NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion baseball built a 10-1 lead and held off a late Norfolk State rally for a 12-8 win on Tuesday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field.
The Monarchs (10-20) opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first. TJ Aiken drew a one-out walk, moved up to third on a Zach Leite single up the middle, and tagged up on a Kainen Jorge sacrifice fly to right field. The Spartans looked to pull even in the bottom of the inning with no outs and runners on the corners. NSU committed a base running mistake though as Kyle Edwards squeezed a pop fly and doubled up the runner returning to first. Jayce Park then fielded a weak ground ball back at him and flipped to first for the third out.
The Spartans (1-23) pulled even in the home half of the second. Collin Curry struck out, but reached first on a passed ball. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, reached third on a Robert Beatty single back at Park, and scored on a Terrence Rhodes double down the right-field line. ODU limited the damage though as the Monarchs were able to throw Beatty out at home on the play.
ODU broke open the game with another six runs in the top of the third. After three-straight walks to start the inning, Kainen Jorge put the Monarchs ahead 3-1 with a 2-RBI double to left field. From there, Scotty Young, Evan Holman and Tahraun Hammond all drew bases-loaded walks and Efrain Morales was able to score on a wild pitch.
Jorge led off the fourth inning with a hit back up the middle, stole second, and pushed the lead to 8-1 as he came home on a Morales double down the right-field line. ODU manufactured two more runs in the top of the fifth. After Edwards and Hammond both walked, Aiken poked a ball through the left side of the defense. Later in the inning, Hammond crossed the plate on a Morales sac fly to right.
The Spartans got a run back in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs and runners on corners, Kydese Queen and Jamal Ritter pulled off a delayed double steal to cut into the ODU lead, 10-2.
Then with no outs and runners in scoring position in the seventh, Ritter drove in two runs with a base hit through the right side. He proceeded to steal second base, moved up to third on a wild pitch, and came around on a Queen double to right center. Another wild pitch got Queen to third, and he scored on a Curry double to the gap in right as the Spartans were back within 10-6.
ODU answered with two runs on as many hits in the top of the eighth. Tanner Schaedel led off with a hit back up the middle and advanced to third on an Edwards single through the left side. After Edwards stole second, the pair tagged up on a Hammond sac fly to right field. Edwards then raced home on another wild pitch to give ODU a 12-6 lead.
NSU would not go away though, a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth getting the Spartans to within 12-7. With one out and runners on first and second in the ninth, Jalen Jones hit a ball back up to the middle to trim ODU’s lead to 12-8. NSU’s rally fell short though as Jorge caught a fly ball to right for the final out.
Alex Hunt (2-0) picked up the win after striking out five in two innings in relief. He held the Spartans to one run on one hit and two walks. Jayce Park gave up one unearned run on four hits and struck out four in a three-inning start. Kellen Davis also racked up four strikeouts and allowed one run on three hits and two walks in two innings out of the pen.
Jorge (2-for-4) doubled, drove in three runs, scored twice, was hit by a pitch and also stole a base. Morales (2-for-5) had the team’s other double, collected two RBIs, and scored a run. Hammond (0-for-2) finished with two RBIs, two runs and three walks, Edwards (1-for-3) contributed two runs with two walks and two steals, and Aiken (1-for-4) chipped in two runs with one RBI and a pair of bases on balls.
Both teams combined to use 14 pitchers in the midweek game. NSU outhit ODU, 12-8, but also committed both errors in the game. Both sides also combined for a total of 18 walks, 12 wild pitches, and one passed ball.
ODU improves to 43-9 in the all-time series and has now won nine of the last 10 meetings.
The Monarchs will be back on the road this weekend as they head to Statesboro, Georgia for a Sun Belt series at Georgia Southern. The Monarchs and Eagles will play at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, and at 1 p.m. on Sunday.