NORFOLK, Va. – A Will Johnson grand slam in the sixth inning opened up Old Dominion baseball’s lead over Georgia Southern as the Monarchs won the Sun Belt series opener, 8-3 on Friday night.
The Eagles (12-25, 5-11 Sun Belt) opened the scoring in the top of the second inning. With one out, Georgia Southern’s Sean White was hit by a pitch. Jonathan Jamie then smacked a 1-2 pitch to right center as Nick Felton tried to make a diving catch, but the ball popped loose. White was waved home on the play as Jamie reached second for an RBI double.
The Monarchs (18-19, 6-10) had an opportunity to respond in the bottom of the third. After TJ Aiken and Zach Leite were both hit by pitch, Maverick Stallings drew a one-out walk to load the bases. However, Macaddin Dye fouled out down the first-base line on an infield fly and Jack Slater went down swinging.
In the fourth, GS looked to add some insurance as Bryson Trammell singled up the middle, stole second, and moved up to third base on a throwing error by Dye. White then hit a ground ball towards Johnson, who fired home to Dye, and Tyler Zedalis applied the tag as the Monarchs erased the lead runner. Darin Kuskie then struck out Jamie for the third out.
Old Dominion loaded the bases again in the home half of the fourth. With one out, Nick Felton singled up the middle and then advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt. He reached third on an Efrain Morales single to short and Aiken then walked to run the bags full. After a GS pitching change, Leite greeted the new hurler with a 2-RBI single through the right side. Aiken then pushed the ODU lead to 3-1 as he tagged up on a Zedalis sacrifice fly to left.
The Monarchs scratched across another run in the fifth. Dye led off with a double to right, then advanced to third when Scotty Young pinch hit for Slater and laid down a sac bunt. Dye then trotted home as Johnson doubled to left center and ODU took a 4-1 lead.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth, Johnson came through again with a grand slam that just cleared the wall in left center, and the Monarchs pulled away, 8-1.
The Eagles got back a run in the top of the eighth inning as Brady Christman led off with a solo home run to left field. A couple of walks and a base hit to left then loaded the bases for the visitors, but Maddox Jack struck out a pair and Johnson fielded a ground ball and threw to Leite at first in time for the third out. GS plated another run in the ninth when Jack Myers scored on White’s sac fly to left, but Jamie popped out to Zedalis to end the game.
Johnson finished the night 2-for-3 as the junior shortstop hit his third home run of the season, doubled, and drove in five runs. Morales went 2-for-4 with one run and a walk, and Leite hit 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a run. He was also hit by pitch three times.
Ben Tanton (5-0) received the win after tossing 2.1 scoreless innings in relief. He allowed two hits with one walk and a pair of strikeouts. Starter Darin Kuskie held the Eagles to one run on three hits and two walks. He struck out five in 4.2 innings pitched.
Up Next
The Monarchs and Eagles continue the series tomorrow with a 3 p.m. start at the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex.