The Old Dominion Monarchs baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. The team is a member of the Sun Belt Conference, which is part of NCAA Division I. Old Dominion's first baseball team was fielded in 1931 as the William and Mary College – Norfolk Division Braves. ODU joined Division I in 1977. The team plays its home games at Bud Metheny Ballpark in Norfolk, Virginia, where it has played since 1983. ODU has won six conference tournament titles and have been to the NCAA tournament nine times. The Monarchs are coached by Chris Finwood, a native of Hampton, Virginia, who is in his eleventh year at the helm. The Monarchs have had eleven players reach the Major Leagues and two, Justin Verlander and Daniel Hudson, have played in the World Series.
History
Division II: pre-Metheny era Old Dominion University was founded in 1930 as the College of William and Mary Norfolk Division. The then named Braves played their first season of baseball in 1931 under head coach Tommy Scott. Scott coached the Braves for nine seasons before retiring in 1939 after compiling an overall record of 50-62-2. After Scott the Braves were coached by several coaches who mostly only coached for one season, the most successful of which coached for three seasons and won a total of 5 games.
Bud Metheny era
In 1948 former New York Yankee outfielder Arthur "Bud" Metheny became the head coach of the Braves. In 1962 the school became Old Dominion College before attaining university status in 1969 when they changed the name to the Monarchs. Their first post season appearance and title came in 1963 in the Mason Dixon conference playoffs where they defeated Loyola two games to one. While playing in the NCAA's Division II Old Dominion won 6 titles; two Tidewater Scholastic championships in 1932 & 1934, four Little Eight championships in 1958 & 1961-63, and four Mason-Dixon Conference championships in 1963, 1964, 1965, and 1968. In 1963 & 1964 the Monarchs won the NCAA College Division Eastern Championship before losing in the championship in 1965. During the 1969–1970 season the Monarchs were coached by Jim Bradly and went on to a 12-14 record, after which Metheny returned to the team for the next 10 years. In 1971 & 1972 ODU finished as NCAA Division II South Atlantic finalists. He also led the transition for the Baseball Monarchs to NCAA Division I in 1977. Metheny left coaching the Monarchs in 1980 after winning his last title, the Virginia Intercollegiate State Championship over UVA. Metheny is ODU's all-time career wins leader with 423 wins in 31 years.
Mark Newman era Mark Newman took over after Metheny in 1981 when the team left the Mason Dixon Conference for the ECAC South, which would later become the Colonial Athletic Association in 1985. In Newman's second season the Monarchs earned a bid to the 1982 NCAA tournament where they won their first game against the ECAC South champion ECU Pirates. In 1983 the Monarchs left the ECAC for the Sun Belt Conference. During the 1985 season the Monarchs set several school recording including overall wins with a record of 50-11, the schools only 50 win season, and a Sun Belt Championship. The 1985 Monarchs earned a berth in the 1985 NCAA tournament and during the season achieved their highest ranking in school history, appearing at 7th in the polls. Newman coached the Monarchs from 1981–1989 when he left to become New York Yankees coordinator of minor league instruction.
The CAA years In 1990 the Monarchs were taken over by Pat McMahon who in his first year led the team to the 1990 NCAA tournament. The Monarchs then transitioned to the Colonial Athletic Association in 1992. McMahon again led the Monarchs to the NCAA tournament in 1994 after winning the CAA tournament. Both times McMahon led the Monarchs to the NCAA tournament he had 40 win seasons. McMahon left ODU after the 1994 season to become the associate head coach at Mississippi State. Tony Guzzo was hired from VCU in 1995 after McMahon left ODU and led the Monarchs to back-to-back CAA titles and NCAA tournaments in his first two seasons at the helm. Between Coach McMahon and Coach Guzzo the Monarchs had the 21st best winning percentage (.660) in the NCAA during the 1990s tied with Texas and ahead of teams like USC and Mississippi State. In 2000 Guzzo again led his team to the post season earning an at-large bid to the 2000 NCAA tournament. Guzzo coached the Monarchs until 2005 when Jerry Meyers took over. Meyers coached the Monarchs from 2005–2010 when he returned to South Carolina. Meyers' career at ODU was highlighted by a victory over #2 UNC, the school's lone victory over a top 5 team until 2014. The 2011 ODU Monarchs were coached by interim head coach Nate Goulet who was named CAA Coach of the Year and led the team to an appearance in the CAA Championship game.
