STATESBORO, Ga. – Old Dominion baseball twice found itself trailing by five runs in Sunday’s rubber match at Georgia Southern, but an Evan Holman grand slam capped off a 10-run top of the eighth inning as the Monarchs rallied for a 15-10 victory.
Holman, a junior catcher from Aurora, Oregon, finished 3-for-3 on the day with his second home run of the season, two doubles, three runs and five RBIs. He didn’t enter the game until the sixth inning when he pinch hit for Jack Slater. Kainen Jorge (3-for-5) and Tyler Zedalis (1-for-2) hit a pair of two-run home runs as well to help spark an offense that was shut out for the first five innings of the game.
ODU had an early opportunity as TJ Aiken led off the first inning with a single to center field. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, and Scotty Young then beat out the throw for a bunt single as the Monarchs (12-21, 7-8 Sun Belt) had runners on the corners with no outs. The pair were left stranded though as Zach Leite and Jorge both struck out and Kyle Edwards flew out to center field.
Meanwhile the Eagles (21-15, 7-8) scored in each of the first three innings to build a 5-0 lead. A Jack Myers sacrifice fly opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. The hosts went up 3-0 in the second as Nico Senese drove in two runs with a base hit to right field. After Sean White singled and Myers doubled to start the third inning, White came home on a Jonathan Jaime ground out to second base. Myers then tagged up on a Cade Parker sac fly to center field.
The Monarchs finally broke through in the sixth inning as Leite drew a leadoff walk and Jorge hit a two-run blast to straightaway center field. Luke Waters hit a one-out single and then cut the deficit to 5-3 when Holman doubled down the left-field line. GS brought in a new pitcher, and Zedalis greeted him with a two-run shot to left field that knotted the game at 5-5.
GS retook the lead with a run in the bottom of the frame. Josh Tate and Senese both walked, Daniel Haab moved them both up with a sac bunt, and Tate scored on a White sac fly to right.
The Eagles pushed across another four runs on three hits and two errors in the seventh. Jaime reached on a fielding error and was pinch ran for by J.C. Peacher, who took second on a failed pickoff attempt by Connor Schumann. A Parker bunt single moved him up to third base, and the pair came around on a JP Herrholz double to the gap in right. Later in the inning, a wild pitch allowed Herrholz to cross the plate. Tate was intentionally walked, stole second, reached third on a ground out, and scored on a Haab single to center field.
ODU wouldn’t go away though. Walks by Waters and Zedalis and another double from Holman loaded the bases with one away. Maverick Stallings went down swinging, but a wild pitch brought in Waters and two more walks from Aiken and Efrain Morales cut the Eagle lead to 10-7.
Leite continued the damage with a two-RBI single to left field, Jorge tied the game at 10-10 with an RBI single to left, and Edwards gave the Monarchs their first lead with an RBI single that got past the GS shortstop. Edwards stole second and Waters walked to reload the bases. GS again went to their bullpen, but Holman smacked a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left center to make it a 15-10 Monarch lead.
A couple of walks and a hit by pitch allowed Georgia Southern to run the bags full with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but Bailey Matela got Senese to fly out to right to get out of the jam. The Eagles had another chance with two outs and runners in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, but Matela struck out Parker to end the game.
Frankie Wright (1-1) got the win after allowing one hit with one walk in 0.2 innings in relief. Blake Morgan allowed five runs on nine hits and two walks, striking out three in a 4.1-inning start.
Both teams combined to use 16 pitchers and ODU outhit GS, 13-12. The Monarchs hit 13-for-39 (.333) on the day, including 4-for-12 (.333) with two outs and 6-for-15 (.400) with runners in scoring position. The all-time series is now tied at 7-7.
Additionally, the 10 runs are the most in an inning since ODU scored 10 runs in the first inning of a 13-11 win over Saint Joseph’s on March 5, 2023.
ODU has a quick turnaround as the Monarchs host VCU this Tuesday at War Memorial Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Postgame with Evan Holman pic.twitter.com/Es3qmztz4X
— Old Dominion Baseball (@ODUBaseball) April 13, 2025