NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Old Dominion is one of the hottest teams in the league as the Conference USA Baseball Tournament prepares to take flight on Wednesday.
The Monarchs have won seven straight games and hope their best baseball is still in front of them as they get set to defend their conference tournament title at Southern Mississippi this week. After finishing conference play with a 19-11 record, ODU earned the No. 3 seed and opens up with Middle Tennessee on Wednesday morning at 10:00 ET. The silver and blue took two of three from the Blue Raiders during the regular season series. They will face either Louisiana Tech or Charlotte on Thursday in their second game of the double-elimination event.
No. 17 Southern Mississippi is the top seed in the tournament, looking to defend its home field. The Golden Eagles have won three of the last five Conference USA Tournaments.
Old Dominion hopes its bats will follow it to Hattiesburg. The Monarchs rank third in the country with 115 home runs. Matt Coutney's 25 round-trippers are good enough for fourth in the nation, with Andy Garriola close behind with 22 homers, tied for eight in Division I.
On the mound, freshman Blake Morgan has anchored the pitching staff, ranking third in the nation with a 1.41 ERA.
Southern Mississippi, UAB, Florida Atlantic and Texas-San Antonio make up the bracket opposite the Monarchs. The winners of each bracket will play in the championship game on Sunday at 2:00 PM.
