hunter's return injects INTRIGUE into comfortable game one win

Sam Alves

May 8, 2021

BLACKSBURG — The game did not wait for Cade Hunter, who, for nearly two months, was absent from Virginia Tech’s lineup, rehabbing from a broken hamate bone in his right wrist.

Pinch-hitting with two outs and the bases empty in the seventh, Hunter skied an unassuming pop-up that didn’t clear the pitcher’s mound. But as Toledo third baseman Darryn Davis settled under the pop fly, he collided with second baseman Scott Mackiewicz, which popped the ball out of his glove as Hunter rounded first, well on his way to second.

On the next pitch, Tanner Schobel plopped a weak bunt straight at pitcher Cal McAninch, but when his throw to first was off line, Hunter alertly raced home and slid under the tag of catcher Ryan Thompson.

In a flash, Hunter was back in the dugout, this time celebrating with his teammates because of a play he, not they, made.

Or so he thought.

Upon review, the umpires announced Toledo first baseman Chris Meyers had a foot on the bag with the ball in his glove, overturning the original safe call and ending the seventh inning.

By then, though, the score read 7-1 in favor of the Hokies (25-17, 16-14 ACC) — as it would when Jaison Heard struck out Danny O'Reilly to end the first half of Saturday’s doubleheader.

The game played out nicely for head coach John Szefc, who made clear the loss his team felt as long as Hunter was unavailable. Hunter proved, even if only by reaching on an error, that he was ready for the game — one his teammates put out of reach before his appearance, perhaps making it possible in the first place.

He’ll have a couple more before the next ACC series at Duke and the season finale versus Notre Dame. Game one Saturday was just the start of what, in addition to Chris Gerard’s return, Szefc hopes will be a rejuvenation of a team that has slumped over the past month.

The rest of the Hokies showed their potential along the way, albeit against an outmatched Toledo team (15-24, 13-12 MAC).

Senior starting pitcher Peyton Alford, who tossed 5 and ⅔ innings of one-run ball, retired the Rockets in order to start the game, and Tech took control by scoring twice in the first.

Scobel stood on third with two outs after TJ Rumfield grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, but Tanner Thomas, who powered the Hokies all day long, brought him home with a single. Biddison, who walked ahead of Thomas and advanced to third on the RBI single, then scored on a wild pitch.

In the third, sluggers Gavin Cross and Rumfield teamed up for two runs. Cross tripled and Rumfield blasted a 412-foot, 103 mile-per-hour home run, his first in eight games.

The Hokies then flipped the script in the fourth, as starting catcher Gehrig Ebel scored via small ball — a walk, wild pitch, deep fly ball and steal of home put Tech up 5-1.

Carson Jones would score Kevin Madden with an RBI double in the fifth, and Thomas’ second RBI of the game — a sacrifice fly to left — scored Cross once more to bring the scoring to a close.

It was a comfortable game one victory for the Hokies. They haven’t had one of those since they beat Wake Forest 8-4 in Winston-Salem on April 10 — nearly one month ago and just before their slump began.