NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Old Dominion baseball knew it need to continue its hot play through the final week of the regular season and the Monarchs have done just that.
TJ Aiken hit a grand slam and J.J. Gatti pitched five shutout innings to power ODU past James Madison, 10-0 in eight innings, Friday afternoon. The victory clinches the series win for the Monarchs and earns them a berth in next week's Sun Belt Tournament. It's the third straight conference series win for Old Dominion.
After manufacturing two runs in the second inning, Chris Finwood's group did its most damage in the fifth. Efrain Morales got things going with an RBI double and later scored on Zach Leite's single to center. The Monarchs took advantage of several walks and hit batters by JMU pitchers, but did so the most in that fifth frame, loading the bases and setting the table for Aiken's big blast to cap off a six-run inning.
Leite would cap off the scoring with an RBI double in the eighth to push the final two runs across and give ODU the win via the 10-run rule. He was 2-for-4 with three RBI on the night. Aiken knocked in four runs on his grand slam. Collectively, the Monarchs worked six walks and were hit by five pitches, tallying 11 total free passes.
Gatti tossed five shutout innings on the mound, scattering three hits and striking out six while walking just one. He picked up his first win of the season.
Old Dominion and JMU will close out their series Saturday at 1 p.m. The Monarchs will discover their Sun Belt seeding after the day's action has concluded in the conference.
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