MONTGOMERY, Alabama – An Old Dominion baseball team steeled by adversity this season pulled off a major upset on the first full day of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, stunning No. 22 Troy, 4-2, Wednesday at Riverwalk Stadium.
The Monarchs (22-29) advance to Thursday’s second round, in which they will take on No. 12 Southern Miss or unranked Texas State. The Golden Eagles and Bobcats were to meet Wednesday afternoon.
Thursday’s game is slated to begin at 5 but could begin later depending on games earlier in the day.
The Monarchs did not play a true home game because Bud Metheny Ballpark is undergoing a $24 million renovation. They also played one of the nation’s most challenging non-conference schedules, including eight road games against Power 4 schools, and lost a ton of close games.
“We didn’t play a game this year where we didn’t get on a bus or a van to go to a game,” said Chris Finwood, ODU’s head coach.
“I don’t know if people realize just how difficult that can be.
“I’m so proud of these guys. They never complained. They just kept playing, pedaling the bike. And when we play well, we’ve got a chance to beat anybody.”
ODU was coming off one of its worst weekends of the season, a three-game sweep by Sun Belt leader Coastal Carolina in which the Monarchs did not play well.
But on Wednesday, they played very well, and ODU’s pitching was especially strong.
"We put that series behind us coming into the tournament," said ODU catcher Evan Holman.
Starting pitcher Dylan Brown pitched brilliantly, allowing just two runs and four hits while striking out nine in 6 2/3 innings.
When Brown’s pitch count bounced up to 111, Mike Marron, ODU’s pitching coach, lifted him in favor of Ben Moore, who has 12 starts for the Monarchs and made only his third appearance out of the bullpen.
“That was the plan all the way, for me to come out of the bullpen,” said Moore, who picked up his first career save.
Moore retired all seven Troy batters he faced. His last pitch was a 95 miles-per-hour fast ball that caught pinch hitter Jay Hawkins looking.
ODU also got timely hitting, especially from senior Luke Waters, who drove in two runs with two hits. All four ODU runs came with two outs.
The Monarchs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when first baseman Zach Leite doubled down the leftfield line to score shortstop Kyle Edwards, who got on base with a ground-rule double.
Troy (37-20) took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third when Brooks Bryan singled in two runs.
With two outs in the top of the fourth and Leite on third, leftfielder Scotty Young bunted and just beat out the throw to score Leite and tie the game at 2-2.
Then, with two outs in the top of the seventh, Waters singled to left field, scoring Edwards and Holman. It was a tough at-bat for Waters, who fouled off several pitches before making what proved to be the game-winning hit.
"It was a heck of an at-bat for Luke," Finwood said. "We felt pretty good then because at that point, we knew Dylan was going to go back out there and that we had Ben teed up."
Finwood said the Monarchs would like to have lifted Brown after six innings, but that he insisted on going back out in the seventh.
“He said ‘I have one more inning in me,’” Finwood said. "So we compromised."
With two outs, Marron huslted on the field and called in Moore from the bullpen.
“Whenver I go out there, I just want to throw up as many zeroes as I can,” Brown said. “I feel like I did that pretty well today.
“I just went out there and did my thing and everything worked out.”
Finwood’s bullpen has struggled at times this season and playing the first game in a double-elimination tournament, he decided to use two starters.
“You can’t go 2-0 unless you go 1-0," he said. "We threw two of our best bullets out there today and they were great.
“Ben was out there throwing whiffle balls. When he gets it going, he’s so hard to hit.
“Those two guys together are pretty tough for any team to match up with.”
Something Troy can surely attest is true.
