Hokies breeze past George Mason, 24-5

By Josh Collier

Staff Writer

April 24, 2024

BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech (26-12, 12-9 ACC) defeated George Mason (17-21, 5-7 A10) 24-5 at home Tuesday, tying the most runs in a single game in the John Szefc era. 

The last time Tech recorded as many runs was against Columbia during the NCAA Regional back on June 4, 2022, winning 24-4.

“We just sat back and relaxed,” Tech third baseman Carson DeMartini said about the team’s offensive success. “Our offense; we just let it do its thing.” 

DeMartini heavily contributed to Virginia Tech’s scoring output as he tallied a team-high two home runs and four RBIs. The two homers he recorded Tuesday tie him for first place with the most home runs by any ACC batter this season. 

“He’s [DeMartini’s] been good,” Szefc said. “He’s been one of our main guys for three years. We need him to be good down the stretch if we’re going to be really good.” 

The game marked freshman pitcher Madden Clement’s third consecutive midweek start as he is progressing towards eventually becoming a weekend starter, as Szefc noted last Tuesday. He recorded four strikeouts on 62 pitches on Tuesday evening. Clement’s three straight quality starts have helped contribute to Virginia Tech’s seven straight midweek wins. 

Other notable performances were Ben Watson’s season-high five hits on five at-bats as well as David McCan’s season-high 11 putouts. 

The game began with George Mason taking an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first, which was, in fact, their only lead of the game. The Hokies followed that up with nine runs of their own in the same inning, including back-to-back-to-back home runs, which caused the Patriots’ starting pitcher Dylan McCarthy to be benched after only one out and seven earned runs given up in the first. 

Fast-forward to the top of the sixth, after Tech produced four more runs in each of the third and fifth innings, freshman right fielder Nick Locurto made what was perhaps the play of the game: a sliding and rolling putout grab on a 105 mph bat to secure the first out of the inning. 

Four more runs came in the sixth inning for the Hokies, as well as three in the seventh. The final three in the seventh, though, were quite special. They came from not only the team’s fifth home run of the game, but also junior Warren Holzemer’s first of his career. 

“We were all pumped up,” DeMartini said. “Whether you play or you don’t, we all put in the same amount of work, and to see that come to play here is pretty neat. Especially since he’s my roommate and he’s one of my best friends, it’s pretty cool to see that.” 

After a very tight series loss against No. 7 Duke last weekend, Virginia Tech will travel to Chapel Hill to take on No. 15 UNC (31-10, 15-6) beginning on Friday. Tech will look to carry its hitting momentum into this weekend in order to get back on track in ACC play.