RICHMOND, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball scored four runs in the final two innings and Bailey Matela retired six in a row as the Monarchs rallied for a 12-10 win at VCU on Wednesday afternoon at the Diamond.
Trailing 10-8 through seven innings, Macaddin Dye led off the top of the eighth with his first home run as a Monarch. In the ninth, Will Johnson got things started with a single to shallow right field before Zach Leite was hit by a pitch. Maverick Stallings then hit a ground ball to short, but the throw to second sailed into foul territory down the right field line. The error allowed Johnson and Leite to score on the play, and Stallings advanced to second. Scotty Young then moved Stallings up to third with a sacrifice bunt, and Dye added some insurance with a sac fly to right.
“It was a good ballgame. We didn’t pitch well at all early on, but Ben Tanton and Bailey Matela gave us four shutout innings at the back end and the guys fought back to get the win. I thought we swung the bats well all day and played really good defense for the most part,” said ODU head coach Chris Finwood.
Johnson finished the day 4-for-5 with a double, two runs, one RBI, and a hit by pitch. Leite (3-for-4) drove in two runs, scored three times, had one base on balls, and also wore a pitch. Tylder Zedalis (3-for-5) contributed a two-run home run, TJ Aiken (2-for-5) tripled, scored a pair of runs, and walked once, and Dye (1-for-4) had the long ball with two runs, two RBIs, and one walk.
Matela (1-0) earned his first win of the season after tossing two shutout innings to help seal the victory. He struck out a pair of VCU batters and didn’t allow anyone to reach base. Tanton also threw two shutout innings, entering the game in the bottom of the sixth. The freshman from Vestal, New York struck out the first batter he faced and retired another five in a row.
The Monarchs (7-4) opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first inning. Aiken led off the game with a triple off the wall in left center and came home on a Leite single to shallow center field. Stallings followed with a double to right field, and Leite made it 2-0 when Young hit a sac fly to right.
The Rams (5-8) answered right back though with three runs in the bottom half of the first. With two outs, Michael Petite got the hosts on the board with a solo home run to right center. Quinn Maher walked, and Jacob Lee connected on a 1-0 pitch for a two-run blast to left as VCU jumped ahead, 3-2.
In the top of the second, Cole McKenna walked with two outs, stole second, and tied the game at 3-3 when he scored on a Johnson single through the left side. Aiken also walked and scored from third on a Leite base hit to shallow left field. However, VCU came up with a response yet again. Alec Warden led off the bottom of the second with a solo shot to left center. The Rams then went up 5-4 when Teige Lethert singled, moved up to second on a wild pitch, and was waved home on a Dante DeFranco singled to center field.
During ODU’s next turn at the plate, Dye drew a one-out walk before Zedalis belted a two-run homer to the gap in left. The Rams tied the game at 6-6 though as Warden tripled to left center and touched home on a Trent Adelman single through the right side. VCU then regained the lead, 7-6 on a Nick Flores solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Rams tacked on another three runs in the home half of the fifth. With no outs and the bases loaded, Adelman hit a ground ball towards third and McKenna attempted to get the lead runner out at the plate. His through was off target though, and the error allowed two runs to score. Another runner then came around on a Lethert ground out to second, making it a 10-6 lead for VCU.
Old Dominion cut into the Rams’ lead with a couple of runs in the sixth. Johnson and Leite started off the frame with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners, and Stallings plated Johnson on a ground out to third. Leite moved up to third on a Scotty Young single through the left side. Young then stole second, and a throwing error by the VCU catcher on the play allowed Leite to narrow the gap, 10-8. The Monarchs loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh, but Stallings went down looking and Young fouled out to third base.
ODU outhit VCU, 16-11 and left 13 runners on base, compared to just five by the Rams. Both teams combined to use 13 pitchers in the midweek game. The Monarchs and Rams will meet again in Norfolk on Tuesday, April 28 at 6 p.m.
Up Next
ODU will host Connecticut this weekend. The series opens with a 3 p.m. start on Friday, the teams will return for a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday, and the finale will begin at noon on Sunday.