THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 20, 1995 TAG: 9502200146
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Brett Wheeler admitted his arm wasn't what it could have been Sunday afternoon.
So he beat St. Joseph's down with a blunt instrument - a mixture of changeups and breaking balls - and let sharp defense do the rest as Old Dominion University downed St. Joseph's, 3-0, in ODU's home-opening doubleheader.
The Monarchs then completed the sweep with a 4-1 victory in junior Anthony Eannacony's first start of the season.
``It's good to have a defense like that behind you,'' said Wheeler, a sophomore righthander who improved to 2-0 and is 11-0 in two seasons at ODU. ``You're confident that if you walk someone or give up a base hit, your defense can roll a double play.''
In five innings, Wheeler gave up two hits and a walk. But a pair of double plays took care of two of those baserunners and catcher Matt Quatraro cut down the other trying to steal.
ODU's defense shone brightly in relation to St. Joseph's. ODU's first five runs of the day were unearned, and the Monarchs (4-1) didn't commit an error in either of the two seven-inning games. Meanwhile, the Hawks (0-2) were guilty of eight errors.
ODU scored twice in the fourth inning of the opener, with a sacrifice fly by Ron Walker and a bases-loaded walk to Kevin Gibbs. The Monarchs added a run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Quentin Lindsey.
Gibbs walked in the first inning of the second game, stole second and third, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jason Riley.
The Monarchs took a 2-0 lead in the second when Walker walked, took second on a wild pickoff attempt by St. Joe's Bill Weingartner, advanced to third on a single by Maika Symmonds and scored on another wild pickoff attempt by Weingartner.
The Hawks scored their only run of the day when Danny Lauer singled home McCaffrey in the third.
ODU added two more runs in the fourth on RBI singles by Gibbs and Riley.
ODU head coach Tony Guzzo was thrilled by what he called ``awesome defense,'' particularly on the part of Walker. The freshman third baseman had eight assists and started two double plays.
``I was a little disappointed in our offense,'' Guzzo said. ``But any time you get pitching and defense like that you have a good chance to win.''
NOTES: Former ODU coach Bud Metheny, for whom ODU's baseball complex is named, attended Guzzo's home opener as the Monarchs' new coach. ... Eannacony started the season as ODU's top reliever, but has been switched to the No. 2 starting spot. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON, Staff
Old Dominion's Ron Walker, right, scores by knocking over St.
Joseph's catcher Mike Collins, who was shaken up on the play.
by CNB