ODU never trailed in a 9-2 win over #8 Virginia on Tuesday, the fourth loss in a row for the Cavaliers, whose coach, Brian O’Connor, just consider him not happy about how his team handled itself.
“We got our absolute butts kicked by a good team. It was an incredibly soft approach. I’m very, very disappointed,” said O’Connor, whose team was swept in a three-game weekend series at Miami that concluded on Sunday.
“I challenged the team on Sunday to come out and play the game with a lot of energy, a lot of toughness, and play the game the right way, and we did not take care of the game of baseball. When you don’t do that, you get your butts kicked like we just did,” O’Connor said.
ODU (23-8) opened the scoring with a two-out, two-run double by Matt Courtney in the top of the first inning. The Monarchs left the bases loaded thanks to an acrobatic catch by freshman Justin Rubin in shallow right center field.
It marked the ninth time this season a Virginia (26-7) opponent has scored in its first turn at the plate.
The Cavaliers tied the game with one swing of the bat as Kyle Teel belted the first pitch he saw in the third inning over right field wall for his sixth homer of the season and first since March 19.
The Monarchs sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth and took advantage of a two-out Virginia error to plate four unearned runs in the frame.
ODU tacked on three runs in the top of the ninth inning that included a solo home run by Courtney. The Monarch first baseman went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk and four RBI on the night.
Teel went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Freshman Justin Rubin put together his second multi-hit effort in as many starts by going 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Six Cavalier pitchers combined for nine walks and two hit by pitches in the contest.
“When you have a combination of 11 walks and hit-by-pitches, you’re not going to beat anybody,” O’Connor said. “We had 11 fly ball outs. I’m not talking line drive outs; I’m talking fly ball outs. We’re getting humbled. I knew this period of time was going to come, so we’ve got to go back to the drawing board and get back to earning everything we get.”
Virginia will head back out on the road beginning with a three-game ACC series at Pitt this weekend and a midweek contest at VCU next Tuesday.
The ACC series against the Panthers is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start on Friday, a 3 p.m. first pitch on Saturday and close with a 2 p.m. start on ACC Network on Sunday.
Story by Chris Graham
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