hokies crush six home runs, deamon deacons to win series

Sam Alves

April 11, 2021

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Following last week’s series win over Boston College, No. 23 Virginia Tech’s head coach John Szefc said his team was winning in different ways with different people and that it was playing well, but not at its peak.

“You got different people doing different things,” he said of his team in a post-game press conference before assessing where his team was at in relation to its potential.

That hasn’t been the case through two games this weekend, though. The same nine position players who beat Wake Forest 8-4 on Friday night stepped onto the field Saturday, and in game two of the series, they all did the same thing: score.

All nine starters crossed home plate by the sixth inning of the Hokies’ (18-9, 13-7 ACC) 16-4 beatdown of the Demon Deacons (10-14, 5-11 ACC) to take the series with a game left on Sunday.

Six home runs drove in 11 of Tech’s 16 runs, with third baseman Kevin Madden hitting two four-baggers — a solo shot in the fifth and a grand slam in the eight — to pace the Hokies with five RBIs on the day.

Madden’s blast in the fifth was the last of seven runs scored by Tech in the frame, one that broke the game and series open for Virginia Tech. It came immediately after first baseman TJ Rumfield went yard to right, the second time in as many Saturdays he and another teammate have hammered home runs on back-to-back pitches.

Last Saturday, in what was the third game of the series, right fielder Gavin Cross hit one to left-center field, and Rumfield sent the next offering from Boston College pitcher Alex Stiegler the same way to tie the game at three in an eventual 4-3 rubber-match win.

Prior to Rumfield and Madden’s homers this week, designated hitter Cade Swisher singled to right to score Tanner Schobel.

Then Jack Hurley doubled to score two earned runs, and Swisher added an unearned run on the play when right fielder Chris Lanzilli relayed the ball to a vacant second base. Lanzeilli has quite the arm, but he’s now given the Hokies an extra run in two straight games due to misfires.

In the sixth, Tech hit two more homers.

Hurley, who also added a single in the eighth to bounce back from an 0-for-7 start to the series, dropped one over the wall in left-center. Gavin Cross followed two batters later to extend his home run streak to four games.

Before all that, though, it was Nick Biddison who got the offense going for Tech. His solo home run evened the score at one in the fourth. Finally back from shoulder surgery, Biddison has knocked in the first run in two-of-three games he’s appeared in now — the first coming earlier this week against ETSU.

But it was Wake Forest who got the offense underway, plating one in the first before adding three late runs in the eighth. Anthony Simonelli struggled a bit to start, walking No. 2 hitter Michael Turconi before giving up an RBI double to the next batter, Brock Wilken.

It would be the only hit Simonelli surrendered over 6 ⅓ innings, during which he tossed 108 pitches, walked four, struck out seven and showed more and more emotion as the game progressed. (The way he bounded into the dugout after recording the third out of a couple frames, you’d think he could actually make it all ten on the starting lineup card to score.)

He was pulled after his fourth walk of the day, and Noah Johnson allowed a home run on his first pitch in relief, bringing Simonelli’s earned run total to two.

Johnson also gave up an RBI double, ending his day after only recording one out. Griffin Green completed the final 2 ⅓ innings of the game, striking out three batters without allowing a run.

After 12 strikeouts yesterday, the Tech staff tallied 11 on Saturday. It might not get to 42 as it did during its last away series at Pitt, but it has been another impressive performance on the road.

And it’s been another onslaught offensively on this road trip. Sporting the same dark grey jersey with orange trim as the ETSU game, the Hokies have now scored 31 runs in those uniforms this week with another eight scored on Friday.

Maybe it’s the jerseys, or maybe the Hokies are simply a “pretty good” baseball team, as Szefc said last week.

Just wait ‘til they reach their peak.