Old Dominion (15-17, 4-8 Sun Belt) at Marshall (14-17, 6-6 Sun Belt)
Game Location – Jack Cook Field (Huntington, W.Va.)
Game 1 – Friday, April 10 at 6 p.m.
Game 2 – Saturday, April 11 at 5 p.m.
Game 3 – Sunday, April 12 at 1 p.m.
Watch – ESPN + (Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3)
Listen – Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM
Live Stats – Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Social Media – Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball is on the road this weekend as the Monarchs travel to Huntington, West Virginia for a Sun Belt series at Marshall. Friday’s series opener will begin at 6 p.m., Saturday will have a 5 p.m. start, and Sunday’s first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ and Ted Alexander will call the action on Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM. Live stats will also be available.
The Series
ODU hosted Marshall on May 2-4 at War Memorial Stadium last season. After falling 11-4 in the series opener, the Monarchs responded with a 5-4 victory in game two and took the rubber match, 8-2. Alumni Blake Morgan pitched a complete game in the finale to help secure the series win, holding the visitors to two runs while striking out seven. It was ODU’s first nine-inning complete game since Morgan Maguire in a 7-0 win over UTSA on May 12, 2018.
Old Dominion leads the all-time series, 26-11.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (15-17, 4-8 Sun Belt) started off the week by run-ruling William & Mary, 15-3 in eight innings on Tuesday night in Williamsburg. Locked at 3-3 through five innings, ODU broke out with six runs in the sixth inning and another six in the eighth to split the home-and-home series with the Tribe.
Old Dominion is led at the plate by Tyler Zedalis’ .351 batting average, though Zach Leite is right behind him with a .348 clip. The pair have both turned in 13 multi-hit games. Zedalis leads the team with six home runs, though Leite and Maverick Stallings (.291) are right behind him with five each. Leite, a senior from Dana Point, California, currently leads the Sun Belt and is ranked 12th nationally with 46 RBIs. He’s also 15th in the country with 1.44 RBIs per game and sits in third place in the conference with four sacrifice flies. Leite has tallied 12 multi-RBI outings, including three games with five or more RBIs. Macaddin Dye (.306) has been hit by pitch 10 times, the fifth-most in the league, and TJ Aiken (.306) is fourth in the SBC with 24 walks and is 11-for-13 on stolen-base attempts. Also hitting over the .300 mark are Will Johnson (.309) and Efrain Morales (.368).
ODU’s .291 combined batting average ranks fourth in the Sun Belt and the Monarchs own a .420 slugging percentage with a .391 on-base percentage. The Silver & Blue are scoring 6.7 runs per game, but they’re also allowing 7.5 runs.
This weekend’s pitching rotation will see Darin Kuskie (2-5, 9.69 ERA) starting on Friday, JJ Gatti (0-3, 5.12 ERA) on Saturday, and Nick Sulpizio (1-1, 7.79 ERA) on Sunday. Monarch pitching has a combined ERA of 7.06 with opponents hitting .314 against them.
Through games played on April 8, the Monarchs are ranked 147th in RPI.
Scouting Marshall
The Thundering Herd (14-17, 6-6) put together a couple of five-game win streaks earlier in the season, but has since dropped three in a row and nine of its last 10. Last weekend, Marshall won its Sun Belt series opener at App State, 12-6, but lost the series after falling 5-4 and 10-4 in the next two games against the Mountaineers. Marshall then took on No. 17 West Virginia on Wednesday and was defeated, 12-2 in eight innings.
Evan Bottone is the team’s top hitter with a .375 batting average, Cooper Hinson follows with a .368 clip, and Tyler Kamerer is batting .346. Kamerer, a redshirt junior infielder, has scored a team-high 36 runs and ranks second in the SBC with 1.16 runs per game. He’s also third in the conference with 46 hits. Hinson and Jackson Halter (.212) have both driven in 28 runs, while Bottone, AJ Havrilla (.260), and Halter have combined to hit 16 home runs. Havrilla, a junior infielder, is 18th in Division I with 1.06 walks per game and 21st nationally with 33 walks. On the basepaths, Bottone is 6-for-6 when attempting to steal and Mason Onate (.200) is 5-for-8.
The Herd is hitting .288 as a team with a .439 slugging percentage and a .398 on-base percentage. Marshall is scoring 7.5 runs per game, but has also allowed 7.5 runs per game. The team is third in Sun Belt in hit by pitch (63) and is fourth in on-base percentage and sac flies (16).
ODU will face left-hander Bryce Blevins (5-2, 5.27 ERA) on Friday, right-hander Drew Harlow (3-2, 4.50 ERA), and righty Kenyon Collins (2-3, 1.68) on Sunday. Blevins comes into the series ranked 24th in DI with a 6.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.32 walks allowed per nine innings. The senior from Louisa, Kentucky is also 27th nationally with five victories and ranks fourth in the SBC with 50 strikeouts. Marshall has a team ERA of 6.78 with opponents hitting .296 against them.
Marshall is 163rd in the latest RPI rankings and is led by fourth-year head coach Greg Beals. The Herd was picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
Up Next
Old Dominion will be back in Norfolk next Wednesday, April 15 to continue its home-and-home series with Richmond. First pitch at the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex is scheduled for 6 p.m.