NORFOLK, Va. – Some late offense wasn’t enough for Old Dominion to catch No. 8 Coastal Carolina on Friday night as the Monarchs dropped the Sun Belt series opener, 16-8.
The Chanticleers (34-15, 20-5 Sun Belt) grabbed an early 3-0 lead in their first turn at the plate. Dean Mihos drew a leadoff walk, took second base on a Blake Barthol sacrifice bunt, and scored on a Walker Mitchell hit back up the middle. Rex Watson followed with a two-run home run to deep right field.
The Monarchs (25-24, 11-14) cut into the Coastal lead with two runs in the top of the third inning. Nick Felton wore a pitch to start off the frame, Will Johnson singled to left center, and TJ Aiken walked to load the bases. Zach Leite singled in Felton for ODU’s first run, and Johnson then tagged up on an Efrain Morales sac fly to center field. The Chants answered right back though as a Jackson Winer three-run blast in the bottom of the third put the hosts ahead, 7-2.
With one out and runners on the corners in the fourth inning, Scotty Young scored from third on a Felton ground out to second. Old Dominion pulled to within 7-4 with another run in the top of fifth when Aiken walked, reached second on a Leite ground out to short, and came home on a Stalling single to center field.
Coastal Carolina pulled away again, however, with another five runs in the home half of the fifth. ODU’s Ethan Hubbell retired the leadoff batter, but back-to-back walks and a hit batter ran the bags full. After bringing in Jayce Park, ODU looked to turn two on a ground ball up the middle, but an error by Johnson allowed two Chants to score. Three more walks, another hit batter, and a catcher’s interference call allowed the home team to manufacture another three runs as ODU fell behind, 12-4.
With two outs in the top of the seventh inning, Maverick Stallings singled in a run and Brody Connors brought in two more to trim the Coastal lead to 12-7. The Chants put up a three-spot in the bottom of the inning as Walker was hit by pitch with the bases loaded and Watson singled in a pair to push the CCU lead to 15-7.
Both teams plated a run in the eighth inning to round out the scoring. For ODU, Johnson doubled to the gap in right and was waved home on a Leite base hit to left field. CCU’s Ty Barrango drew a leadoff walk, moved up to third on a Barthol single to right, and came home on a Mitchell single up the middle. The Monarchs went down in order in the ninth as the Chants took game one.
Young finished 3-for-5 on the night and scored twice. Stallings turned in a 2-for-3 effort with two RBIs, two walks, and one run. Leite (2-for-4) drove in two runs, scored another, and had one base on balls. Johnson (2-for-5) doubled and scored twice and Connors (1-for-2) collected two RBIs.
Darin Kuskie (3-7) took the loss after giving up seven runs on five hits and four walks. He recorded one strikeout in a three-inning start. Hubbell, Jayce Park, Cole Lanford, and Owen Yarussi all made appearances in relief.
The Monarchs tied their season high by hitting four Coastal batters and set a new season high by issuing 10 free passes. ODU also committed three errors.
Up Next
The two teams will be back tomorrow for a 2 p.m. start at Springs Brooks Stadium.