Hokies Dominate NC A&T to win eighth consecutive midweek game

Bradley Winterling

Staff Writer

May 2, 2024

BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech (28-14, 13-11 ACC) put up double digits on Wednesday while starter Madden Clement retired 13 straight batters, as the Hokies took down North Carolina A&T (21-23, 5-13 CAA), 11-0.

Clement was the story of the night on Wednesday. He went 5 ⅓ for the Hokies, notching seven strikeouts and retiring 13 consecutive batters at one point. The longest Clement had lasted in 2024 prior was 2 ⅔ innings against Marist back on March 12. 

“It’s the first time I’ve actually gotten in that groove this year and once you get in that groove you just stop thinking,” Clement said postgame. “Everything’s just working, and then once you can stop thinking, [you] just throw it. That’s when you can get there.”

“Yeah, Madden Clement is a stud,” Eddie Micheletti said. “I mean, he's a young buck that I think is going to be a really big key piece in Hokie ball going forward. I always thought he was a stud and he showed it today and you know, going forward I hope he can be a big key for us.”

The outfielder Micheletti was the MVP for the Hokies on the offensive side of things, knocking two doubles and two RBI’s. He now has nine doubles on the season and continues to stay hot, batting .326 on the year. 

“It was good,” Micheletti said. “I mean, I was just working on stuff that Elbin was telling me to do. [We’ve] got this drill where I have to put a belt around me and I pull the weight back and so it just helped me stay back today. And I think it really helped me get to the backside better.”

After Micheletti’s first double to left field in the bottom of the second, David McCann reached on a fielder’s choice that brought in Micheletti all the way from second off of a throwing error to first. 

A large portion of the scoring for the Hokies on Wednesday came in the third, where they racked up five runs. The first run of the inning came on a very unique play. With runners on second and third, Ben Watson reached on a fielder’s choice. Ebel and Martin, who were the base runners, both were caught in pickles and Ebel ended up scoring on a throwing error. 

“We kind of got lucky in that five-run inning, they gave us a couple of free bases there,” Tech head coach John Szefc said. “It kind of gave us a big inning.”

The other four runs in the third frame came from a 2-RBI double from Micheletti and a 2-RBI single from Clay Grady to right field. 

“Yeah, we were just getting on base and I think we were seeing the ball really well tonight and we kind of just stuck to our approach and we executed it,” Micheletti said. 

Tech later added two more runs in the fifth inning with a single from Eddie Eisert. That hit brought in McCann and Grady, giving Tech a commanding 8-0 lead with four innings to play. 

“It feels good,” Eisert said. “Obviously, [I’ve been] kind of spotty at best this year. It should get a little bit tougher. But I think I've gotten to the point where when I go out there I'm just trying to help the team in any way I can. And today, I felt pretty good.”

Watson hit a solo shot in the 6th inning. Wednesday night was his second straight game with a homer, getting up to four on the season for the outfielder who holds the second best batting average in the ACC sitting at .408. 

“Yeah, now he's good, he's just a good hitter,” Szefc said. … “That guy’s hitting what, .406 or something like that? That guy’s hitting [over] .400 and it’s May 1st. You don’t see that too much — not at this level. So you really gotta appreciate what you’re looking at.”

The Hokies scored two more runs in the 8th with a Nick Locurto 2-RBI home run to left field that scored Carter Newman. 

Tech has also now won eight mid-week games in a row — a good sign for a team that is looking to give some other guys time on the field and to get some confidence going. 

“Especially after coming off a series loss, coming back here and just getting our confidence back and knowing who we are,” Micheletti said. “You know, hopefully we can take kind of the looseness that we play with in the midweek, into the ACC series going forward. Because that's when we're at our best.”

The Hokies will stay in Blacksburg to take on Ohio (14-25, 9-15 MAC) in a three game series this weekend. Tech is looking to get their first series win since the Pitt series back in late March. 

“Our expectation is to outperform them,” Micheletti said. “You know, just play to our abilities. Coach Szefc said it, you know, it's not really about–although they're a great team–it's not about us versus them. It's, every day, it's about us vs ourselves. Just outperforming ourselves [on a] day to day basis And giving all we have, and we'll see where it takes us.”