Baseball Wraps Up Homestand With Midweek Tilt vs. Baseball Richmond

Old Dominion (12-8, 2-1 Sun Belt) vs. Richmond (9-10, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
Game Location – Bud Metheny Ballpark (Norfolk, Va.)
Start Time – Tuesday, March 19 at 4 pm
Watch – ESPN+
Live Stats – Click Here

NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball takes back the field this Tuesday when the Monarchs host the University of Richmond for a 4 pm game at Bud Metheny Ballpark.

Fans will be able to stream the game on ESPN+ with Andy Mashaw calling the balls and strikes. Live stats will also be available.

Around the Horn
The Monarchs (12-8, 2-1 Sun Belt) opened conference play at home against Georgia Southern this past weekend and came away with a 2-1 series win. ODU won the series opener 11-1 in eight innings on Friday, then clinched the series victory with an 11-1 final in seven innings on Saturday. GS avoided the sweep by taking Sunday’s game, 2-1.

As a team, ODU entered the weekend batting .245 and raised its average to .252. Alex Bouche leads the starters with a .333 clip, though Luke Waters is right behind him at .329 and Kyle Edwards is hitting .299. Waters and Kenny Levari (.246) have both driven in 19 runs while Steven Meier (.269) owns the team high in runs scored with 21. Waters has stolen 11 bases in 12 attempts and Meier is a perfect 10-for-10. Through games played on March 17, the Monarchs lead the Sun Belt and rank 17th nationally in stolen bases (42) and 20th in stolen bases per game (2.10). ODU is also 67th in the RPI.

Tuesday’s game will be another staff day for ODU’s pitchers with Garrett Harker (1-0, 2.70 ERA) getting the start. The junior right hander from Lebanon, Ind. made his first start as a Monarch last Wednesday against Princeton, tossing 2.2 scoreless frames. He held the Tigers to one hit, issued one walk and recorded one strikeout to help ODU to a 12-1 final.

The Monarchs are first in the conference and rank seventh in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.23), 11th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.10), 14th in WHIP (1.25) and 38th in ERA (4.19). Opposing teams are batting .237 against them.

Scouting Richmond
The Spiders (9-10, 0-0 Atlantic 10) were at home against Cornell over the weekend and won two of three versus the Big Red. After Richmond won the opener 8-4 on Friday, the Big Red evened the series with a 9-3 victory on Saturday. A three-run home run by Jason Shockley helped the Spiders to an 8-4 decision in Sunday’s rubber match.

U of R has four starters hitting over .300: Aidan O’Keefe owns a team-high .342 average, Shockley is next with a .338 clip, DJ Pacheco is batting .327 and Phil Bernstein is right behind him at .324. Pacheco has the most extra-base hits with three long balls, two triples and four doubles. An outfielder from Danvers, Massachusetts, he’s also scored a team-high 15 runs. Bernstein is first on the team with 23 RBIs and has doubled seven times with one homer and 12 runs. As a group, the Spiders are hitting .270 with a .428 slugging percentage and a .392 on-base percentage. They’ve stolen 20 bags in 25 attempts.

Richmond will start Logan Ymker (1-0, 1.93 ERA), a right-handed pitcher from Sioux Falls, South Dakota who started off his career at Des Moines Area CC and joined the Spiders after spending the previous two seasons at Presbyterian. Ymker has made two starts in six appearances this season, allowing six runs (four earned) on 10 hits and 11 walks. He’s tallied 17 strikeouts through 18.2 innings while holding opponents to a .161 average.

The Spiders come into Tuesday’s contest with a team ERA of 5.04, good for second in the A10. U of R is also second in the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.11) and walks allowed per nine innings (4.45) and is third in strikeouts per nine innings (9.4) and WHIP (1.51).

Richmond was picked to finish eighth in the A10’s Preseason Poll, as voted on by the conference’s 12 head coaches. The Spiders are currently 291st in the RPI and are led by Head Coach Mik Aoki, who is in his first season with the program.

The Series
ODU and Richmond are meeting for the first time since the 2021 season when the Monarchs won 4-3 in Richmond. Trailing 3-1 heading into the fifth inning, Carter Trice tied the game with a two-run home run and Andy Garriola scored on a wild pitch for the deciding run. Ryne Moore earned his third win of the season, recording two strikeouts in 2.2 innings pitched.

The Monarchs are ahead in the all-time series, 56-42. The two teams will meet again on May 14 in Richmond.

Up Next
ODU continues conference play at Louisiana this weekend. Friday’s series opener against the Ragin’ Cajuns is scheduled for 7 pm ET. The teams then return to ML “Teague” Moore Field for a 3 pm ET start on Saturday and wrap up with a 12 pm ET first pitch on Sunday.