers (15-11, 6-6 ACC) are coming off of an ACC series sweep of No. 20 Stanford this past weekend. UVA defeated the Cardinal 11-8 last Thursday and 13-7 on Friday. In the final game of the series, UVA secured a 9-8 walk off win when Aiden Teel doubled to send James Nunnallee home for the deciding run. The win gave head coach Brian O’Connor his 900th win of his career, making him the 15th active coach to hold 900 wins.
Virginia has four starters averaging over a .300 batting average with Henry Ford (.364), Eric Becker (.340), Henry Godbout (.327) and Chris Arroyo (.307). Ford also owns the team high in hits with 39, while Arroyo is first on the team with 24 RBIs, seven homeruns, and a .545 slugging percentage. The Cavs are currently batting .299 as a team while their opponents are batting .277. They have homered 23 times this season with a slugging percentage of .442 and an on-base percentage of .395. They have stolen 32 bases on 42 attempts.
UVA will start left hander Bradley Hodges (0-1, 2.70 ERA). The junior has given up six runs, only two of them earned, on five hits and six walks. He’s recorded 11 strikeouts through three starts and 6.2 innings pitched. Virginia’s pitching has a team ERA of 4.77 with opponents batting .277 against them.
The Series
ODU has a slight lead in the all-times series, 30-29. The teams met three times last season: twice in Charlottesville, and once in Norfolk. The Monarchs fell to the then-No. 14 Cavaliers 8-0 on Feb. 21, then returned to The Dish on April 2 and suffered a 4-0 setback to the No. 15 Cavs. Old Dominion then defeated the No. 10 Cavs, 7-4 on April 16 in the Commonwealth Classic at Harbor Park. The Monarchs jumped out to a 4-0 lead and held the visitors to one run through eight innings.
Up Next
ODU will host Troy for a Sun Belt Conference series this weekend at Harbor Park. The two teams will play at 6 p.m. on Friday, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, and at 1 p.m. on Sunday.