NORFOLK, Va. – A five-run third inning by James Madison was too much for Old Dominion baseball to overcome as the Monarchs dropped the TowneBank Royal Rivalry series finale, 7-3 on Saturday afternoon at the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex.
“I thought [JMU starting pitcher] Tyler Lutz was really good for them today,” said ODU head coach Chris Finwood. “We had a couple of chances and couldn’t get a big hit and you have to give him credit for that.”
Scoreless through the first two innings, the Dukes (21-32, 11-19 Sun Belt) pushed across five runs on four hits and an error in the top of the third inning. JMU’s Jack Cannizzario led off with a ground-rule double to left center field and moved up to third on a Keegan Haesler sacrifice bunt. Kyle Langley then opened the scoring with a two-run home run to right field. After Ike Schmidly lined out to third, Reece Moody walked, stole second base, and reached third as Josiah Seguin reached on an ODU fielding error. Clay Thompson added to the lead with an RBI single to shallow center field, and Jack Guerrero drove in two more runs with a double down the left-field line.
The Monarchs (29-25, 15-15) scratched across a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Maverick Stallings and Tyler Zedalis put together back-to-back singles before Brody Connors hit a ground ball to short. JMU second baseman Moody tried to turn a 6-4-3 double play, but his throw to first sailed wide, allowing Stallings to score on the error.
James Madison pushed its lead to 6-1 in the top of the seventh. With one out, Seguin was hit by a pitch and advanced to third as Thompson doubled to the gap in left. He then tagged up on a Guerrero sac fly to center field. The Dukes added another run in the eighth inning when Haesler walked, stole second and third, and came around on a Reece base hit through the left side.
ODU cut into the deficit as Will Johnson led off the bottom of the eighth with his fifth home run of the season. After Scotty Young and Efrain Morales were both retired, Zach Leite singled up the middle, took second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Stallings hit back up the middle. That trimmed JMU’s lead to 7-3.
Down to its final three outs, Connors wore a pitch and moved up to second as TJ Aiken grounded out to second base. Jack Slater then flew out to left, Connors advanced to third on a wild pitch, and Johnson was also plunked to put runners on the corners with two outs. ODU couldn’t keep the rally going though as Young flew out to center field to end the game.
Grayson Sparr hit 2-for-3 on the day, Johnson went 2-for-4 with the long ball and a hit by pitch, Stallings finished 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, and Leite also turned in a 2-for-4 outing and scored once.
Jackson Okonkwo (0-3) was handed the loss after allowing five runs, two of them earned, on five hits and one walk. He recorded two strikeouts in a three-inning start. Nick Sulpizio pitched three scoreless frames in relief, scattering four hits and striking out five. Also coming out of the bullpen were Jayce Park, Cole Lanford, Tyler Stott, and Chris Cavalcante.
The Monarchs won seven of their last 10 games in the regular season and also won four of their last five Sun Belt series. ODU also posted a 19-14 record at home.
“I’m really proud of our guys to bounce back from a 5-10 first half and go 10-5 in the second half,” continued Finwood. “There were probably a lot of folks out there that were counting us out, but the guys that matter never quit. Our guys all really fought hard and played good baseball over the last five weeks and we need to take that into the Sun Belt Conference tournament.”
Before first pitch, the Monarchs also held a graduation ceremony for its senior class. ODU’s Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. Stacie Raymer conferred degrees upon Bailey Matela, Cash Jay, Leite, Stott, Ethan Hubbell, Kellen Davis, and Evan Holman.
Up Next
The Monarchs will play in Tuesday’s single elimination round next Tuesday, May 19 and await the results from the rest of Saturday’s games to find out their seeding. If they are the seventh seed, they will face the 10th seed in a 4 p.m. ET game at DABOS Park, formerly Riverwalk Stadium. If ODU earns the eighth seed, they will play the ninth seed at 7:30 p.m. ET.