TROY, Ala. – Troy scored 13 runs in the first two innings on Saturday and Old Dominion Baseball fell, 13-4 at Riddle-Pace Field.
Despite a three-run fourth inning by the Monarchs (9-8, 1-1 Sun Belt), ODU couldn’t claw back from Troy's explosive start. The Trojans (7-11, 1-1) set the pace with six runs in the first and another seven in the second.
Troy's bats started off with four straight singles as the hosts took a 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, Ty McGraw was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Another run came home on a Sean Darnell ground out to second base, and Nolan Book singled in two more as the Trojans took a 6-0 lead.
ODU got a run back in the second as Maverick Stallings homered to left center. However, Troy distanced itself with another seven runs on five hits. Jimmy Janicki hit a two-run blast to left, and Zaid Diaz went back-to-black with a solo shot to left. Nolan Book pushed the lead to 12-1 with a three-run homer, and Aaron Piasecki made it 13-1 with an RBI single through the right side of ODU’s defense.
The Monarchs showed grit in the fourth, trimming the margin with three runs on as many hits and one error. Tyler Zedalis sparked the offense with a single to right center, followed by a Maverick Stallings double that moved Zedalis up to third. Macaddin Dye then reached on a Troy fielding error, though he was credited with an RBI as Zedalis would have scored without the error. The error did allow Stallings to come around, and Grayson Sparr’s sacrifice fly brought in Dye as ODU trailed, 13-4.
Will Johnson hit a leadoff double in the top of the fifth inning, but Troy retired the next three Monarch batters. TJ Aiken hit a one-out double in the seventh, but again the Monarchs came up empty. This marked the second game in a row where ODU tallied at least 10 hits with three doubles.
Troy looked to end things early with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh. ODU reliever Cole Landford got out of inning unscathed, though. The Raleigh, North Carolina native struck out the next batter and induced a ground ball to second to end the threat.
Troy’s first two batters in the eighth reached on an ODU fielding error and a base hit to right field. However, Tyler Stott struck out Josh Pyne, who bunted foul on a 2-2 count, and induced a fly out to right and a ground out to short to end the inning.
Cash Jay hit a two-out single in the top of the ninth, but Aiken went down swinging for the final out.
Stallings made a notable impact with two hits, scoring twice and knocking in a run, highlighted by his home run and double. Aiken chipped in with two hits from five at-bats, including a double.
On the mound, starter Darin Kuskie (2-3) was handed the loss after allowing six earned runs on five hits and two walks. He recorded one strikeout and hit one batter in one inning of work. Lanford delivered three scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing just one hit – a season-high in both innings pitched and strikeouts. Maddox Jack also pitched two hitless innings and fanned three.
Up Next
The Monarchs will take on the Trojans again in a 2 p.m. ET rubber match on Sunday.