NORFOLK, Va. – Rutgers baseball (5-9) suffered an 11-1 loss in the series finale against Old Dominion (12-2) Sunday at the Metheny Baseball Complex. The game was scoreless until the fifth, an inning where the Monarchs posted six runs.
Â
"Today we were beat from the middle of the game on," head coach
Steve Owens said. "Tevin got out of some jams early, like he's done before, but he walked five and hit two. You're not going to win games when you walk and hit guys. It could have been different. Tevin knows he can't do that. And then the guys that came in from the bullpen, they gave up big hits.
Â
"Old Dominion is a good club. They threw a lot of strikes and have good bullpen arms. They are really good in the infield with their defense and got big hits with men on base. I thought we swung the bat fine this weekend, but we didn't get hits in critical situations. That's the difference between winning and losing. We have to stop giving away runners and get hits with runners on base. Our guys have to make the adjustment and do a better job with that."
Â
Senior
Tevin Murray (2-2) pitched four scoreless innings to start with five strikeouts, but was charged with five runs (three earned) in the fifth. A two-out error allowed three unearned to cross.
Â
Offensively, RU had five hits. Redshirt sophomore
Richie Schiekofer had two singles in his first two trips to make it eight consecutive times reaching base dating back to Friday. Freshman
Jordan Sweeney provided the run production with a solo homer as a pinch hitter in the sixth. It was his first collegiate long ball.
Â
Ryne Moore (2-1) earned the win on the mound for the Monarchs with one run permitted over seven innings. Old Dominion totaled 11 hits at the plate.
Â
- The Monarchs broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth with six runs on four hits. The inning started with back-to-back singles before a fielder's choice brought in the first score. Following a walk and hit by pitch to load the bases, Ryan Teschko hit a two-run single. A two-out error extended the inning, with Matt Coutney driving in three unearned runs on a double to make it 6-0.
- Sweeney came up a pinch hitter in the sixth and drove one over the wall in right-center to put the Scarlet Knights on the board.
- ODU added three insurance runs in the seventh and two in the eighth.
Â
Rutgers returns home to face Monmouth Tuesday at Bainton Field. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. The next weekend series starts Friday versus Army West Point in Fort Myers, Florida.
Follow Rutgers Athletics on
Facebook and Twitter
(@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding baseball, follow the program on Twitter (
@RutgersBaseball), Instagram
(@rutgersbaseball) and Facebook (
/BaseballRU). For additional updates, please download the Scarlet Knights App via the
app store or
play store.
