Old Dominion (25-23, 11-13 Sun Belt) at No. 8 Coastal Carolina (33-15, 19-5 Sun Belt)
Game Location – Spring Brooks Stadium (Conway, S.C.)
Game 1 – Friday, May 8 at 6 p.m.
Game 2 – Saturday, May 9 at 2 p.m.
Game 3 – Sunday, May 10 at 1 p.m.
Watch – ESPN+ (Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3)
Listen – Fox Sport Radio 1310 AM
Live Stats – Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Social Media – Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion baseball has its final road Sun Belt series of the regular season this weekend as the Monarchs travel to Conway, South Carolina to take on No. 8 Coastal Carolina.
Friday’s series opener is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start at Spring Brooks Stadium. The teams will return for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday, and Sunday’s series finale is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
Fans will be able to watch all three games on ESPN+ or hear Ted Alexander calling the action on Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM. Live stats will also be available.
The Series
The two teams have previously played 16 games against each other, with Coastal Carolina ahead in the all-time series, 10-6.
ODU and Coastal Carolina met on May 15-17 last year in Hampton to close out the regular season. Played at War Memorial Stadium due to the ongoing construction of the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex, the Chanticleers won all three games, 6-3, 16-7, and 12-1 in seven innings.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (25-23, 11-13 Sun Belt) have won four of their last five games and are coming off a 7-5 comeback win over Richmond on Tuesday night. Down 5-2 after five innings, the Monarchs scored five runs down the stretch for their third win over the Spiders this season. Maverick Stallings homered twice and finished 3-for-3, adding three runs, three RBIs, and two walks to his totals. On the mound, Patrick Johnson (3-1) shut out UofR for three innings out of the bullpen. He didn’t allow a hit, walked one, and struck out five of the nine batters he faced. The senior right-hander also struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning to end the game.
Efrain Morales leads ODU’s starters with a .358 batting average. Following him are Stallings (.326), Will Johnson (.322), and Zach Leite (.311). Stallings leads the team with 11 home runs, Tyler Zedalis (.290) is next with nine, and Leite has homered five times. Leite, a senior from Dana Point, California, enters the weekend ranked second in the Sun Belt and 25th nationally with 58 RBIs. He’s also second in the league with 1.21 RBIs per game, leads the conference and is 30th in Division I with six sacrifice flies, and is fourth in the SBC in hit by pitch having been plunked 16 times. Morales is the fourth-toughest to strike out in the SBC with 10.9 plate appearances per strikeout. TJ Aiken (.247) ranks third in the conference with 38 walks and 0.79 walks per game, and he leads the team with 14 stolen bases on 17 attempts. Nick Felton (.247) ranks fifth nationally with 0.30 sac bunts per game, and the freshman outfielder is also sixth with 12 sac bunts.
As a team, the Monarchs rank fourth in the Sun Belt in sac flies (23) and shutouts (4) and they’re fifth in batting average (.282) and on-base percentage (.386). ODU owns a .413 slugging percentage and is scoring 6.5 runs per game while allowing 7.0.
ODU will stick with its weekend rotation of Darin Kuskie (3-6, 7.15 ERA) on Friday and JJ Gatti (0-5, 4.62 ERA) on Saturday with Sunday’s starter not named yet. The two right-handers lead the pitching staff with 55 and 43 strikeouts, respectively. Ben Tanton (6-0, 2.28 ERA) leads the team and ranks fifth in the Sun Belt in victories, while Kellen Davis (0-1, 5.00 ERA) has a team-high three saves. Monarch pitching has a combined ERA of 6.42 with opposing teams hitting .301 against them.
Old Dominion is listed 118th in RPI through games played on May 6.
Scouting Coastal Carolina
The Chanticleers (33-15, 19-15 Sun Belt) sit atop the league standings and are currently ranked eighth in this week’s D1Baseball poll. They’re also eighth in the Baseball America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) polls and Coastal is 10th in the USA Today Coaches’ poll. The Chants won two of three games at Georgia Southern last weekend and are coming off an 8-4 loss to Clemson on Tuesday.
CCU is led at the plate by Trace Mazon (.376), Dean Mihos (.321), and Mitchell Walker (.304). Mihos has scored the most runs in the Sun Belt with 51 and is second in the league with 1.06 runs per game. Rex Watson (.281) has belted 11 home runs and owns a team-high 52 RBIs, good for third in the conference. Blake Barthol (.298) is the national leader in sac bunts with 16, while Ty Barrango (.266) is 12th with 10 and Brice Estep (.280) is 20th with nine. Coastal has seven players with double-digit steals, led by Blagen Pado (.193) with 14 swiped bags on 15 attempts. He’s also second in the Sun Belt in hit by pitch (19) and hit by pitch per game (0.40).
The Chanticleers are hitting .270 as a team with a .428 slugging percentage and a .395 on-base percentage. They’re the national leaders in hit by pitch (118) and sac bunts (61), are second in the Sun Belt in stolen bases (103 on 121 attempts), and rank third in the conference in scoring (7.3 runs per game), runs (348), walks (216), on-base percentage, and fielding percentage (.979). CCU is holding opponents to 5.4 runs per game.
Coastal’s weekend rotation will consist of all right-handers, with Luke Jones (4-1, 4.12 ERA) on Friday, Ross Norman (6-3, 5.78 ERA) on Saturday, and Cam Flukey (0-1, 7.20 ERA) on Sunday. Darin Horn (6-1, 3.26 ERA) leads the team with 70 strikeouts and ranks 19th in the country with 12.68 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s also second in the Sun Belt with seven saves. Norman is currently fifth in the conference with 2.02 walks allowed per nine innings. CCU has a team ERA of 5.11 and is holding opposing batters to a .259 clip.
Coastal Carolina was picked as the preseason favorite to win the Sun Belt and is led by second year head coach Kevin Schnall, who guided the Chants to the College World Series final in his first year at the helm. Cameron Flukey was voted Sun Belt Preseason Pitcher of the Year and was joined on the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team by Hayden Johnson, Ryan Lynch, and Mihos.
The Chanticleers are listed 22nd in the latest RPI rankings.
Up Next
ODU will close out the regular season at home next weekend when the Monarchs host James Madison for a TowneBank Royal Rivalry series.