Turner Bishop (Kellam) hit a grand slam and finished with seven RBIs and Zach Rutherford (Western Branch) went 5 for 6 with four RBIs as No. 25 Old Dominion scored its most runs in eight years in a 21-1 rout of Florida International on Saturday at Bud Metheny Complex.
The Panthers (28-24, 12-14) pulled out a 10-9 win in the second game of a Conference USA baseball doubleheader.
With the win in the opener, the Monarchs (34-16, 17-9) clinched a berth in the C-USA tournament May 24-28 in Biloxi, Miss.
ODU collected 19 hits in the first game and had two huge innings, scoring seven runs in the fourth and eight in the fifth.
The Monarchs led 1-0 going into the fourth, but Nick Walker (Kellam) extended the lead with a two-run single. Kurt Sinnen (Kellam) and Bishop followed with RBI doubles, Kyle Beam added an RBI triple, Kyle Battle had a run-scoring double and Rutherford capped it with an RBI single.
Bishop's slam came in the fifth. Vinnie Pasquantino hit a three-run shot later in the inning.
ODU starter Sam Sinnen (Kellam) improved to 4-3, pitching 6.2 scoreless innings and allowing only one hit.
In the second game, Irving Lopez went 4 for 6 with three RBIs to lead the Panthers. His RBI double sparked a five-run fifth inning that turned a 6-5 deficit into a 10-6 FIU lead.
Kurt Sinnen (Kellam) paced ODU in the second game by going 3 for 5 with five RBIs. Pasquantino and Culver Lamb (Tallwood) also had three hits each.
The teams will conclude their series at noon today.