ODU baseball head coach Chris Finwood
NORFOLK, Va. - A slew of timely hits led Old Dominion to a 7-1 victory over VCU in midweek action on Tuesday evening at the Bud Metheny Complex.
The Monarchs (14-31) now lead the all-time series, 91-61, against VCU (29-20) and have won each of the last four matchups.
"We had six two-out RBIs and that's been something that has escaped us this year, but tonight we did it," said head coach Chris Finwood. "It was a well-played game."
VCU baseball players wear gold shoelaces to raise awareness for childhood cancer
During the game, both bitter rivals wore gold shoelaces in their cleats to bring awareness to childhood cancer. However this gesture was not random - and not just for any youngster battling the awful disease. It was for Ian Larmore.
Larmore is a freshman second baseman on the Tallwood High School JV baseball team. News 3 shared his story last week.
Tuesday, as he underwent a major surgery at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio - not only did the ODU baseball team wear gold shoelaces as a tribute, Monarchs players and coaches wrote Ian Strong on the side of their caps.
ODU baseball wears Ian Strong on its caps to support Ian Larmore
Erik Stock (1-4, HR, RBI) and Will Morgan (1-4, 3B, 3 RBI) had two of the big hits for Old Dominion, who improved to 4-6 in midweek games this season.
Stock's solo home run in the fourth gave ODU an early 1-0 lead and then Morgan's two-out, bases-clearing triple provided the Monarchs with a comfortable 4-1 lead that they would not relinquish.
Overall, ODU hit .462 (6-for-13) with two outs in the game.
Jimbo Reemsnyder (2-4, RBI, R), Culver Lamb (2-3, RBI, R) and Matt Schwarz (3-4, RBI, 2 R, 2 SB) also recorded two-out knocks for ODU. Schwarz' three-hit game was his sixth of the season, which is tied for the team lead with Lamb.
Erik Stock, ODU baseball
"I just try and help the team out any way I can," said Schwarz. "Just go out and play hard every day."
On the mound, freshman Jason Hartline (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K) earned the win, the second of his career, after Hunter Gregory (3 IP, 3 H, 0 R) gave ODU a strong start.
The Monarchs have now won two in a row.
ODU baseball head coach Chris Finwood
"It all comes down to making pitches and making plays and getting timely hits and in the last two games we've done that," said Finwood. "The guys are feeling a little better about themselves and getting a bit of confidence."
Up next, ODU hosts UTSA at The Bud this weekend for the final home games of 2018.
