Old Dominion Monarchs nearly erased a late deficit Wednesday afternoon, but Manhattan Jaspers used a clutch double play in the ninth inning to seal a 10–7 victory at the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex.
Down 10–6 in the final frame, Old Dominion mounted one last push. Will Johnson sparked the rally with a leadoff home run to left field. A hit-by-pitch and a single quickly put the tying run at the plate with no outs, but Manhattan turned a 5-3 double play to halt the momentum. A flyout to center field ended the game, leaving the Monarchs at 2–2 while the Jaspers improved to 1–3.
The Monarchs struck first in the opening inning. Johnson led off with a double and later scored on a single through the right side by TJ Aiken for a 1–0 lead.
Manhattan evened the score in the third inning after a walk and stolen base set up an RBI double to left. Old Dominion answered emphatically in the bottom half of the inning. After loading the bases with one out, Tyler Zedalis crushed a grand slam to left field, giving the Monarchs a 5–1 advantage.
The lead was short-lived. Manhattan erupted in the fourth inning, highlighted by a three-run homer and a grand slam that flipped the scoreboard. The Jaspers piled on two additional runs in the frame to take an 8–5 lead.
Old Dominion trimmed the deficit to two runs in the fifth, manufacturing a run with aggressive baserunning. However, Manhattan added two insurance runs in the ninth, capitalizing on a double steal and a two-run single to stretch the lead to four.
Offensively, Aiken led the way for the Monarchs with three hits, two runs scored, and three stolen bases. Johnson added two hits, including his first home run of the season, while Zedalis supplied the biggest swing of the day with his grand slam.
Despite strong relief work in the middle innings, Old Dominion could not overcome Manhattan’s timely two-out hitting and big fourth inning, falling just short in its final comeback attempt.