Chris Finwood era In 2012 Old Dominion hired Chris Finwood as their head coach. Finwood came to ODU from Western Kentucky where he led the Hilltoppers to two conference titles and NCAA tournament appearances. His first season resulted in 19 wins and last place in the CAA. Finwood led the Monarchs from the CAA to Conference USA in 2014 and made them instantly competitive in their new league. The 2013 team was ineligible for the CAA tournament because of this planned move and went on to win 30 games and finished in 3rd place in the conference. Finwood's third team at ODU continued to improve on the previous year by winning six more games than the 2013 team. On April 29, 2014 the Monarchs defeated the #1 ranked team and eventual College World Series runner-up Virginia by a score of 8-1 at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia. The victory was ODU and Finwood's first ever victory over the #1 team in the country. The season concluded after a deep run in the conference tournament earned them a bid to the 2014 NCAA tournament where they went 0-2. In just three years Finwood led the Monarchs from last place in the CAA to back-to-back 30-win seasons, and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a three seed in the Columbia, South Carolina Regional. In 6 seasons he has won 30+ games at the helm of ODU's program.
In 2015 ODU swept nationally ranked UVA making it three straight over the Cavaliers, two of those wins when UVA was ranked #1. Finwood has currently led his team to 27+ wins in three of his four seasons at ODU after a 19 win campaign in his first season and two straight C-USA Conference Tournament berths. Despite a 30 win season and 15-12 in conference, ODU was ineligible for 2013 CAA Conference Tournament but would have been the third seed.
Coaching records Records are through the end of the 2023 season Records taken from the Old Dominion baseball media guide. No team played baseball for ODU during the 1939–1940 and 1944–1945 seasons.
Pre-Division I TenureCoachSeasonsWLTWinning % 1930–39 Tommy Scott 9 50 62 2 1940–42 George Gregory 1 0 11 0 1942–46 Scrap Chandler 3 5 18 0 1946–47 Everett Tolson 1 2 8 1 1947–48 Jack Callahan 1 1 4 0 1969–70 Jim Brady 1 12 14 0 1948–69, 70–77 Bud Metheny 27 353 274 6 Totals 7 coaches 43 423 391 9 Division I TenureCoachSeasonsWLTWinning % 1977–80 Bud Metheny 4 70 89 0 1980–89 Mark Newman 9 321 167 3 1989–94 Pat McMahon 5 189 86 0 1994–2004 Tony Guzzo 10 303 252 1 2004–10 Jerry Meyers 6 167 158 0 2010–11 Nate Goulet 1 30 26 0 2011–present Chris Finwood 13 360 276 0 Totals 7 coaches 48 1440 1054 4
Year by year results Since joining Division I – 1977 Super RegionalsConference ChampionshipNCAA At-Large Bid SeasonCoachConferenceWLTCWCLPostseason 1977 Bud Metheny 14 20 0 1978 Bud Metheny 20 17 0 1979 Bud Metheny 16 30 0 1980 Bud Metheny 20 22 0 State Champions 1981 Mark Newman ECAC South 34 20 0 1982 Mark Newman ECAC South 38 14 2 East Regional 1983 Mark Newman Sun Belt 41 11 0 12 3 1984 Mark Newman Sun Belt 31 20 0 10 7 1985 Mark Newman Sun Belt 50 11 0 14 4 Sun Belt Champions, East Regional 1986 Mark Newman Sun Belt 43 16 0 11 7 1987 Mark Newman Sun Belt 34 18 0 11 5 1988 Mark Newman Sun Belt 24 31 1 5 13 1989 Mark Newman Sun Belt 26 26 0 5 10 1990 Pat McMahon Sun Belt 40 19 0 11 6 NCAA Central Regional 1991 Pat McMahon