NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball nearly rallied from a 7-0 deficit and had the tying run 90 feet away in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Charlotte held on for a 7-6 win on Sunday afternoon at the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and trailing by one, the Monarchs (6-4) got a baserunner on when Efrain Morales dove for first base to beat the throw from the Charlotte shortstop. The single stood upon review, and Morales was pinch run for by Nick Felton. He proceeded to steel second and moved up to third when Tyler Zedalis reached on a fielding error by the shortstop. Jack Slater went down swinging though as the 49ers (7-3) escaped the threat.
“It was a good ball game,” said ODU head coach Chris Finwood. “I thought we competed much better today. We made too many errors on defense in their six-run inning, but the guys battled back today which is something we didn’t do yesterday.”
Charlotte opened the scoring in the second inning thanks to a two-out RBI single by Adrian Jimenez. The 49ers then tacked on another six runs on five hits and two errors to take a 7-0 lead in the top of the third.
After Spencer Nolan singled to left field, Dawson Bryce was called out for batter’s interference when Nolan attempted to steal second. Cody Gunderson then singled to short, and Alec DeMartino brought home Nolan with a double down the right-field line. Dylan Koontz continued the damage with a two-RBI single, also down the right-field line, to push the visitor total to 4-0.
ODU brought in Patrick Johnson with one out and a runner on first. Charlotte’s Cale Stricklin hit a grounder back to Johnson, who spun around and fired towards second to get the lead runner, but Maverick Stallings muffed the throw and the error allowed the runner to reach safely. Johnson then plunked Robert Nedry to load the bases before Jimenez popped up to second on an infield fly call. Todd Hudson then hit a ball through the right side of the Monarchs’ defense, plating Koontz and Stricklin. Another ODU fielding error on the play allowed Nedry to score as well.
The Monarchs responded with two runs in the home half of the third. Will Johnson drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and was waved home on a Zach Leite single through the left side. Stallings and Morales also walked to load the bases with two outs, and Zedalis collected a free RBI with a base on balls.
With one away and a runner on first in the top of the fourth, DeMartino lined out to Leite, who tagged the runner to complete the twin killing. The senior first baseman then cut the deficit to 7-4 with a two-out, two run home run to right field after TJ Aiken reached on an error.
ODU brought in reliever Jayce Park to face the 49ers in the top of the fifth, and they quickly applied pressure with one out and runners on first and second. The Monarchs turned a 5-4-3 double play though to get out of the inning. Old Dominion had another opportunity in the bottom of the fifth with one out and runners in scoring position. Maccadin Dye tagged up on a Slater fly ball to left, but the throw to the plate was in time and the call was upheld upon review.
With two gone in the bottom of the sixth, Aiken walked and moved up to third on a Leite double down the right-field line. Both runners then scored as Stallings connected for a double to the gap in left and the Monarchs were back within a run, 7-6.
Kellen Davis entered the game in the top of the seventh. With two outs and two on, the right-hander from Media, Pennsylvania induced a ground out to first to get out of the inning. In the eighth, he worked around a double and a single with back-to-back strikeouts. Charlotte again applied pressure in the ninth when Nedry hit a two-out double and moved up to third on an ODU fielding error, but Davis induced a ground out to short to keep it a one-run ball game.
“Our starting pitching was not good this weekend and we have to get better there,” added Finwood. “The bullpen threw the ball well today and gave us a chance to get back in the game.”
ODU starting pitcher JJ Gatti (0-1) took the loss after allowing five runs, four of them earned, on five hits and one walk. He recorded one strikeout with one wild pitch. Park recorded one strikeout in two innings pitched and Davis finished with four over three innings.
Leite (3-for-5) led the Monarchs at the plate with the two-run blast, a double, three runs scored and three RBIs. Aiken finished 2-for-4 with two runs, a walk, and a stolen base. Zedalis had the other multi-hit effort, batting 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI, and one base on balls.
Up Next
The Monarchs will travel to Richmond on Wednesday for a 1:30 p.m. meeting with the VCU Rams.