Old Dominion wins series over No. 8 Coastal Carolina with 9-2 victory
WVEC-TV Old Dominion baseball secured a Sun Belt series victory over No. 8 Coastal Carolina with a 9-2 win Sunday in the rubber match at Springs Brooks Stadium. The Monarchs improved to 27-24 overall and 13-14 in conference play, while the Chanticleers fell to 34-17 and 20-7 in the Sun Belt.
The series win marked Old Dominion’s first series victory over a Top 10 opponent since taking two of three games from No. 7 Southern Miss in May 2022. Starter Jackson Okonkwo set the tone early with four scoreless innings.
He worked around a leadoff walk in the first inning, retired the side in order in the second and stranded two runners in the third before striking out two batters in the fourth inning. Old Dominion grabbed an immediate lead when Will Johnson homered on the second pitch of the game for his fourth home run of the season. The Monarchs added three more runs in the third inning after loading the bases with one out.
Efrain Morales reached on a fielder’s choice, and a Coastal Carolina error allowed Macaddin Dye to score. Zach Leite and Maverick Stallings followed with consecutive RBI singles to extend the lead to 4-0. Johnson added another RBI in the fourth inning with a two-out single to right-center field that scored Dye and pushed the advantage to 5-0.
Coastal Carolina scored its first run in the sixth inning after Jackson Winer delivered an RBI single following a pair of walks. Old Dominion turned to reliever Nick Sulpizio, who entered and struck out two straight batters looking to end the threat. The Monarchs answered in the seventh inning when Morales reached on a leadoff single and later scored on a Coastal Carolina error during a fielder’s choice play.