Hokies’ historic night secures first series win over Georgia Tech in 13 years

Raza Umerani

Staff Writer

April 16, 2023

BLACKSBURG - It’s difficult to pick just one milestone to highlight from Virginia Tech’s win over Georgia Tech on Saturday night. That’s the mark of a pretty fantastic game for a team.

The Hokies (20-12, 7-9 ACC) thrashed the Yellow Jackets (20-15, 7-10) on Saturday night 13-1 and set several program records in the process — the most notable of which was the team’s batters walking a whopping 18 times, surpassing the previous record of 17 which had stood for 33 years. 

Second baseman Christian Martin led the team with five bases on balls in each of his first five plate appearances, which tied the program record for walks in a single game. It’s the second time that record has been tied by a VT batter in the last three weeks; Carson DeMartini did it at Pittsburgh on March 25.

“We had 41 free bases. I’ve never seen that before,” Virginia Tech head coach John Szefc said after the game. “That’s what really helped us out, all the freebies.”

Those free passes came early and often for the Hokies as they began their day with walks from right fielder Carson Jones and left fielder Chris Cannizzaro to set up a three-run home run to opposite field from center fielder Jack Hurley – his 10th in 12 games.

“I think I’m just really confident going up to every at bat…knowing I’m better than the pitcher,” Hurley said about his hot streak. “A lot of my approach is trying to elevate the ball and get something out of the yard…I was definitely trying to go yard in the first inning.”

First baseman Garrett Michel got in on the action with an RBI single to make it 4-0 Hokies after just one inning. The Virginia Tech batting order, which sent eight men to the dish in the opening frame, picked up right where it left off after a 10-run outing on Friday.

The Hokies got back to work in the bottom of the third by plating two more runs without ever having to swing the bat. After designated hitter Carson DeMartini and Christian Martin walked, shortstop Clay Grady laid a beautiful bunt down the third base line and legged out a single to load the bases. Then, Garrett Michel worked the sixth walk of the evening to score a run and keep the bases loaded. That walk ended the night of Georgia Tech starter Dalton Smith, who threw more balls than strikes and yielded four hits in addition to the six walks in just two innings. The Yellow Jackets turned to Aeden Finateri in relief, who hit Carson Jones on the foot to score another run to make it 6-0 after three innings. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Virginia Tech once again loaded the bases via walks as DeMartini, Martin and Michel all worked free bases against Finateri. Unlike the previous frame, the Yellow Jackets were able to make it out with no harm done. But when the lineup turned over in the fifth, Carson Jones crushed an opposite field home run to make it 7-0.

In the midst of the bats putting up huge numbers, Hokies starter Griffin Green made light work of the Yellow Jackets lineup. He retired 14 of the first 16 batters he faced —  including a stretch of eight in a row — yielding just one hit and one walk with seven strikeouts through five innings of work. But after a pitch in the top of the sixth inning, he immediately grabbed his throwing elbow and fell to his knees on the mound. Green exited the game to a massive ovation from the crowd after 5.1 lockdown innings, walking off the field with his glove in one hand and his elbow in the other.

“He’s going to get examined, but that’s usually not a good thing when a pitcher goes and grabs his elbow,” Szefc said about Green’s injury. “The worst thing about it is, that might be as good as I’ve ever seen him throw. He was outstanding.”

The injury was certainly devastating to the Hokies dugout. The star pitcher is one of the most beloved and respected players in the locker room.

“He’s probably the hardest working guy we got on this team,” Carson Jones said about Green. “He’s one of our leaders and one of our captains. People rally around him. We’re thinking about him and praying for him and hoping for a speedy recovery if anything is bad.”

If Green needs to miss time, the team will have a massive hole to fill in its starting rotation. 

“It’s a huge loss,” Szefc said. “The guy is an all-ACC starting pitcher, and pitching dominates the game. It’s a huge loss, but other teams have had it in this league, and if it happens that way we’ll have to deal with it and find a way to move on and fill that role.”

On Saturday night, that role was filled perfectly by left-hander Jonah Hurney. Thrust into a difficult spot after such a shocking moment, he threw 2.2 fantastic innings, allowing just one hit and fanning three batters. The Yellow Jackets did manage to score in the top of the sixth to make it 7-1, but that run was charged to Green.

“I give Jonah a lot of credit,” Szefc said. “He came in and did a hell of a job and held it right there, and we went and scored more. He was just as big of a part of [the win] as all of the offense.”

The Hokies walked five more times before their final offensive explosion in the bottom of the eighth inning. After Martin worked his fifth free trip to first base, Grady was hit by a pitch and Michel walked to set up a sac fly off the bat of catcher Gehrig Ebel. Third baseman Lucas Donlon tacked on another run with a single to right field before Jones walked to reload the bases. Cannizzaro followed suit to set the program record for walks and drive in another run. Hurley plated another on an RBI fielder’s choice, and DeMartini capped off the night with a two-run triple to make it 13-1.

“Everybody was seeing the ball really well,” Jones said about the team’s penchant for drawing walks. “They had an inconsistency to throw strikes. Us having good discipline at the plate was huge. That’s just a testament to our approach and what we do pregame. We were willing to take more pitches, and it paid off.”

After the offense batted around and scored six runs in the eighth, Virginia Tech turned to right-hander Tyler Dean, who recorded the final three outs of the game with ease.

Saturday night’s victory secured Virginia Tech’s first series win over Georgia Tech since 2010 and its second ACC series victory this year. It also marked the 150th win for John Szefc as the head coach of the team. 

“Any time you win an ACC series it feels really good,” Szefc said. “Unfortunately with what happened to Griffin [Green] it’s kind of tainted. But it can’t take away from anything our guys have done here this weekend. They’ve really come out and played well. They’ve pitched well, they’ve hit well. We’ve scored 23 runs in two games. We feel really good about tomorrow too.”

Virginia Tech will try and notch its first ACC sweep of the season in the third and final game of the series against Georgia Tech on Sunday at noon. Drue Hackenberg is expected to start on the mound for the Hokies. 

“It would be really huge to go out there and sweep them and get us rolling in the right direction,” Jones said. “I think we’re playing really well and tomorrow’s a really good chance for us to do that.”