NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion baseball got five shutout innings out of reliever Ben Tanton and the Monarchs took down No. 8 Coastal Carolina, 6-3 on Saturday afternoon at Springs Brooks Stadium.
"It was a good ball game. JJ Gatti gave us a good start and Tanton was really good out of the pen again for us," said ODU head coach Chris Finwood.
The victory marks ODU’s second ranked win of the season. The Monarchs (26-24, 12-14 Sun Belt) defeated then-No. 8 Southern Miss, 10-8 back on April 3.
Tanton, the freshman from Vestal, New York, entered the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with ODU holding a slight lead, 4-3. He hit the first batter he faced, but settled down and retired the next three Chanticleers (34-16, 20-6) to get out of the inning.
A Macaddin Dye home run and a Scotty Young RBI sacrifice bunt pushed the Monarchs’ lead to 6-3 in the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the frame, Tanton issued a one-out walk but recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. He proceeded to retire 10 in a row, with a couple of 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth, before giving up a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth. Coastal couldn’t do any more though as Tanton closed out the victory with a strikeout swinging.
Old Dominion opened the scoring in the top of the first when Efrain Morales hit a two-out singled to right field and raced home on a Zach Leite double down the left-field line. The Monarchs pushed across two more runs in the second to go up, 3-0. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Will Johnson doubled to left field.
The Chanticleers scored a run in each of the next three innings to tie the game at 3-3. In the home half of the second, Rex Watson doubled to right field and came around on a Trace Mazon single to right. In the third, Ty Barrango was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a Walker Mitchell double to left. CCU finally caught up in the bottom of the fourth when Brice Estep homered to deep left field.
ODU regained the lead in its next turn at the plate. After a leadoff single by Johnson, Young moved him up to second base with a sac bunt. Morales smacked a 1-2 pitch to right, scoring Johson from third and putting the Monarchs back in front, 4-3.
Johnson led ODU at the plate, batting 4-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Morales (2-for-3) walked, drove in a run, and scored another. Dye went 2-for-4 with his fifth home run of the season and a couple of runs scored. Nick Felton also hit 2-for-4 and scored a run.
"Will Johnson had a big day at the plate for us," added Finwood. "I told the guys after last night's messy game that we needed to settle down and play good solid baseball like we have been, and they did today."
Tanton improved to 7-0 after allowing just one hit and one walk in five innings out of the bullpen. He struck out seven, a new career best for the freshman. It was a no decision for starter JJ Gatti, who allowed three runs on four hits and one walk. He struck out six in four innings pitched.
ODU outhit Coastal, 12-5. The Monarchs combined to 12-for-35 (.343) on the day, while Gatti and Tanton combined to hold the Chanticleers to a .161 clip (5-for-31).
Up Next
Sunday’s rubber match is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.