No. 30 Pirates fall to Old Dominion, 7-4, in final mid-week game

Monarchs snap East Carolina’s five-game win streak

Eight Old Dominion starters hit safely as the Monarchs managed 14 hits en route to a 7-4 victory over No. 30 East Carolina on Tuesday evening at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

ODU (27-22) jumped on Pirate starter Zach Woods for two in the first.

Following a leadoff double by Brandon Shelton, Brent Frazier was hit by Woods. Josh Wright proceeded to make it 1-0 with a double. Then, a sac fly by Chris Baker made it 2-0, Monarchs.

The Pirates (34-18) responded in the bottom of the frame.

Philip Clark led off with a double and advanced to third when Corey Thompson grounded out. He came home to make it 2-1 on a wild pitch by ODU starter Louis Singleton. ECU tied the game when Trent Whitehead, who reached on a double, crossed the plate on a throwing error by the shortstop on a Chase McDonald groundball.

After a scoreless second, ODU jumped back on top in the third.

Baker and Sizemore led off with back-to-back singles. They would each come around to score on groundouts by Barney and Hartman to make it 4-2.

The Monarchs built their advantage to 5-2 in the fourth. Shelton and Frazier reached on one out singles before a Baker single with two down pushed a run across.

Josh Frazier delivered the last of three straight singles to tack another on in the sixth and extend the ODU lead to 6-2.

ECU cut that deficit in half in the bottom of the frame.

Chase McDonald drew a leadoff walk before Zach Wright doubled. John Wooten singled back up the middle plate McDonald and Wright scored on Reinheimer’s sac fly to left.

ODU responded with its final run in the seventh. Sizemore reached on a leadoff walk and scored on a two-out double by Hernandez.

Pirate starter Zach Woods lasted just 1 2/3 innings after allowing two runs on four hits, two hit batters and a walk.

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ECU’s top reliever Brad Mincey was tagged with the defeat after surrendering three runs on five hits in just two innings of relief after being inserted for Woods.

Armstrong, Chrismon, Hughes and Simmons also pitched for the Pirates.

Monarchs’ starter Louis Singleton evened his record at 2-2 with the win. He didn’t strike out anyone, but allowed just two runs—one earned—on six hits in five innings of work.

Closer Adam Wisniewski, the fourth ODU reliever, allowed one hit in the ninth en route to collecting his 14 th save of the season.

Philip Clark and Zach Wright had three hits for East Carolina. Trent Whitehead had two hits and walked twice while reaching base in four of his five plate appearances.

Shelton and Wright paced ODU with their three-hit efforts. Frazier and Baker also had multi-hit games. The top four hitters in the Monarchs’ line-up combined to go 10-for-17 on the night.

East Carolina will now travel to New Orleans where it will close its regular season with a critical three-game series against CUSA foe Tulane.

Check back to CUSA-fans.com for a preview of the Pirates’ series with the Green Wave.