hokies look to break out of slump against georgetown
Wyatt Krueger
May 5, 2021
Shane Connolly throws a pitch in Virginia Tech's 6-1 loss to Virginia on Sunday night. (Virginia Tech Athletics)
BLACKSBURG — After dropping two of three against its rivals, Virginia Tech (23-17, 16-14 ACC) hosts four consecutive games against out of conference foes this week to try and build some form of consistency down the stretch of the season.
“With baseball there’s a lot of ups and downs,” senior left fielder Tanner Thomas said after Sunday’s loss. “I believe we are going to get going again. This game revolves around failure, we’ve got to realize that and keep chugging.”
What better way to break out of a slump than to go against a reeling Georgetown (4-13, 4-10 Big East) team that has lost eight of its last nine games.
A few weeks ago, Virginia Tech looked to hold on to its one game lead in the ACC Coastal division, but after three consecutive ACC series losses to Virginia, NC State and Georgia Tech, the Hokies need to win as many games as possible to ensure a spot in the regional tournament.
Junior pitcher Ryan Okuda is coming off one of his better outings last Tuesday where he pitched four and ⅔ innings, allowing four hits and no earned runs. In the two previous games against VMI and Liberty, Okuda didn’t make it out of the third inning.
Fritz Genther is another name to watch, as he was inserted into the starting lineup in Saturday’s game against the Cavaliers for the first time in ACC play since early April against Boston College. Genther walked in his first plate appearance and delivered a clutch two-RBI hit in the third to give the Hokies a 5-0 lead.
“I have no problem starting Fritz,” head coach John Szefc said. “I think he hit kind of a rough rutt there offensively and defensively. I would completely anticipate him being one of our main guys down the stretch.”
Wednesday’s game could be an opportunity for young bats like Genther’s to get more experience as six crucial ACC games to close out the season await them next week before the ACC tournament.
Wednesday’s matchup starts at 6:00 p.m. at English Field and will be available on ACC Network Extra.