HOKIES ERASE EARLY FIVE-RUN DEFICIT IN WIN OVER KEYDETS

By Wyatt Krueger

Staff Writer

April 19, 2022

BLACKSBURG – A day after earning its highest ranking since joining the ACC, No. 8 Virginia Tech erased an early 5-0 deficit to beat VMI 9-6 on Tuesday night.

“The big story was after we went down five, we outscored them 9-1 the rest of the way,” Virginia Tech head coach John Szefc said. “A lot of that had to do with our pitching staff. Only yielding one run and it was on a passed ball, so in theory, they technically threw scoreless the rest of the game after second”

In a game that featured 23 hits and 10 different pitchers, the Hokies (24-9, 9-7 ACC) utilized strong performances from their bullpen and 1-through-6 hitters to sweep the Keydets (12-26, 3-3 SoCon) in their two-game series this year.

Virginia Tech got off to a slow start and was shut out through the first two innings while VMI barreled up starting pitcher Ryan Kennedy in the top of the second.

After Kennedy issued a walk to start the frame, Cole Jenkins doubled to right center and Cole Garrett followed that up with a three-run shot to left. Two batters later, after a hit-by-pitch, Brett Cook hit a two-run homer that just carried over the left field wall.

The ball then went to Brady Kirtner who did a solid job of stopping the bleeding before handing the ball over to Ryan Metz, who handled a bulk of the bullpen duties.

Metz went three strong innings, allowing only two hits and an unearned run on a passed ball with four strikeouts.

Virginia Tech got its small-ball bats going in the bottom of the third with the top of the order up.

Nick Biddison and Gavin Cross put runners on second and third with a single and a double, and reigning ACC Player of the Week Tanner Schobel drove Biddison home with a single through the left side.

Next, Jack Hurley hit an opposite field single to bring up Conor Hartigan to the plate with runners on first and second. Hartigan then ripped a double down the left field line to cut the deficit to one before Christian Martin doubled in the game tying run.

Hartigan earned player of the game honors, going 2-for-5 with two doubles and four RBIs.

Despite struggling early on in the year making the adjustment from the CAA to the ACC, Hartigan has come on strong as of late with nine RBIs in his last 10 games, and is hitting .455 against lefties this season.

“I think he’s continuously gotten better as our season’s gone on,” Szefc said. “He’s a mature guy, he’s been in college baseball now for five years.”

“Coming in, I was trying to pull everything and hit home runs and it started to work against me,” Hartigan said on his growth this season. “Being able to settle down and realize, I can hit home runs but that’s not all I am. Being able to adjust in that way and understanding to use all fields has worked out well for me.”

The Keydets regained the lead in the top of the fourth after a passed ball by Metz, but the Hokies took it right back in the bottom half of the frame with a two-run pop-fly double by Cade Hunter that dropped behind two VMI outfielders in left center.

Hartigan went on to add two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, tattooing the baseball to the wall in dead center field.

Kiernan Higgins closed the game out throwing two scoreless innings, while Metz earned his first win of the season.

It’s hard to find a lineup in the country playing better than the Hokies are right now. The first six hitters in Tech’s batting order went a combined 12-for-27 (.444) with eight RBIs Tuesday, even with starting second baseman Eduardo Malinowski having the day off.

“It’s a lot of older guys,” Nick Biddison said on what makes this lineup unique. “It’s a lot of guys who’ve played multiple seasons. One of those guys is bound to have a 3-for-4, 3-for-5 or a couple homer game.”

“It’s a talented group and they challenge each other,” Szefc said. “If one guy isn’t going too good today, then some other guy’s going to.”

The Hokies have a game against Radford on the road Wednesday before taking a trip to Massachusetts for a series against Boston College with a game at the historic Fenway Park on Saturday.