hokies blow out rockets in gerard's first appearance since early april

Wyatt Krueger

May 9, 2021

BLACKSBURG — All systems were a go for Virginia Tech’s bats on Sunday, as the Hokies’ offense came up big in the form of a 16-5 route over Toledo.

A week after head coach John Szefc pleaded for more consistency out of his team, the Hokies used dominant starting pitching and “small ball” at bats to win all three games over an inferior Toledo team this weekend.

“After 40 games we are probably around that time where you're going to have to be consistent or you're going to end up watching,” Szefc said after last Sunday’s loss to UVA.

The Hokies recorded 15 hits from 10 different batters while starting pitcher Chris Gerard and reliever Shane Connolly allowed a combined two hits and zero runs in five innings.

Gerard, who hadn’t started a game since April 11, faced eight batters in a limited outing after returning from a lingering groin injury. Szefc had said the team wanted to see how he pitched in a true game setting and it's safe to say he passed the test.

Gerard’s command was on point and the ace’s mix of a low 90 mile-per-hour fastball and offspeed pitches equated to four strikeouts on the day.

Toledo’s starting pitcher Connor Brandon couldn’t find the strike zone in the first inning, giving up a leadoff walk to shortstop Tanner Schobel. Right fielder Gavin Cross followed with a single before Tanner Thomas ripped a double into the left-center field gap for an early 2-0 lead.

Brandon went on to hit Kevin Madden and Nick Biddison on consecutive pitches to load the bases, and then issued another walk to Cade Swisher to score a run.

Center fielder Carson Jones followed Swisher with a single to score Madden, and the Hokies were up four at the end of the first.

Jones finished the day with three hits and five RBIs, including a two-run shot to right in the seventh, the freshman’s second of the season.

Madden and Biddison each drove in separate RBI singles in a four-run second inning, and the Hokies added three more in the third on a passed ball and a two-RBI single from Madden.

Nolan Wilson, who pitched for the first time since April 25, came in to pitch the top of the ninth and was the first Hokie pitcher to struggle against the ice-cold Rocket bats all weekend. In his fifth appearance of the season, Wilson gave up four runs including a three-run homer with the game out of reach.

Ryan Metz was called on to get the final three outs of the game, securing the victory for Virginia Tech.

With the Hokies struggling to get the bats going in recent weeks, they couldn’t afford to lose this weekend as the ACC Tournament approaches at the end of the month.

Virginia Tech will head to Duke next weekend to take on the Blue Devils and the following week, the Hokies will host No. 7 Notre Dame before the ACC tournament starts.