Baseball Opens 2024 Season at Old Dominion

Friday, February 16

Norfolk, VA

3 p.m.

George Washington University

Old Dominion

2/15/2024 3:57:00 PM | Baseball

WASHINGTON – The George Washington baseball team opens the 2024 season on the road with a three-game series at Old Dominion this weekend. GW's season-opener is slated for Friday with first pitch set for 3 p.m., while Saturday's game is set for 2 p.m., and Sunday's contest will begin at 1 p.m. Live stats links for all three games will be available via GWsports.com, while live video coverage will be carried on ESPN+ for Friday and Sunday only.

Twelfth year head coach Gregg Ritchie enters the 2024 season just four wins away from becoming the program's all-time winningest coach. Ritchie, who boasts 272 career wins as the skipper at GW, sits only three wins behind tying Tom Walter who led the Buff & Blue from 1997-04. Ritchie, the 12^th head coach in program history, already holds the record for most conference wins, boasting 125 victories in Atlantic 10 play.

The GW Revs' class of returning players is headlined by graduate student Steve DiTomaso, who finished with a .322 batting average last season. DiTomaso also boasted a .433 slugging percentage and tallied 26 RBI on 79 total hits. Included in his hit total was nine doubles, three triples and four home runs. GW's top returning pitcher from a season ago, Teddy Brennan, finished the year with three wins and 48 strikeouts in 63.1 innings of work.

The Buff & Blue see 17 players return for the 2024 season including nine position players and seven pitchers. Returning fielders along with DiTomaso include Sam Gates, Brett Young, Robby Wacker, Bryan Belo, Ty Acker, Alexander Wright, and Tim Nicholson. Brennan and the returning pitchers include Brayden Kurtz, Colton Trisch, Cade Davis, Shugy Klein, Reese Crochet, Benny Wilson, Michael Foltz and Max Haug.

GW enters the 2024 season with 19 newcomers including eight transfer student-athletes and 11 first-years. Transfer players include Tyler Blankenship (Yuba), Graham Jeffries (Salve Regina), Jarrett Korson (Claremont McKenna), Greg Marmo (Gonzaga), Charlie Rogan (Wichita State), Ellis Schwartz (Emory), Brandon Siegenthaler (Villanova) and McGwire Tuffy (Quinnipiac).

First-year players looking to make an immediate impact on the squad include Ayden Alexander, Matt Bruno, Jude Clough, Andrew Cutler, Robbie Lavey, Gavin Miller, Nick Mullen, Drew Oppenheim, Cristino Tufano, Conlon Walker and Josh Wenz. The incoming class consists of five pitchers and six position players.

SCOUTING THE MONARCHS
Following a 32-23 season last year, Old Dominion enters the 2024 season picked to finish sixth in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll. The Monarchs finished 2023 with an even 15-15 record in conference play, good enough to earn a bid into the Sun Belt Conference Championship. The Monarchs were eventually defeated, 2-1, by James Madison in the opening round of the tournament.

Head coach Chris Finwood enters his 13^th season at the helm of the Monarchs' program holding a 360-276 overall record and compiling a 602-527 career mark in 21 seasons of collegiate coaching. Finwood has led Old Dominion to 30-win seasons in six of the last seven years, while also developing 21 MLB draft selections. Under Finwood's guidance, he's also developed seven All-Americans and 34 all-conference selections.

Last season, ODU was paced by Kenny Levari, who tallied a .312 batting average in 218 at-bats. Levari totaled 46 hits including 16 doubles and six home runs while knocking in 32 RBI and boasting a .415 on-base percentage. On the mound, the Monarchs leaned on John Holobetz who pitched in 42.2 total innings. Holobetz finished with a 2-1 record and tallied six saves on the year. He also punched out 49 batters on the season and held opposing hitters to a .231 average.