Hokies come back to run-rule ETSU, 14-4

By Josh Collier

Staff Writer

March 19, 2024

BLACKSBURG — Newly ranked No. 19 Virginia Tech (15-4, 5-1 ACC) tallied 14 unanswered runs after a rough start on Tuesday afternoon at English Field to win its seventh-straight over five years against ETSU (14-6). 

The news broke Monday morning that Tech had taken the rank of 19 in the country, per D1Baseball.

“I just give a lot of credit to our guys for forcing people to recognize us,” Tech head coach John Szefc said postgame. “It’s like [the national poll] almost had no other choice at that point.” 

A few of the “guys” Szefc referred to made major contributions in Tuesday’s win. 

David Shoemaker made his first career pitching start as a Hokie and the pitching staff as a whole got off to a shaky start, allowing one run in the first inning and three in the second. The team went through four different pitchers during that stretch. 

The turning point for Tech came when it inserted relief pitcher Matthew Siverling, who entered right as the team went down 4-0, and then pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. 

“We came out with low-energy after this weekend and the long bus trip so it was great to be able to give the team some energy and create some opportunity,” Siverling said. 

The Hokies scored five runs in the bottom of the second after he closed out the top. Following the burst, Tech did not allow a single run and scored at least two runs in each inning for the remainder of the game. Siverling earned his first pitching win of the season for this feat. 

Two Hokies went yard in Tuesday’s outing, the first being a three-run homer in the bottom of the second off the bat of Christian Martin — his third of the season. The second was a two-run homer from Gehrig Ebel, who blasted one far over the left field wall in the bottom of the third. 

Before belting his impressive home run, Ebel also made an incredible diving, over-the-shoulder catch along the right field line to close out the top of the third inning.

The Hokies wrapped up their win over the Buccaneers in just six and a half innings, mercy ruling ETSU with 14 runs. Both head coaches agreed to a 10-run rule prior to the game.

On Friday, the Hokies will travel to Boston College (11-4, 2-8) for a three-game series against the Eagles to continue their ACC expedition. They will hope to build off of what has been the best start to inner-conference play in program history.