HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Old Dominion baseball couldn’t overcome an early deficit on the road as the Monarchs dropped their Sun Belt series opener at Marshall, 8-1 on Friday night at Jack Cook Field.
With two outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the first inning, Marshall’s AJ Havrilla put the Thundering Herd (15-17, 7-6 Sun Belt) up 2-0 with a two-run home run to right. The Monarchs (15-18, 4-9) turned a 5-4-3 double play in the bottom of the second and starting pitcher Darin Kuskie retired the side in order in the third and fourth innings. Maverick Stallings and Will Johnson put together back-to-back singles to start the top of the fifth, however, the next three ODU batters went down in order.
The hosts then manufactured another run in the home half of the fifth. Oliver Service singled to left, took second base on a wild pitch, and moved up to third on a Cleary Simpson hit back up the middle. ODU turned another double play, this time 6-4-3, but Service came home on the play as the Monarchs trailed, 3-0.
Old Dominion had another opportunity in the sixth inning as Efrain Morales drew a leadoff walk and Zach Leite followed with a single to center field. Tyler Zedalis and Macaddin Dye both flew out before Stallings walked to load the bases. The Monarchs came up empty though as Johnson went down swinging.
Marshall plated two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to widen the gap, 5-0. After Evan Bottone singled and Tyler Kamerer doubled, Havrilla beat the ODU shift with a base hit through the left side of the defense. The Monarchs then fell behind 8-0 in the seventh as Marshall’s Cooper Hinson singled in a run and Jackson Halter singled in two more. The hosts looked to potentially end the game by run rule as Service smacked the first pitch he saw to left field, but Scotty Young kept the game going with a diving catch.
Zedalis reached with a two-out double in the eighth, but was left stranded. The Monarchs finally scratched across a run in the ninth inning as Stallings broke up the shutout with his sixth long ball of the season. The Herd took care of the next three ODU batters to bring the game to a close.
Stallings finished 3-for-3 with the solo home run and one walk while Leite, Zedalis, and Johnson all turned in 1-for-4 outings.
Kuskie (6-2) received the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits. He didn’t issue a walk and struck out three in a five-inning start.
Up Next
The two teams will be back for game two in the series tomorrow night at 5 p.m.