HOKIES STEAL GAME TWO FROM CAROLINA WITH HOME RUN BARRAGE

BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech (25-14, 10-10 ACC) shell-shocked No. 12 North Carolina (30-9, 12-8) with five homers to get its seventh victory against a top 25 team this season, winning 10-6, on Saturday at English Field.

Four of the five home run blasts came in the first two innings against Carolina pitcher Aiden Haugh, who came into the game with a 1.86 ERA.

Anderson French started the Hokies off subtly with a gap ground ball up the middle, and catcher Henry Cooke seemed to have trouble in a full count. 

Cooke, though, rocketed Haugh’s next offering 422 feet to left field, and quickly put Tech up 2 - 0.

Two at-bats later, with a runner on first, right fielder Sam Tackett gave Haugh a moment of deja vu. Tackett blasted one right back to left field, this time 461 feet. 

As Tackett watched the ball soar past the fences, he flipped his bat, which Carolina catcher Luke Stevenson took offense to, exchanging words with Tackett. The two had to be separated, and warnings were given to both benches for the altercation.

It did not take long for someone to break the tension, though, because Tech designated hitter David McCann took another Haugh pitch over the fences. 

“We knew we could be able to do it against one of the top [pitchers] in the ACC,” Tackett said. “It definitely sparked a lot of confidence, at least for me and probably for McCann as well.”

Tech closed out the first inning up 5-0 and made Haugh throw over 40 pitches, throwing a wrench in Carolina’s plans.

In the second, Carolina loaded the bases on Tech starter Jake Marciano and started digging out the early 5-0 hole.

Kane Kepley cleared the bags for Carolina on a double and made Tech’s now 5-3 lead look manageable.

However, Tech took the role of spoiler that the Tar Heels’ played last game, stealing any momentum its opponent gained.

Right fielder Ben Watson hammered in the Hokies’ fourth homer of the game, sending Cooke in with him, and extending the lead to 7-3.

“We kind of sold out to some spots we felt like he might have been [throwing] for, or some spots where we felt like we could cheat to a fastball,” Tech Assistant Coach Kurt Elbin said. “Sometimes we go in there and we’re trying to adjust … today we were truly sitting on some things.”

After Watson’s blast, Haugh was done and nearly doubled his ERA to 3.06 in just the second inning. Olin Johnson came in to replace him for the Heels. 

Marciano was able to hold Carolina scoreless in the third and fourth, but let up a homer in the fifth to Stevenson.

Hokies’ head coach John Szefc went to Grant Manning as a reliever, who finished the game, allowing only two runs.

“I never really liked the idea of a ‘closer’, I prefer the term finisher,” Manning said. “I come into a ball game, I finish it. Whether that’s going in for one inning, going in for two and a third, or on this game right here, going in for four and a third [innings].”

The Tech defense supported Marciano and Manning, recording only one error on a throw to first.

Watson set the defensive tone for the Hokies in the first inning, skying for a would-be Stevenson home run and robbing the score. 

“It really takes a lot of pressure off of you as a pitcher,” Manning said. “I was really working to be able to try and get those ground balls early into the game…it was really nice to have a good defense behind it.”

Tensions from Tackett’s homer emerged as Jared Davis came in to pinch hit for Tech center fielder Cam Pittman in the eighth.

Davis sent another ball over the fence, the Hokies’ fifth homer of the game and fourth two-run homer. As he rounded the bags, though, he celebrated a little too much and was ejected from the game.

The following at-bat was the breaking point.

Carolina reliever Folger Boaz threw a pitch strikingly close to Anderson French’s head, which he avoided and hit his bat instead. The ball was put in play, and French was thrown out at first.

Szefc was furious and berated the umpires about Boaz’s pitch. French and Tar Heels' head coach Scott Forbes also made their cases with the umpires.

The umpires heard enough, and, after five minutes of discussion, threw out Szefc, French and Forbes.

The ejections were too late to matter, though, as Manning struck out all three batters to shut the door on Carolina, securing the game two victory.

Tech has their work cut out for them now, going into a possible series win next game against one of the top teams in the country. The game will be at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday at English Field and will also be broadcast on ACC Network.