Hokies' incomplete performance results in 14-7 defeat, first series loss

Sam Alves

March 15, 2021

BLACKSBURG, Va. –– Florida State scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back en route to a 14-7 victory, handing No. 18 Virginia Tech its first series loss of the season.

“Typically in baseball, if you get a poor start, you don’t win,” head coach John Szefc said postgame. “They’re constantly driving a bike up a hill, pretty much, and that was the case again today.”

Virginia Tech’s (9-5, 5-4 ACC) poor start came as Ryan Metz replaced projected starter Anthony Simonelli, who was out with a strained oblique.

Metz only recorded two outs while allowing four runs –– two of the four were unearned –– and allowed two home runs to Florida State (6-6, 4-5 ACC) in the first inning.

No. 4 hitter Matheu Nelson crushed a three-run homer to right following a leadoff double and a fielding error committed by second baseman Tanner Schobel. Then with two outs, designated hitter Parker Romano sent a drive over the fence in left field. Metz was yanked after plunking the next batter.

That was just the beginning of the pitching carousel for the Hokies. A team-record 12 pitchers entered the game for Tech, and only four exited without allowing a run.

“I learned that when we pitch [well] and play quality defense, we’re in games,” manager John Szefc said after Sunday’s loss. “And I learned when we don’t pitch and we don’t play defense, we’re not.”

Gavin Cross did score Cade Hunter with a sacrifice fly in the third to make the game 4-1, but that was the closest the Hokies were going to get Sunday.

Florida State tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 6-1 thanks to a two-run homer by Nander De Sedas and a score by Logan Lacey.

Lacey got on with a single, and that’s all the contact he needed to score. He stole second cleanly, and then he reached home when an errant pickoff to second found center field and passed a charging Jack Hurley.

Cross was then back to try and spark a Tech comeback with a two-run homer in the fifth, but due to back issues, he didn’t slam the sledgehammer.

This was emblematic of Virginia Tech’s performance throughout the day. The Hokies had their moments, but they never fully delivered.

The crowd, which has been rowdy all season, never got into the game for a sustained period because of the Seminoles’ hot start and consistent pressure. And while the Hokies did have chances to come back, they squandered the opportunities they have taken advantage of in their come-from-behind wins this season.

“We’ve been down a lot this year in a lot of different situations,” Carson Jones said. “I think we’re used to it, honestly. I think for us, we all know what we got to do when we go up to the plate. We gotta have good at-bats and string some hits together.”

And on Sunday, the Hokies just couldn’t string together enough hits to rally, though they did have 10 on the day. The first two batters reached base in the sixth, seventh, and eighth inning, but none scored. On the day, Virginia Tech was 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position and 3-for-13 with two outs.

Florida State bookended its offensive show with four more runs in the ninth, including the fifth hit of the day for freshman Tyler Martin, who entered the game 0-for-6 in the series.

True to form, though, the Hokies battled to match the Seminoles’ four-run ninth, albeit facing starting FSU left fielder Wyatt Crowell.

“We were playing with energy, and they were playing with energy, and it just went their way,” Gavin Cross said.

Virginia Tech will have a chance to right the ship on Tuesday at 4 p.m. against UNC Greensboro before a three-game weekend series at Clemson.