Coastal Carolina, the nation’s No. 8 baseball team, zoomed past Old Dominion 16-7 Friday at War Memorial Stadium in Hampton.
Winner Jacob Morrison (10-0) struck out seven in five innings for the victory, giving up three hits, two walks and two earned runs.
Ty Barrango was 3 for 4 with four runs and four RBIs, and Colby Thorndyke was 3 for 5 with a run and four RBIs.
Friday’s game followed a graduation ceremony for 11 players who missed graduation last weekend while the Monarchs were playing at James Madison.
Coastal (43-11, 25-4 Sun Belt) is on a 12-game winning streak. The Monarchs, paced by five shutout innings and five strikeouts from starter Blake Morgan, led 2-0 until a seven-run sixth by the Chanticleers. Coastal scored all of its runs in the last four innings off ODU relievers.
Zach Leite had two hits and two RBIs for ODU (21-28, 15-14), and Maverick Stallings hit a three-run homer in the ninth. The Monarchs have clinched a berth in the 10-team conference tournament in Montgomery, Alabama, where Coastal will be seeded No. 1.
Virginia Tech 5, Virginia 4: The Hokies (30-23, 12-17 Atlantic Coast Conference) leveled their Commonwealth Clash series in Blacksburg with a victory before 1,091.
The Cavaliers (31-17, 15-11) twice pulled even after two-run deficits, the first time on Henry Ford’s two-run homer.
David Lewis’ home run in the sixth off Evan Blanco (3-5) made it 5-4, and Tech reliever Grant Manning (5-3) — often a starter — pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings for the victory. He gave up two hits and four walks but struck out five.
Maryland Eastern Shore 8-7, Norfolk State 6-13: The host Spartans (4-37, 4-24 Northeast Conference) won Game 2 for a split against the Hawks (6-41, 5-24).
In that game, freshman Myles Crocker was 4 for 5 with three runs and two RBIs, while Kydese Queen and Jamal Ritter each were 2 for 5 with two runs and an RBI. Starter Parker Hampton (2-4) pitched five innings for the victory, having been staked to a 7-0 lead after two.
In Game 1, Ryan Howe’s RBI single broke a 6-6 tie in the eighth. Tha’Mon McGriff pitched three scoreless innings of relief for the victory.
For NSU in the opener, Jalan Jones was 3 for 4 with a run, Terrence Rhodes was 2 for 3 with two runs and Jaydan Israel was 2 for 4 with a run and two RBIs.
Towson leads William & Mary 13-10 in seventh, suspended: Friday’s game between William & Mary and Towson in Maryland has been suspended inning due to inclement weather. The game was held up in the bottom of the seventh inning with Towson leading 13-10.
W&M’s Charlie Felmlee has driven in two runs, while he and Ben Parker both have two hits and have scored twice. Lucas Carmichael is 2 for 4 with a two-run homer in the fourth, and Owen Wilson socked a three-run homer in the fourth inning. Felmlee hit a homer in the seventh.
Towson’s Brett Ahalt is 2 for 4 with two runs and four RBIs.
The contest will resume at 1 p.m. Saturday. The series finale will begin 45 minutes after the previous game’s conclusion.
