alford, silverling and cross shine as hokies pounce panthers, 5-1

Sam Alves

March 26, 2021

PITTSBURGH — Coming off two ACC series losses with a home non-conference defeat sandwiched in between, Virginia Tech traveled to Pittsburgh to face the division-leading No. 15 Pitt at a crossroads.

On a breezy Friday afternoon, these young Hokies (11-8, 7-6 ACC) took a strong step in the right direction, handing the Panthers (12-6, 8-5 ACC) a 5-1 defeat in their ACC home opener.

“All I keep pushing and we keep trying to prepare and work on is improving our pitching and defense,” manager John Szefc said in a midweek press conference.

The Hokies got the message to the tune of 14 strikeouts, six hits, four walks, one earned run and no errors as Peyton Alford and Matthew Siverling teamed up to suffocate a potent Pitt attack that didn’t muster a single extra-base on the day.

Squaring off against Pitt starter Mitch Myers, who last pitched a complete game in a 2-1 win at Virginia, Peyton Alford struck out eight batters — seven coming via swings and misses — in an impressive Friday afternoon effort.

Alford’s only stressful inning started as he hit senior slugger David Yanni — whose 0-for-2 day at the plate snapped his seven-game hitting streak — with one out in the fourth. Two walks and a RBI-single from Riley Wash later, Alford was stuck with the bases loaded and only one out.

But he escaped by fanning the next two batters with his fastball and only allowed a single over his last two innings of work.

By then, the Hokies had scored two runs of their own, building up a lead they would not relent.

Jack Hurley led off the third with a walk, and Tanner Schobel doubled, moving him over to third. After that Gavin Cross brought them both home with a double of his own.

That was all the offense Tech generated off Myers, who lasted six innings just as Alford did. But Myers’ uncharacteristic outing forced Pitt manager Mike Bell to pull him earlier than he may have wanted in a move whose ramifications will be felt for the remainder of the series.

Myers issued a season-high four walks and hit his first batter of the season. He didn’t record a single one-two-three inning either.

In the first inning, catcher Riley Wash let a third strike reach the backstop, allowing Cade Swisher to reach base. So while Myers only gave up two runs — hardly a poor performance — Tech’s ability to grind out at-bats shortened his day.

And when righty Dylan Lester relieved Myers to start the seventh, Gavin Cross smacked a home run to right on the first pitch he saw — his fifth of the season after not hitting one through 16 games in a pandemic-shortened true-freshman season.

“I didn’t change my swing or do anything different [after last season,]” Cross said after a 14-7 home loss to Florida State in which he hit his fourth home run of the year. “I’m just catching the ball a couple more inches out front. I’m just trying to take my best at-bats and be a tough out.”

He certainly was a tough out on Friday, finishing the day with a walk, two-RBI double, single, solo home run and sacrifice fly.

When freshman Matthew Siverling replaced Alford on the mound in the home half of the seventh, the Hokies only led 3-1, putting Tech in a similar spot to where it was in Sunday’s loss at Clemson.

That Sunday, Tech’s bullpen allowed two runners to reach base and then gave up a game-deciding three-run homer in the eighth after Dayne Leonard hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the inning.

But against Pitt, Siverling ensured Alford’s strong start would not go waste as spot-starter Shane Connolly’s effort did in Virginia Tech’s last game.

The freshman left-hander’s slider was lethal, and he struck out six Panthers while only three runners reached base over the three innings.

And just in case things went awry, the Hokies tacked on two more insurance runs in the eighth.

Dayne Leonard walked and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Fritz Genther. Then Jack Hurley doubled to bring Leonard home. Schobel reached on a fielding error by shortstop Brock Frank which also sent Hurley to third. And finally, Hurley scored again on Cross’ sacrifice fly.

Uncharacteristically, the Hokies only needed two pitchers to tally 27 outs while the Panthers used five — though Dominic Verrasto only needed one pitch to record the final out.

With the lack of pitching changes on Friday, things set up nicely for the Hokies looking toward the rest of the series.