NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- A month ago at this time, fans may have had a little trouble believing that Old Dominion baseball would be in position to grab the sixth seed in the Sun Belt Tournament.
But a late-season surge has the Monarchs climbing up the conference standings and looking to cap off the schedule with some more victories ahead of the conference playoff.
"We were tied for last when Georgia Southern came in here with them," head coach Chris Finwood said of his team's April 17-19 series with the Eagles. "Since then, we've got a chance to finish maybe as high as fifth or sixth. We're 5-10 the first half (of the Sun Belt schedule) and have an opportunity to go 10-5 or better if you can win this series."
Old Dominion enters the week having won six of its last eight games, including its last two Sun Belt series. The silver and blue finds itself in a seventh place tie with three games against James Madison at home capping off their regular season. With the top 10 league teams making the conference tournament, the Monarchs find themselves in control of their own destiny.
"We know when we play a certain way, we're going to have a chance to win," Finwood noted. "When we don't play to that standard, we get our butts kicked and we know that, so it's up to us, so to speak."
"We don't need help from anybody else," added freshman outfielder Nick Felton. "It's just up to us. One game at a time. It's a good spot to be in, way better than being dependent on other people. We're just depending on ourselves and if we can play our best ball, we'll be all good."
ODU is coming off a confidence-building weekend. Finwood's team took two of three from No. 8 Coastal Carolina on the road, claiming the final two games of the series and giving their tournament hopes a big boost. Now the Monarchs look to take that momentum into the final regular season series against their arch-rivals.
"It couldn't be at a better time," junior infielder Will Johnson said. "Late in the season, we're just so happy that it happened and we're looking to do better."
"Confidence in college athletics, I think, is very important," Finwood added. "These are young men and how they feel about themselves matters. Having said that, I think we've played better when we haven't overcooked the grits, so to speak."
Old Dominion and James Madison open their three game series at Ellmer Family Baseball Complex on Thursday at 6 p.m.
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