Old Dominion (8-7, 0-0 Sun Belt) at Troy (6-10, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Game Location – Riddle-Pace Field (Troy, Ala.)
Game 1 – Friday, March 13 at 7 p.m. ET
Game 2 – Saturday, March 14 at 4:33 p.m. ET
Game 3 – Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m. ET
Watch – ESPN+ (Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3)
Listen – Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM/100.9 FM
Live Stats – Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Social Media – Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball opens Sun Belt Conference play at Troy this weekend. The series opens with a 7 p.m. ET first pitch on Friday. The teams will play again at 4:33 p.m. ET on Saturday and at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday.
All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ and Ted Alexander will call the action on Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM/100.9 FM. Live stats will also be available.
The Series
The two programs met for the first time last season and played five games. ODU hosted then-No. 20 Troy. on April 4-6 at Harbor Park. The visitors defeated the Monarchs 7-0 and 4-3 to win the series, but ODU avoided the sweep with a 9-5 decision in the finale. Efrain Morales turned in his first career four-hit game and Kyle Edwards homered twice in what marked Head Coach Chris Finwood’s 400th win at Old Dominion.
ODU and Troy played twice in the Sun Belt Championship. On May 21, the Monarchs upset the No. 22 Trojans, 4-2 in the opening round of the tournament. ODU starting pitcher Dylan Brown struck out nine and held the third-seeded Trojans to two runs on four hits over 6.2 innings. The Monarchs then brought in Ben Moore, who retired all seven batters he faced.
After ODU fell 10-0 to No. 12 Southern Miss in seven innings on May 22, the Monarchs saw their season come to an end with a 9-4 loss to Troy on May 23. After falling behind 4-0 in the first inning, Evan Holman singled in a pair of runs in the second to cut the Trojan lead in half, 4-2. Troy then pulled away with another five runs in the sixth and seventh innings, and Maverick Stallings rounded out the scoring with a two-run home run in the eighth.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (8-7, 0-0 Sun Belt) made the trip to Greenville, North Carolina on Tuesday and fell 11-0 in seven innings to East Carolina. ODU had an opportunity in the top of the first as Will Johnson walked, stole second, and took third on a fly out. Old Dominion couldn’t bring him home though and it was all Pirates from there.
Zach Leite is second in the Sun Belt with a .418 batting average. He ranks 13th in the nation with 1.80 RBIs per game, 18th nationally with 27 RBIs, and is also fourth in the Sun Belt with 1.53 hits per game. Also hitting over .300 for the Monarchs are Stallings (.400), Tyler Zedalis (.391), TJ Aiken (.357), Macaddin Dye (.357), and Brody Connors (.333). Aiken is fourth in the league with 20 runs scored and ranks third with 1.33 runs per game. He is also fifth in the SBC with seven stolen bases on as many attempts, averaging 0.47 steals per game.
The Monarchs are scoring 6.9 runs per game and own the second-best batting average in the conference, hitting .308 as a team. ODU is fourth in total hits (153) and sacrifice flies (8) and ranks fifth in on-base percentage (.400). The team has also stolen safely on 22 of 23 attempts.
The rotation for this weekend will see Ryan Sheehy (1-0, 8.31 ERA) on Friday and Darin Kuskie (2-2, 6.00 ERA) on Saturday. Sunday’s starter has yet to be announced. Sheehy has made three starts and five appearances, allowing 11 runs, eight of them earned, on 14 hits and nine walks. He’s recorded 14 strikeouts in 8.1 innings pitched. Kuskie has been tagged for 13 runs, 12 earned, on 21 hits and five walks through four starts. He’s struck out 22 in 18 innings of work. ODU has a team ERA of 6.25 with opponents hitting .302 against them.
The Monarchs are 258th in the latest RPI rankings.
Scouting Troy
The Trojans (6-10, 0-0) are looking to snap a three-game losing streak. After dropping two of three games to Maryland last weekend, the team lost 7-3 at Alabama on Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Troy strung together a pair of two-out singles and a double to cut the deficit to 4-1. Jimmy Janicki hit a two-run home run in the top of the sixth as Troy trailed, 5-3, but Alabama plated two more runs to hold on.
Janicki leads Troy at the plate with a .344 average. Aaron Piasecki follows with a .321 clip and Zaid Diaz is hitting .333. Janicki and Piasecki have both hit four home runs and have combined for 23 runs and 28 RBIs. Drew Nelson (.283) has hit a team-high five doubles, Sean Darnell (.200) and Steven Meier (.214) have both tripled twice, and Piasecki has drawn a team-best 12 walks.
As a team, the Trojans are batting .250 with a .408 slugging percentage and a .356 on-base percentage. Troy ranks fourth in the Sun Belt in being hit by pitch (30) and is fifth in triples (4).
On the mound, Troy will go with right-hander Tommy Egan (2-0, 2.25 ERA) on Friday and lefty Benjamin Stubbs (0-0, 3.26 ERA) on Saturday. The Trojans have not named a starter for Sunday. Egan has given up five runs on 14 hits and six walks while striking out 27. He has tossed 20 innings across four starts and is hold opposing batters to a .197 average. Stubbs has also made four starts and has allowed seven runs on 20 hits and eight walks. He’s up to 18 strikeouts in 19.1 innings pitched and opponents are hitting .263 against him. The Trojans enters the weekend with a team ERA of 6.23 and other teams hitting .294 against them.
Head coach Skylar Meade is in his fifth season leading the program. Troy’s senior first baseman Blake Cavill was voted the Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year, with Janicki joining him on the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team. The Trojans are 68th in the latest RPI rankings.
Up Next
ODU will be back in Norfolk next Wednesday, March 18 when the Monarchs host Norfolk State for the second game in the home-and-home series with the Spartans. First pitch at the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex is scheduled for 6 p.m.