Sun Belt 39 23 0 10 8 1992 Pat McMahon CAA 39 19 0 11 7 1993 Pat McMahon CAA 31 11 0 9 3 1994 Pat McMahon CAA 40 14 0 14 4 CAA tournament champions, East Regional 1995 Tony Guzzo CAA 39 20 0 9 9 CAA tournament champions, Atlantic I Regional 1996 Tony Guzzo CAA 39 17 0 13 7 CAA tournament champions, Atlantic Regional 1997 Tony Guzzo CAA 34 20 0 12 8 1998 Tony Guzzo CAA 28 29 0 9 12 1999 Tony Guzzo CAA 38 17 0 7 11 2000 Tony Guzzo CAA 33 24 1 14 7 CAA regular season champions, Clemson Regional 2001 Tony Guzzo CAA 19 37 0 6 15 2002 Tony Guzzo CAA 26 27 0 8 12 2003 Tony Guzzo CAA 16 33 0 5 15 2004 Tony Guzzo CAA 26 28 0 13 11 2005 Jerry Meyers CAA 22 33 0 5 19 2006 Jerry Meyers CAA 39 17 0 21 9 2007 Jerry Meyers CAA 35 24 0 18 11 2008 Jerry Meyers CAA 25 27 0 14 14 2009 Jerry Meyers CAA 22 27 0 13 11 2010 Jerry Meyers CAA 24 30 0 11 13 2011 Nate Goulet CAA 30 26 0 19 11 2012 Chris Finwood CAA 19 34 0 9 21 2013 Chris Finwood CAA 30 24 0 15 12 2014 Chris Finwood C-USA 36 26 0 17 13 Columbia, South Carolina Regional 2015 Chris Finwood C-USA 27 29 0 13 17 2016 Chris Finwood C-USA 32 24 0 15 15 2017 Chris Finwood C-USA 37 21 0 19 11 2018 Chris Finwood C-USA 15 37 0 7 22 2019 Chris Finwood C-USA 35 21 0 16 14 2020 Chris Finwood C-USA 12 4 0 0 0 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Chris Finwood C-USA 44 16 0 22 10 Columbia, South Carolina Regional 2022 Chris Finwood C-USA 41 17 0 19 11 2023 Chris Finwood Sun Belt 32 23 0 15 15 Total: 1437 1054 4 268 435 NCAA Regional Win Percentage: Appearances: 9 Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, CW = Conference Wins, CL = Conference Losses
Monarchs in the NCAA tournament Season Regional & Seed Record Results 1982 East (2) 1–2 (.333) Eliminated by The Citadel in Regional 1985 East 0–2 (.000) Eliminated by Rider in Regional 1990 Central (4) 0–2 (.000) Eliminated by Texas in Regional 1994 East (3) 1–2 (.333) Eliminated by Clemson in Regional 1995 Atlantic I (5) 2–2 (.500) Eliminated by Ole Miss in Regional semifinal 1996 Atlantic I (4) 0–2 (.000) Eliminated by Clemson in Regional 2000 Clemson (2) 0–2 (.000) Eliminated by Middle Tennessee in Regional 2014 Columbia, SC (3) 0–2 (.000) Eliminated by Campbell in Regional 2021 Columbia, SC (1) 2–2 (.400) Eliminated by Virginia in Regional Final
NCAA tournament Game-by-Game Results
1982East Regional Defeated East Carolina 2–1Lost to West Virginia 6–7Lost to The Citadel 1–15
1985East Regional Lost to Western Carolina 3–5Lost to Rider 2–3
1990Central Regional Lost to Cal State Fullerton 3–16Lost to Texas 0–10
1994East Regional Defeated Notre Dame 9–5Lost to Auburn 8–11 (10)Lost to Clemson 1–6
1995Atlantic I Regional Defeated Ole Miss 5–3 Defeated UCF 7–6Lost to Florida State 2–7Lost to Ole Miss 4–5
1996Atlantic I Regional Lost to Georgia Southern 0–6Lost to Clemson 1–15
2000Clemson Regional Lost to Illinois 1–3Lost to Middle Tennessee 5–6
2014Columbia Regional Lost to Maryland 3–4Lost to Campbell 1–4 (12)
2021Columbia Regional Defeated Jacksonville 4–3Defeated South Carolina 2–1Lost to Virginia 3–8Lost to Virginia 3–4 (10)
NCAA All Tournament Team
1994 East Regional Kevin Gibbs OF 1995 Atlantic I Regional Ray Russin DH Maika Symmonds OF
2000 Clemson Regional Tim Hummel SS 2014 Columbia Regional Tyler Urps SS
Rivalries Records through of 2015 season
East Carolina University