RICHMOND, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball scored five runs in the final three innings to come away with a 7-2 road win over Richmond on Wednesday afternoon at Pitt Field.
After the Spiders (12-13) came back from a 2-0 deficit and tied the game with runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but the Monarchs (12-12) regained control in the top of the seventh. Evan Holman led off the inning with a double to left field, then moved up to third on a TJ Aiken ground out. After Will Johnson was hit by a pitch, Zach Leite brought Holman home with a base hit to right field.
ODU got another tally in the top of the eighth when Maverick Stallings reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced to second on a Nick Felton sacrifice bunt, and later scored when Efrain Morales poked a ball into left field. Then with two outs and runners on the corners in the top of the ninth, Felton pushed the lead to 5-2 with an RBI single to left and Holman plated another two runs with a double down the left-field line.
“It was a good game and we pitched better,” said ODU head coach Chris Finwood. “We had some big at bats late in the game to expand the lead. Evan Holman had a good day for us at the plate and Efrain Morales, Nick Felton, and Scotty Young all came off the bench and had big hits for us. It was a good bounce back from yesterday.”
Old Dominion opened the scoring in the top of the second as Tyler Zedalis hit a leadoff double to center field and Stallings homered to deep right field. A couple of walks and a hit batter allowed the Monarchs to load the bases with two outs in the fourth, but they couldn’t add to their lead as Aiken went down swinging.
Richmond cut into the ODU lead, 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth. After RJ Johnson Jr. doubled to the gap in left and reached third on a wild pitch, he raced home as Evan Wilson reached on an ODU fielding error. The hosts then knotted the game at 2-2 in the sixth when Sean Scanlon doubled down the left-field line, took third on a Chris Schaller bunt single, and tagged up on a Ryan Recio sac fly to center field.
The two-run blast was the fourth homer of the season for Stallings (1-for-4), who scored three times and also drew a walk. Holman finished 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, one run, two RBIs, a walk and a hit by pitch. Zedalis went 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored, Leite hit 1-for-3, and Felton and Morales both turned in 1-for-1 days at the plate.
Chris Cavalcante (1-1) picked up the win after holding the Spiders to one run on two hits and a walk. He recorded one strikeout in two innings in relief. Bailey Matela tossed two scoreless innings to collect his first save of the season. He held UofR to one hit, issued one walk, and fooled the final batter for a strikeout looking. Ethan Hubbell went three innings in the midweek start. The senior right hander did not give up a run or a hit, walked three batters, and had one strikeout. Maddox Jack also entered the game in relief and was responsible for one run on one hit and one walk. He struck out two in as many innings of work.
The two teams will meet again in Norfolk when the Monarchs host the Spiders for a 6 p.m. game on Wednesday, April 15.
Up Next
The Monarchs will travel to Mobile, Alabama this weekend for a Sun Belt series versus South Alabama. The series opens with a 7:30 p.m. ET first pitch on Friday. The teams then return for a 3 p.m. ET game on Saturday and wrap up the series with a 2 p.m. ET game on Sunday.