NORFOLK, Va. – After falling behind early, Old Dominion Baseball battled back to within a run, 7-6, but App State held on to take the Sun Belt series rubber match, 10-6 on Sunday afternoon at the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex.
Trailing 7-1 midway through the fifth inning, the Monarchs (11-11, 2-4 Sun Belt) broke out for five runs on three hits. With no outs and the bases loaded, Zach Leite doubled off the wall in right center, driving in a pair to cut the deficit to 7-3. Tyler Zedalis then smoked the first pitch he saw to the bleachers in left center, his three-run homer trimming App State’s lead to 7-6.
The Mountaineers (12-10, 2-4) retired the next three Monarch batters to stop the bleeding. The visitors threatened to answer right back as Steven Smith led off the sixth with a double down the left-field line and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Kellen Davis got out the jam though with a shallow fly out to right field and a ground out to second base.
App State added to its lead with another run in the top of the eighth as Charlie Evans doubled to right field, reached third on a wild pitch, and tagged up on a Riley Luft sacrifice fly to right field. Grayson Sparr hit a one-out single in the home half of the frame, but Efrain Morales grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
A couple of walks and a hit batter allowed the Mountaineers to load the bases with one out in the ninth, and another sac fly and a balk pushed the margin to 10-6. Scotty Young pinch hit for Cash Jay to lead off for the Monarchs and was plunked on the second pitch of his at bat. However, the next three ODU batters all grounded out to end the game.
The Mountaineers broke open the scoring with five hits, all singles, in the top of the third. Smith, Luft, and Ethan Puig strung together three-straight RBI base hits to put the guests up 3-0, and Jalen Seward then brought in two more runs with a single back up the middle.
In the fourth, App State’s Tommy Walker singled to short, took second on a passed ball, and scored on a Luft single through the left side of the ODU defense. Macaddin Dye then put the Monarchs on the board with a two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the inning. A Joseph Zamora sac fly in the top of the fifth extended the Mountaineers’ lead, 7-1.
Zedalis (1-for-4) sparked the offense with the three-run blast, his fifth long ball of the season. Leite (2-for-4) doubled, drove in two runs, scored once, and added a walk to his final line. Sparr also finished 2-for-4 on the day, and Dye went 1-for-4 with his third homer this season.
Jackson Okonkwo (0-1) took the loss after allowing five runs on four hits and one walk. He recorded two strikeouts in the 2.2-inning start.
Up Next
The Monarchs have a pair of midweek games coming up. Originally scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, Tuesday’s home game against William & Mary has been moved up to 3 p.m. Old Dominion will then play a 2 p.m. road game at the University of Richmond on Wednesday.