hokies welcome no. 8 fighting irish to close regular season

Ryan Wilkes

May 20, 2021

BLACKSBURG 一 Virginia Tech (27-20, 16-17 ACC) looks to end the regular season on a high note as No. 8 Notre Dame (26-10, 22-10 ACC) makes the trip to Blacksburg for a three-game series just ahead of the ACC Baseball Championship.

Despite losing two-of-three games to Florida State in their last ACC series, the Fighting Irish were crowned ACC Atlantic division champions following Louisville’s series loss to North Carolina over the weekend.

In a competitive Atlantic division, the Irish were able to string together multiple series wins down the stretch, including a sweep over UNC, and took two-of-three from both NC State and Georgia Tech.

In their last appearance on May 11, the Irish capped off their non-conference schedule by defeating Valparaiso in dramatic fashion. Heading into the eighth down 3-0, Notre Dame manufactured runs down the stretch.

A bases-loaded Nick Juaire single and a Spencer Myers double tied the game at three, and a bases-clearing triple from Carter Putz gave the Irish a sizable lead.

On the other hand, the Hokies’ season has gone in the other direction.

Holding a record of 2-10 in its last 12 ACC games, Virginia Tech has gone from competing for the top spot in the ACC Coastal division to fighting for scraps in the middle of the pack, scratching and clawing for positioning in a relentless division.

After being projected as high as a regional host for the NCAA Tournament by Baseball America earlier this season, the Hokies are now on the outside of the tournament looking in. Tech is projected by both Baseball America and D1 Baseball to just narrowly miss the tournament in both sites’ updated projections.

The Hokies have lost four-straight ACC series, the most recent coming at the hands of a sweep at Duke. In game one of the series, Tech held a 4-1 lead in the third before surrendering ten unanswered runs, seven of which came in the eighth inning. The Hokies showed signs of life in the ninth, but with the game already out of hand, they fell to the Blue Devils 11-6.

Games two and three were more tightly contested, but Tech could only plate two runs across the final two games of the series, resulting in a sweep.

The Hokies will seek any sort of momentum heading into the postseason, but face a tall task in the Fighting Irish who look to continue their tear through the ACC.

The series gets underway at 6 p.m. Thursday night at English Field.