The Old Dominion Monarchs men’s baseball team defeated the University of Richmond Spiders, 7-5, after overcoming an early deficit on May 5.
The game saw the Monarchs rally in the late innings to secure a win. Head coach Chris Finwood said, “It was a good ball game and we hung in there and scored five runs in the last three innings to come back and get the win.” He added, “Maverick Stallings had a big day for us at the plate and Patrick Johnson really threw the ball well for us at the end.”
Richmond took an early lead by scoring three runs in the second inning. The Monarchs responded with Maverick Stallings hitting his tenth home run of the season. Richmond extended their lead to 4-1 before Old Dominion closed the gap with another run in the third inning. The Spiders added another run in the fifth, but ODU tied it up at five apiece after a three-run sixth inning that included Stallings’ second home run of the night.
Old Dominion went ahead for good in the seventh when Brody Connors drove in Stallings with a single. The team added an insurance run in the eighth as Efrain Morales doubled and later scored on Zach Leite’s single. Reliever Patrick Johnson struck out all three batters he faced in ninth to secure his third win of the season.
Stallings finished with three hits—including two home runs—three runs scored, three RBIs, and two walks. Morales contributed with two runs scored and Leite was hit by pitch twice while also driving in one run. Starting pitcher Chris Cavalcante allowed three runs over two innings during his first collegiate start; Johnson shut out Richmond over three relief innings.
The victory improved ODU’s record against Richmond this season to 3-0 and increased their all-time series advantage to 60-42. The Monarchs have now won four of their last five games heading into their upcoming Sun Belt Conference series against No. 8 Coastal Carolina.
