MOBILE, Ala. – Old Dominion Baseball dug itself an early 7-0 hole and the Monarchs dropped the Sun Belt series opener at South Alabama, 10-3 on Friday night at Stanky Field.
TJ Aiken led the Monarchs (12-13, 2-5 Sun Belt) at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Macaddin Dye turned in a 2-for-4 effort with a double, Scotty Young went 1-for-2 with his first home run of the season, and Nick Felton turned in a 1-for-3 outing with a double and a run.
Darin Kuskie (2-4) took the loos after allowing seven runs on 10 hits and one walk. He struck out three with two wild pitches and a hit batter in a three-inning start. Cole Lanford was allowed two unearned runs on two hits and a walk while fanning five in 3.1 innings in relief. Also coming out of the pen was Jayce Park, who gave up one run on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings pitched.
The Jaguars (17-9, 4-3) opened the scoring with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the second. USA’s Paxton Bixby hit a one-out double to left field and came around on a Rett Johnson single back up the middle. Back-to-back hits from Ethan Melton and Brennon Wright pushed the lead to 2-0. Duncan Matthews was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and a wild pitch allowed Melton to score for the 3-0 Jaguar lead.
South Alabama manufactured another four runs on five hits in the third inning. Stewart Puckett led off with a triple to right center and then crossed the plate on a Blake Guerin double to the gap in right. After the hosts loaded the bases, Kuskie struck out the next two batters, but Wright singled in a couple of runs and Matthews singled in another as the Jaguars pulled away, 7-0.
Old Dominion loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, but Stallings hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Young finally broke up the shutout with a one-out, solo home run in the fifth. Evan Holman then singled to left, Felton doubled to right, and Aiken brought both of them in with a base knock through the left side of the South Alabama defense.
ODU had another opportunity in the sixth inning as Zach Leite drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a Dye double to left field. The Jaguars brought in Jaxon Shineflew to pitch, and the move prompted Grayson Sparr to pinch hit for Young. However, Sparr went down swinging.
USA rounded out the scoring with another three runs in the seven. After Robert Miranda reached on an ODU fielding error and Mike Young walked, the two moved into scoring position on a sac bunt by Johnson. The Monarchs chose to bring in Park and the sophomore induced a pop up to short for the second out, but Wright tripled down the right-field line and then scored on a Matthews base hit to second base.
ODU went down in order in the eighth inning. Dye started off the ninth with a single through the right side, but Sparr struck out looking and Holman grounded out to second. Efrain Morales then pinch hit for Felton, but he also went down looking to end the game.
Up Next
The series continues tomorrow with a 3 p.m. ET first pitch at Stanky Field.