Malinowski, Hunter breeze Hokies past Wright State in Game 2

By Sam Alves

Staff Writer

March 6, 2022

BLACKSBURG — Right away, Virginia Tech left fielder Jack Hurley knew. Right hand out, he motioned back and forth between the foul pole and the infield, where the umpires ruled home run.

Winds gusted from right to left all day long at English Field, cooling off the warmth that signaled the coming spring. Those winds bested Hurley in the first inning, when he overran a pop-up for a game-opening double. But in the seventh, that same pesky wind guided a game-tying home run ball just to the left of the foul pole. That was the verdict after replay review, at least.

Instead of a game tied at five in the top of the seventh inning, Virginia Tech took its three-run lead into the bottom of the seventh, when it added another — then three more in the eighth — to take game two of the weekend series against Wright State, 9-3.

Clean-up hitter Eduardo Malinowski led the way for the Hokies (8-1), going 4-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs. His bat poked a single the opposite way for Tech’s go-ahead run in the third inning. Then in the fifth, he changed course, lining a missile — one that left the barrel at 112 miles per hour — just fair in left field.

“I think the first pitch was a changeup in the dirt, so I was expecting a fastball,” Malinowski said. “And I was just looking in one zone only, and [Wright State pitcher Jake Shirk] threw it right there…. It just felt awesome.”

But still, like head coach John Szefc has said after every one of Malinowski’s big performances, the graduate transfer can bring more to the team.

“I think this is a really good progression for him to go into ACC pitching,” Szefc, whose team starts ACC play at Georgia Tech next week, said. “These guys [Wright State] are good. They got velo. They got lefties, righties. It’s pretty good. I’m not overly surprised, honestly. I’m just glad he’s here playing for us, obviously.”

Malinowski could have tripled for the cycle for the second-straight weekend, sure. Instead, he singled again and walked in his last two plate appearances after starting the day with a double, single and home run.

By that point, the Hokies had overcome an early 2-0 deficit. Tech’s defense spotted the Raiders (1-7) two runs in the first inning thanks to Hurley’s misplay in left, two wild pitches, a passed ball and a single.

Then in the second, No. 7 hitter Jay Luikart snuck a ball past third baseman Carson DeMartini to lead off the inning. But Okuda settled in, retiring 12 of the final 13 batters he faced to finish five innings strong.

Szefc credited pitching coach Ryan Fecteau for adjusting the pitching game plan and Okuda for executing it, especially after a rough start. After the Hokies allowed a season-high 11 runs in Friday’s loss –– Tech’s first of the season –– Okuda focused on changing speeds more to keep Raider hitters off balance.

“I’ve been catching Okuda since the summer before I even got on campus,” sophomore catcher Cade Hunter said about his relationship with Tech’s fifth-year senior. “We’ve always had this sort of connection where we know what we’re getting from each other.

“Even after the first inning, it was a little bit of a shaky start, I knew he was going to come back for us. That’s just the guy he is. Props to him, he got it done.”

A big key to that turnaround was eliminating the wild pitches and passed balls.

“[Okuda] got control of his splitter,” Hunter said. “His splitter’s a crazy pitch.”

“Nasty,” Malinowski added.

“You don’t really know what it’s going to do, especially when the wind’s howling,” Hunter continued. “Fortunately, he locked that in, and it was good for the rest of the game.”

Hunter was good, too — “nails” was how Szefc described it — starting his day with two doubles and a run before a sixth-inning single.

Tech got contributions from all throughout the lineup. Shortstop Tanner Schobel, who played clean defense, was the only Hokie not to score or bat in a run.

That group included designated hitter Cade Swisher, who hit behind Hunter and gave Tech a lead it would not relent with a two-run homer in the second inning, his first hit of the season.

Lefty Jonah Hurney bridged the game to the eighth with two clean innings, and right-hander Brady Kirtner took the mound for the six outs, neither walking a batter.

The win sets up the first rubber match of the season, a good early test for the Hokies, who start ACC play at Georgia Tech in a week.

“This is like an ACC weekend,” Szefc said. “I know it doesn’t say ACC on their uniforms, but they’re good enough…. That’s a hard-fought win. That’s a battling win. It’s good for us to play in those games.”