MONROE, La. - Old Dominion baseball scored three runs in the sixth inning and another three in the seventh to take over a close game at ULM on Saturday, defeating the Warhawks 9-5 to even the Sun Belt series at a game apiece.
ODU moves to 14-25 overall and 9-11 in the conference with the victory, while ULM falls to 21-22 with a 7-13 mark in league play.
Luke Waters opened the scoring with a one-out solo home run in the top of the second, but ULM answered in the bottom of the inning. Barham White singled to center field, stole second, and reached third as Jake Haggard reached on a fielding error by Brody Connors. Major Brignon then laid down a sac bunt to bring in White and tie the game at 1-1.
The Monarchs went up 2-1 in the fourth when Efrain Morales singled through the left side, advanced on a wild pitch, and came around on a Waters double down the left-field line. The hosts took over with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, however. Tony Lindwedel led off the inning with a double down the left-field line, moved up to third on a ground out, and evened the score at 2-2 on a Kade Dupont base hit through the left side. Dupont then swiped second and was waved home on a Bryce Blaser single through the left side, giving the Warhawks a 3-2 lead.
That didn’t last long though. Tanner Schaedel walked with one out in the sixth and was pinch ran for by Scotty Young. Young advanced to third base on a Tyler Zedalis single through the left side and then tied the game at 3-3 as Kyle Edwards grounded out to third. A wild pitch allowed Zedalis to reach third, Kainen Jorge walked and stole second, and Connors brought them both with a base knock through the right side of the ULM defense.
ODU went up 8-3 with another three-spot in the seventh. With one out and the bases loaded, Zedalis drew a five-pitch walk and Edwards followed with a two-RBI single up the middle.
Meanwhile the Warhawks loaded the bases in both the sixth and seventh innings, but came up empty both times. In the sixth, Blaser flew out to right field to get Frankie Wright out of the jam. In the seventh, Connor Schumann took over for Hunter Baynes and induced another fly ball to right.
A couple of ODU errors and a walk allowed the home team to run the bags full again in the eighth. This time they would capitalize however as Isaiah Walker tagged up on a Michelle Artzberger sacrifice fly to left. White then singled in another run as the Warhawks cut the Monarch lead to 8-5.
Maverick Stallings singled through the left side to start the ninth inning, then took second on a sac bunt by Young. After Edwards walked, Stallings rounded out the scoring as he raced home on a Jorge single through the left side. Bailey Matela issued a two-out walk and then plunked Dupont to give ULM some hope in the home half of the frame, but Blaser grounded out to second to end the game.
Alex Hunt (4-0) received the win after striking out the only batter he faced, and Matela earned his fifth save of the season after tossing 1.1 scoreless frames to close out the game. He didn’t allow a hit and issued one walk. Dylan Brown was tagged for three runs, two of them earned, on seven hits and two walks. He struck out three in a 4.2-inning start.
Three Monarchs turned in multi-hit efforts. Waters (2-for-4) hit his third homer of the season and added a double, two runs, two RBIs, and one walk to his totals. Stallings (2-for-5) doubled and scored twice, and Jorge (2-for-5) drove in a run, scored another, walked once, and stole two bases.
Edwards (1-for-3) finished with three RBIs on the day, walked twice, and had one stolen base. Zedalis (1-for-4) contributed one RBI, one run and a walk, and Connors (1-for-6) collected two RBIs.
ODU batters combined to draw seven walks and were also hit by two pitches. The Monarchs hit 11-for-37 (.297), to include 6-for-21 (.286) with runners on and 3-for-7 (.429) with runners on third and less than two outs.
The two teams will return to Lou St. Amant Field for a 2 p.m. ET rubber match on Sunday.