THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 24, 1995 TAG: 9502240670
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Like an old car running on bad gas, Old Dominion University's aluminum bats pinged loud and often Thursday against Virginia.
For head coach Tony Guzzo, it was music to his ears.
The Monarchs rapped 13 hits, seven for extra bases, in dismantling the Cavaliers, 18-0, Thursday afternoon at ODU's Bud Metheny Complex.
``We knew we were capable of it,'' Guzzo said. ``(Assistant coach) Tim Parenton jumped the guys and challenged them to step forward offensively and they did.''
The Monarchs (5-1) had swung quiet bats in collecting just seven hits in a doubleheader with St. Joseph's on Sunday. Catcher Matt Quatraro figured this could be the day they made some noise.
``We fly a big flag here and it was pretty stiff to leftfield this morning,'' said Quatraro, who went 4 for 4 with two doubles and a three-run home run and finished with seven runs batted in.
The Monarchs exploded for nine runs in the second inning, keyed by Rob Morgan's grand slam. Quatraro's home run in the third chased Virginia starter Seth Greisinger.
Centerfielder Kevin Gibbs went 4 for 5 with a double and a triple, scored five runs and improved his batting average to .440. Rightfielder Maika Symmonds hit a home run in the second.
U.Va. (2-4), meanwhile, mustered only three singles. ODU freshman righthander Ron Walker went five innings for the victory while John O'Reilly, Jesse James and Justin Krieder were all sharp in relief.
ODU hosts Penn State for a three-game series this weekend, beginning with a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. ILLUSTRATION: MOTOYA NAKAMURA/Staff
Maika Symmonds of ODU is hit by a pitch in the second inning. He
later homered in the inning as the Monarchs scored nine runs.
by CNB