WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Tied at 3-3 through five innings, Old Dominion Baseball scored six runs in the sixth inning and another six runs in the eighth to pull away for a 15-3 road win over William & Mary on Tuesday night at Plumeri Park.
“The guys played well tonight. We threw strikes and had a bunch of big hits,” said ODU head coach Chris Finwood.
The Tribe (12-19) opened the scoring with a couple of runs in their first turn at the plate. After W&M’s Jamie Laskofki drew a leadoff walk, a Sam Kaczmarek single and a throwing error by ODU’s Will Johnson allowed the hosts to put runners in scoring position with no outs. Starting pitcher Cole Lanford retired the next two batters, but Matthew Kosuda singled up the middle as the Tribe went up, 2-0 early.
The Monarchs (15-17) answered right back in the top half of the second inning. Macaddin Dye walked and after Maverick Stallings flew out to center field, Johnson singled. A throwing error by Kosuda allowed both runners to advance to second and third, and they later scored on a Jack Slater base hit to right center.
In the fourth, Slater walked, moved up to second base on an Efrain Morales single through the left side of the defense, and then came around on a Zach Leite single through the right side. However, the Tribe knotted the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the inning as Louie Bartletti hit a two-out solo home run.
Slater led off again in the sixth inning, this time singling through the right side of the infield. TJ Aiken laid down a second bunt to move Slater up to second, and Morales brought him in with a base knock to the gap in right. A fielding error allowed Morales to get to third base on the play, and he then beat the throw to the plate as Leite reached on a fielder’s choice. Tyler Zedalis singled and Dye walked to load the bases with one out, and a pair of wild pitches allowed Leite and Zedalis to both score as ODU pulled ahead, 7-3. Johnson then pushed the lead to 9-3 with a 2-RBI single to right field.
The Monarchs then widened the gap with another six-spot in the eighth inning. Dye was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch before Johnson also walked. Dye broke for third on yet another wild pitch, and W&M catcher Witt Scafidi’s throw was off the mark as Dye scored and Johnson advanced to second on the error. Nick Felton and Slater both walked to load the bases before the Tribe made a call to the bullpen. Aiken and Morales strung together a pair of RBI singles, and Leite picked up an RBI when he was awarded first due to catcher’s interference. Zedalis then capped off the scoring with a 2-RBI double to left field.
Morales went 4-for-6, scoring two runs and driving in two more. It marks the second four-hit game of his career after he hit 4-for-5 against Troy on April 6 last season. Zedalis (3-for-6) doubled with two RBIs and one run scored, Leite (2-for-5) collected three RBIs and scored once, and Aiken (2-for-5) contributed one run and one RBI. Slater went 2-for-3 with three runs, two RBIs, and a couple of walks, and Johnson also had a 2-for-3 night at the plate with two runs, two RBIs, and two bases on balls.
Ethan Hubbell (1-1) got the win after limiting the Tribe to one run on two hits in two innings of relief. Lanford went three innings in the midweek start and allowed two runs, one of them earned, on four hits and one walk while striking out three. Chris Cavalcante tossed one shutout inning with one hit allowed, and Bailey Matela struck out four and gave up one hit in two shutout frames.
The Monarchs outhit the Tribe, 15-8. W&M also came into the game ranked sixth in the country with 93 steals and seventh with 3.1 steals per game, but went 0-for-3 on stolen-base attempts. With the win tonight, ODU earns a split in the home-and-home series against the Tribe and moves to 90-57 all-time in the matchup.
Up Next
Old Dominion travels to Huntington, West Virginia this weekend for a Sun Belt series at Marshall. The Monarchs and Herd will play at 6 p.m. on Friday, at 5 p.m. on Saturday, and at 1 p.m. on Sunday.