Old Dominion (8-6) at East Carolina (8-7-1)
Game Location – Clark-LeClair Stadium (Greenville, N.C.)
When – Tuesday, March 10 at 4 p.m.
Watch – ESPN+
Listen – Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM/100.9 FM
Live Stats – Click Here
Social Media – Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball will make the drive down to Greenville, North Carolina on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. meeting with East Carolina at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Tuesday’s game will be streamed on ESPN+ and Ted Alexander will call the action on Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM/100.9 FM. Live stats will also be available.
The Series
ECU hosted Old Dominion on Feb. 26 last season, a game that went to the hosts, 8-2. The Pirates scored four runs in the first inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by Austin Irby. Maverick Stallings went 2-for-4 with an RBI double to lead ODU at the plate, and TJ Aiken went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and two runs scored.
Tuesday will mark the 71st meeting between the two programs, with the Monarchs ahead in the all-time series, 36-34. ODU will host ECU later this season on Tuesday, April 21. First pitch at the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Around the Horn
After falling to UConn 4-2 on Friday and 14-3 in eight innings on Saturday, the Monarchs (8-6) avoided the series sweep with a 6-5 victory over the Huskies on Sunday. Aiken, Stallings, and Zach Leite all homered and Ben Tanton tossed three shutout innings in relief.
Leite has the second-best batting average in the Sun Belt at .442 and is also second in the league with 1.64 hits per game. The senior from Dana Point, California ranks sixth nationally with 1.93 RBIs per game and is 12th in the country with 27 total RBIs. Stallings follows Leite with a .423 clip, Tyler Zedalis is hitting .395, Aiken enters the week batting .377, and Macaddin Dye owns a .357 average. Aiken has scored a team-high 20 runs and is second in the SBC with 1.43 runs per game. The junior outfielder from Greenwood, South Carolina is third in the conference with seven stolen bases and is fourth with 0.5 steals per game.
The Monarchs rank 24th in Division I with a .318 batting average and are third in the Sun Belt with a .410 on-base percentage. ODU also owns a .467 slugging percentage and averages 7.4 runs per game.
Senior left-hander Bailey Matela (1-0, 3.60 ERA) will start the game on Tuesday. The Norfolk native has allowed two runs on three hits and one walk through one start and three appearances. He has recorded six strikeouts in five innings pitched and opponents are hitting .167 against him. As a team, the Monarchs own a combined 6.00 ERA with other teams batting .298 against them.
Through games played on March 8, Old Dominion ranks 251st in RPI.
Scouting ECU
The Pirates (8-7-1) played at then-No. 16 Coastal Carolina over the weekend. ECU dropped the first game 10-6 in 10 innings last Friday and fell 7-1 on Saturday. East Carolina then avoided the sweep by defeating the Chanticleers, 10-4 in six innings on Sunday. The series marked ECU’s second against a ranked opponent this season: the Pirates went 1-1-1 against then-No. 11 North Carolina on Feb. 20-22.
ECU has five starters hitting over .300: Matt Lashley leads the team with a .417 average, Braden Burress is hitting .397, Walker Barren owns a .385 clip, Jack Herring is at .333, and Irby enters the week batting .316. Burress has scored a team-high 18 runs, Grady Lenahan (.286) has driven in 20 runs, and Herring has hit a team-best six doubles, good for third in the American Conference. The Pirates have swiped 10 bags on 13 attempts, with Burress and Davin Whitaker (.273) both 3-for-3 when attempting to steal.
East Carolina is hitting .294 as a team with a .411 slugging percentage and a .384 on-base percentage. The Pirates rank 15th in the country with 11 sacrifice flies and are third in the American with nine sac bunts.
Redshirt junior left-hander Ryan Towers (0-0, 14.54 ERA) will get the start on what will be a staff day for the Pirates. The Henderson, Nevada native has given up seven runs on eight hits and one walk in two starts and three appearances so far. Towers has recorded two strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work and opposing batters are hitting .421 against him. ECU owns a team ERA of 4.48 with opponents batting .250 against them. Pirate pitching has hit 30 batters, the most in the American. The team ranks 11th nationally with 2.85 walks allowed per nine innings, 13th with a 3.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and second in the American with a 1.26 WHIP.
ECU was picked as the preseason favorite to win the American Conference in the league’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll, with Ethan Norby unanimously voted as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Joining Norby on the Preseason All-Conference Team was Irby and Burress. Head coach Cliff Godwin is in his 12th season leading the program and ECU is 93rd in the latest RPI rankings.
Up Next
ODU will open Sun Belt Conference play at Troy this weekend. Friday’s series opener at Riddle-Pace Field is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start. The Monarchs and Trojans will then play Saturday at 4:33 p.m. ET and on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.