NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball showcased its resilience on Friday night at the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex as the Monarchs rallied from a six-run hole to topple App State with a decisive 13-7 win in the Sun Belt series opener.
“I thought the guys showed a lot of fight after getting down 6-1. We really played well,” said ODU head coach Chris Finwood. “The rest of the game, the bullpen came in and did a good job giving us a chance to get back in it and then take the lead. We had a bunch of big bats and outscored them 12-1 after that, so a good Friday win for us. We need to come out ready to play tomorrow.”
The victory marked the third consecutive year that ODU has triumphed in their conference home opener. It also marked the 424th win for Finwood in his time at Old Dominion, making him the winningest coach in program history. He passes Bud Metheny, who went 423-363-6 in his time at the helm.
The Monarchs (11-9, 2-2 Sun Belt) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when Will Johnson doubled down the left-field line and scored on a Zach Leite single to right field. The Mountaineers (10-10, 0-4) responded with six runs in the top of the second inning though. Jalen Seward scored Tank Yaghoubi from first with a double to left field, knotting the game at 1-1. Later with one out and runners in scoring position, Joseph Zamora gave App State a 3-1 lead with a two-RBI base hit to right. An ODU throwing error allowed the visitors to load the bases, and a hit batter and two-RBI single back up the middle pushed the Mountaineers’ lead to 6-1.
Scotty Young helped spark the comeback in the bottom of the fourth. Following a leadoff single by Grayson Sparr, Young brought him home with an RBI double down the right-field line. He moved up to third on a Cash Jay single to third base, then crossed the plate on a TJ Aiken hit back up the middle. Johnson drew a walk to run the bags full, and Leite cut the deficit to 6-5 with a two-RBI single through the right side of the defense.
App State turned to reliever Everette Harris, who proceeded to walk Tyler Zedalis to reload the bases. Macaddin Dye lined out to the App State third baseman, who doubled off Johnson on the play, but Maverick Stallings tied the game at 6-6 with an RBI single to right, scoring Leite from second.
ODU's offense then took over the game with another five-spot in the fifth inning. After Jay wore a pitch and Aiken walked, Jay was waved home on a Johnson single through the left side and ODU retook the lead, 7-6. Aiken then tagged up on Leite's sacrifice fly to left field, and Johnson put the Monarchs up 9-6 as he scored on a Zedalis base knock to left. Zedalis then stole second and Dye was plunked, forcing App State to make another call to its bullpen. Maverick Stallings greeted the new arm with a double to left center, bringing home two more runs and stretching the lead to 11-6.
The Mountaineers got a run back in the top of the sixth as Zamora hit a leadoff double and later scored from third on an Ethan Puig single through the left side. However, the Monarchs answered right back with two runs in the home half of the inning. Young was hit by a pitch and Jay moved him up to second with a sac bunt back to the pitcher. Aiken then worked another walk, leading to yet another App State pitching change. The move didn’t pay off though as Johnson singled in Young and Aiken then scored on a Leite sac fly to center field.
Leite finished 3-for-3 with five RBIs and one run scored. Johnson (3-for-4) doubled, drove in two runs, scored twice, and added a walk to his final line. Young (2-for-4) had the team’s other double and ended up with two runs, one RBI, and a stolen base. TJ Aiken (1-for-4) walked twice, added an RBI, and crossed the plate three times, and Stallings (2-for-5) chipped in with a double and three RBIs.
On the mound, Ben Tanton got the start for ODU, enduring a rocky 1 2/3 innings with five earned runs but striking out two. Patrick Johnson steadied the ship in relief, allowing just one earned run over 3 1/3 innings without issuing a walk to improve to 2-0. Jayce Park and Bailey Matela combined to shut down the Mountaineers, with Matela slamming the door in a scoreless final inning.
Up Next
The Monarchs and Mountaineers continue the series with a 3 p.m. first pitch on Saturday.