NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Entering Tuesday night, Virginia had outscored the Old Dominion baseball team in two previous meetings this season, 12-0. Playing in front of the biggest crowd they've seen all year, the Monarchs found their bats.
ODU scored four runs in the first two innings and held off a late UVA charge, downing the No. 10 Cavaliers, 7-4, in the Commonwealth Classic at Harbor Park. It marked the Monarchs' third win over a ranked opponent this season as they've now won three of their last four contests.
"I was really proud of our guys," said Old Dominion head coach Chris Finwood. "We competed and got some big hits and took advantage of a couple mistakes they made and I thought our guys pitched great, just a well-played game. We have to play well to win against anybody. We played really well tonight."
The Monarchs wasted no time getting on the board. Kenny Lavari's RBI single to right scored Kyle Edwards to get them on the board and Jake Ticer reached on an error that allowed ODU to plate two additional runs, giving the home team a 3-0 lead after the opening frame.
Edwards helped the cause with his bat in the second, belting an RBI single to left to tack on another run for the silver and blue.
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Virginia got one back in the third. Virginia Beach native Ethan Anderson just missed a home run, taking a Steven Trone pitch to the wall in right field. It was deep enough to score Eric Becker on the sacrifice fly to cut the ODU lead to 4-1.
However, the silver and blue had an answer in the fourth. Edwards came through with a productive out, grounding out to the shortstop, but scoring Evan Holman and Holman would add a two-run bloop single the following inning to cap off the scoring for Old Dominion.
The Wahoos made it interesting in the ninth with three runs, but Vincent Bashara struck out Anderson to end the game.
Old Dominion improved to 19-17 on the season and open a series at Marshall this Friday night. Virginia dropped to 28-9 and host George Mason on Wednesday.
