NORFOLK, Va. - Nick Walker went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and Adam Bainbridge pitched five scoreless innings to lead Old Dominion over LIU Brooklyn, 13-0, in the season opener on Friday afternoon at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex.
Old Dominion (1-0) scored 12 runs in the first three innings and Bainbridge, Jim Wilkerson and Isaiah Nelson combined for a three-hit shutout. The 13 total runs were the most for ODU in a season opener since the Monarchs scored 16 in the 2006 opener.
Walker fell a home run shy of a cycle and juco transfer Jared Young went 2-for-4 in his Monarch debut with a triple, two runs and two RBIs to lead the ODU offense. Culver Lamb aadded two hits in two at-bats and Kurt Sinnen drilled a two-run home run in the third to ignite a seven-run inning that put the game out of reach for LIU Brooklyn (0-1).
Bainbridge went five innings for the win, scattering two hits, while walking two and fanning five. Wilkerson and Nelson then combined for four innings of one-hit, shutout relief to close out the game. Outfielder Turner Bishop also turned in a web gem nominee with a diving catch on the warning trackin the second inning.
LIU's Anthony Rupp earned the loss, going 2.1 innings and allowing nine runs on 11 hits.
The Monarchs are back in action tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the second game of the eries against LIU Brooklyn. Tickets are $5 at the gate. Morgan Maguire is projected to get the nod on the bump for ODU against LIU's Baylor LaPointe.