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MONTGOMERY, AL — Old Dominion needed a win to stay alive in the Sun Belt Conference championship tournament but couldn’t get it done.
James Madison, the No. 7 seed, won Tuesday’s postseason rendition of the Royal Rivalry 2-1 in the tournament opener in Montgomery, Alabama. The Dukes advanced to the tournament’s double-elimination phase and will face second-seeded Southern Mississippi on Wednesday.
“Congratulations to Coach (Marlin) Ikenberry and James Madison,” ODU coach Chris Finwood said. “It was a good kind of old-fashioned ballgame, pitchers’ duel.”
The Monarchs (32-23) got on the board first, courtesy of a home run from sophomore Kyle Edwards in the third inning.
Edwards’ homer was his sixth of the year and the Monarchs’ 100th home run of the year.
The home run made Old Dominion the first Division I team to hit 100 home runs in three straight seasons since the start of the BBCOR era in 2011. The BBCOR bats produce less trampoline effect than the ones used in previous years, making it harder to hit home runs.
Old Dominion had a chance to extend its lead in the top of the fourth inning after JMU starter Todd Mozoki walked three straight batters to load the bases with two outs.
“We had a couple chances there,” Finwood said. “... Kyle hit the home run, but other than that, we didn’t do much else on offense.”
Redshirt sophomore Matt Kleinfelter inherited the jam from Mozoki and handled it with ease. Edwards lined out to left field to end the inning.
Junior Sam Armstrong got the start on the mound for Old Dominion and was nearly flawless through three innings.
The Dukes were finally able to get to Armstrong in the bottom of the fourth inning when redshirt senior Kyle Novak hit a two-run double with one out.
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Finwood took Armstrong out shortly after and replaced him with sophomore John Holobetz.
Holobetz did all he could’ve done to keep the Monarchs in the game. In his 3 2/3 innings, he had four strikeouts and one walk and didn’t allow James Madison to get a hit or run.
“John’s had a good year. He was our closer most of the year; he’ll certainly be in the weekend rotation next year,” Finwood said. “It was his first year with us as a transfer guy from Radford and he developed as the year went along. ... He’s a really good competitor, so we’re excited about his future.”
While Holobetz was dealing for the Monarchs, the Dukes had their own bullpen weapon throw a gem.
Redshirt freshman T.R. Williams threw 4 1/3 scoreless and hitless innings for JMU and handed the ball over to junior Joe Vogatsky to get the final two outs of the game.
“I thought the story of the game was T.R. Williams,” Finwood said. “He came in out of the pen — four-and-a-third shutout, no hits and really did a great job, and that was it.”
Michael Sauls, michael.sauls@virginiamedia.com, (757) 803-5774