Old Dominion (10-20, 5-7 Sun Belt) at Georgia Southern (20-13, 6-6 Sun Belt)
Game Location – J.I. Clements Stadium (Statesboro, Ga.)
Game 1 – Friday, April 11 at 6:30 p.m.
Game 2 – Saturday, April 12 at 2 p.m.
Game 3 – Sunday, April 13 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 will travel to Georgia Southern for a Sun Belt Conference series this weekend. The Monarchs and Eagles will open the series at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, return for a 2 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 (10-20, 5-7 Sun Belt) avoided getting swept at Harbor Park against No. 20 Troy last weekend by taking the series finale, 9-5 on Sunday. ODU then made the trip across town to face Norfolk State on Tuesday, defeating the Spartans 12-8.
ODU is currently tied for ninth in the conference standings alongside Marshall and Arkansas State. The team is also 97th in the RPI rankings through games played on April 8.
Zach Leite is batting .359 while Efrain Morales and Scotty Young are both hitting .303. Following them are Kyle Edwards (.282) and Tahraun Hammond (.258). TJ Aiken (.241) and Edwards have both hit four homers, while Leite, Kainen Jorge (.255), and Tyler Zedalis (.205) have hit three each. Leite leads the team with 20 RBIs, Luke Waters (.217) is second with 18, and Jorge is third with 17. Edwards and Jorge have scored the most runs with 23 and 21, respectively. On the basepaths, Edwards leads the Sun Belt with 0.53 stolen bases per game and is second with 16 stolen bases on 17 attempts. ODU is hitting a combined .247 with a .370 slugging percentage and a .355 on-base percentage.
The weekend rotation will remain the same with Ben Moore (1-4, 6.97 ERA) starting on Friday, Dylan Brown (2-2, 4.43 ERA) on Saturday, and Blake Morgan (3-2, 4.17 ERA) on Sunday. Brown continues to lead the conference and is ranked 27th nationally with 58 strikeouts. He’s also first in the SBC with 12.23 strikeouts per nine innings, and ODU is second in the league with 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings. ODU has a team ERA of 6.52 with opposing teams hitting .277.
Scouting Georgia Southern
The Eagles (20-13, 6-6 Sun Belt) are currently ranked 54th in the RPI and are tied for seventh in the conference standings alongside Texas State. GS was on the road against South Alabama last weekend and fell 12-6 in the first game. The Eagles then split the doubleheader against the Jaguars on Saturday, with an 18-6 loss and a 9-4 win to avoid being swept.
The team has four starters hitting over .300. Leading the way is Sean Smith with an impressive .397 average. Following him are Josh Tate (.355), Daniel Haab (.351), and J.C. Peacher (.302). Smith has hit a team-high nine home runs with 32 RBIs, 28 runs, and 22 walks. Tate has scored a team-high 35 times, has hit eight long balls with 11 doubles, and owns 32 RBIs. Haab’s five triples rank fifth in the country and his 0.15 triples per game rank 11th. Cade Parker (.216) is 6-for-8 when trying to steal, Smith is 5-for-5, and Haab is 4-for-7.
As a team, the Eagles have a batting average of .282. They have a slugging percentage of .466 and an on-base percentage of .388. They lead the Sun Belt with three shutouts, 13 triples, 0.39 triples per game, and a .976 fielding percentage.
GS will start right hander Kade Grundy (4-3, 4.93 ERA) on Friday, lefty Evan Vandenbosch (0-1, 6.06 ERA) on Saturday, and righty Joey White (0-1, 6.43 ERA) on Sunday. The Eagles have a combined ERA of 5.85 with opponents batting .266 against them.
The Series
The Eagles hold a slim lead in the all-time series, 6-5. ODU and Georgia Southern’s last meeting was a back-and-forth contest at the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Championships in the second round at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama. The Eagles jumped ahead on a two-RBI triple in the eighth inning, and the Monarchs were unable to respond falling 8-6. During the regular season, ODU hosted GS on March 15-17 to open conference play. The Monarchs took the first two games of the series 11-1, with both games ending due to the 10-run rule. The Eagles then avoided the sweep by taking the Sunday matchup, 2-1.
Up Next
ODU will return to War Memorial Stadium in Hampton to play host to VCU on Tuesday at 6 p.m.