NORFOLK, Va. – No. 8 Southern Miss put up a fight in the top of the ninth, but Old Dominion baseball held on, 10-8 for its first ranked win of the season on Friday afternoon at the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex.
The victory also marks ODU’s highest ranked win since a 9-2 win over then-No. 5 Virginia on April 12, 2022 in Charlottesville.
“The guys bounced back and played a good game today,” ODU head coach Chris Finwood said afterwards. “JJ Gatti gave us a good start. That’s two in a row for him. We had some big hits and the ball bounced our way some too, finally. Proud of the effort, and was a beautiful day to play.”
Tied at 3-3 through five innings, the Monarchs (14-16, 4-7 Sun Belt) broke the game open with a six-run bottom of the sixth inning. Singles by Macaddin Dye and Will Johnson and a walk by Nick Felton loaded the bases with two outs. TJ Aiken then worked a five-pitch walk to put ODU back in front, 4-3, and Efrain Morales brought in two more runs with a base hit to right field. Zach Leite then pushed the lead to 9-3 with a three-run home run to the right of the batter’s eye, his fifth long ball of the season.
The Golden Eagles (22-9, 6-5) looked to respond in the top of the seventh as Joey Urban hit a two-out single back up the middle and Seth Smith doubled down the right-field line, but ODU brought in Bailey Matela in relief and he promptly struck out the next batter. USM’s Davis Gillespie walked to lead off the top half of the eighth inning, but the Monarchs turned a 4-6-3 double play before Matela recorded another strikeout.
In the bottom of the eighth, Leite drew a two-out walk and moved up to second on a wild pitch. Tyler Zedalis brought him home with a single down the right-field line and Old Dominion took a 10-3 advantage into the ninth.
Matela struck out the leadoff batter, but walked USM’s William Tonsmeire and plunked both Lawson Odom and Urban to load the bases. Smith started the rally with an RBI single to center field, and Kyle Morrison drove in another run with a ground out to second base. Matela handed the ball off to Kellen Davis, but a fielding error by Will Johnson and another couple of singles by Matthew Russo and Ben Higdon narrowed the gap, 10-8. Tucker Stockman reloaded the bases with a base knock, but Tonsmeire grounded out to Leite at first to end the game.
Six different Monarchs turned in multi-hit games. Dye went 3-for-5 and tied the game at 3-3 with a solo home run in the fourth inning, his fourth of the year. The Virginia Beach, Virginia native scored three times, tying his season high. Leite (2-for-4) also homered and added two runs, three RBIs, and a walk to his tally. Zedalis, Scotty Young, and Johnson also hit 2-for-4 with Johnson driving in two runs, and Morales had a 2-for-5 day at the plate with two RBIs.
The Monarchs outhit the Golden Eagles, 13-10. ODU hit .361 on the day, including .556 (10-for-18) with two outs and .444 (4-for-9) with runners in scoring position.
Ben Tanton (3-0) picked up the win after throwing 1.2 shutout innings in relief. He allowed just two hits and one walk while striking out one. Gatti limited Southern Miss to three runs on four hits and one walk. He finished with four strikeouts in a five-inning start.
Urban opened the scoring with a leadoff home run in the top of the first, but the Monarchs jumped ahead with two runs in the bottom of the second. Zedalis walked and reached second on a Dye single through the left side. The pair moved up when Young grounded out to second base, and were waved home on a Johnson hit to shallow right field. A couple of RBI ground outs allowed the visitors to seize control, 3-2 in the fourth, but Dye evened the game with his deep fly to left center.
Up Next
The teams return tomorrow for a noon rubber match.