Michel's grand slam helps Virginia Tech in 11-0 blowout of VMI

By Nathan Andrews

Staff Writer

March 22, 2023

BLACKSBURG —  The Corps of Cadets at Virginia Tech surely had something to be proud of on Military Appreciation Day at English Field. 

Virginia Tech (13-7, 1-5 ACC) trampled VMI (13-9) on Wednesday, 11-0, securing its first shutout of the season. After a five-game losing streak, VT was able to return to its early season form, winning by a landslide. 

Everything was clicking for the Hokies in their 13th win of the year — the pitching was dominant, allowing a stingy four total hits to VMI during the game. 

John Szefc praised his pitching staff against Keydets, as it was able to attack the zone against a VMI team that has scored plenty of runs this season. 

“We threw a lot of strikes,” Szefc said. “We only walked three guys. You got six different guys that threw a shutout. And that’s against a good team, they’ve won 13 games and lead the country in stolen bases.”

It seems that the whole staff was ready to hurl on Wednesday, as VT threw a shutout with six total pitchers taking the mound. Kiernan Higgins, the starting pitcher for the Hokies, felt great about the outing. 

“I feel really good about the staff moving forward,” Higgins said. “They were a really good offense, so being able to do that against them was huge for us.”

That wasn’t the only thing that worked for the Hokies on Wednesday evening, however. The Hokies put up 11 runs, making that the tenth time this season they’ve scored double digits in a single game. 

The scoring frenzy started with two costly errors by the Keydets in the bottom of the first. After a quick frame of work by Higgins in the top of the first, a fielding error and a wild pitch helped the Hokies take the lead and put two unearned runs on the board.

Things were relatively quiet until the third inning, when the Hokies tacked on two more runs. Jack Hurley ripped a single with the bases loaded to make it a 3-0 ballgame. Shortly thereafter, Carson Jones lifted a sacrifice fly to center field which brought home Carson DeMartini for the fourth run of the day. 

The fifth inning is when the Hokies did most of their damage. DeMartini touched home plate after a throwing error, making it a five-run lead for Tech. VT broke the ballgame open after that, as Garrett Michel hit a grand slam to extend the lead, 9-0. 

Michel, who had homered in back-to-back games coming into Wednesday, muscled his fifth home run of the season over the left-center field wall. He mentioned that his swing has been working well for him recently.

“It’s working,” Michel said. “I’ve just been kind of sitting backside, that’s always been my kind of swing. I’ve just been sitting there and trusting my hands and my bat speed.”

Michel also mentioned that pitchers consistently throwing clean innings adds confidence with hitting. 

“It makes it a lot easier when you know you’re going to get a good game out of them,” Michel said. “When both the offense and the defense perform, it’s fun to watch.”

Tech continued its rampage in the fifth inning as Carson DeMartini added to the total. With two men on and two outs, the Virginia Beach native delivered his third hit of the day, driving in both runners and giving VT a double-digit lead. He had three RBIs on the day. 

It’s the second-straight game that DeMartini has tallied three hits in a single game, raising his batting average to an outstanding .371. 

“I feel like I’m just relaxing a little bit,” DeMartini said. “I feel like at first, I was pressing to get hits and swinging at everything but now I’m getting back to my disciplined self.” 

His calmer approach has helped VT on the scoreboard. DeMartini leads the team in RBIs with a whopping total of 24 through 20 games.

“It makes it so much easier when there’s a guy on second or third because then the pitcher actually has to come in the zone,” DeMartini said. “He’s worried about spiking one or a passed ball. Those guys getting out there helps me hit in the zone.”

It was smooth sailing for the Hokies after the fifth inning as Grant Umberger, Luke Jackman and Tommy Szczepanski came in for four total innings of work out of the bullpen. They closed out the 13th victory of the season for Virginia Tech. Together, they tallied four strikeouts and only allowed a single hit for the rest of the game. 

The loss for VMI ends its three-game winning streak. The Keydets will look to bounce back on Friday when they travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina to take on Wofford (15-5). 

Virginia Tech will look to carry its momentum into Friday’s contest, as they travel to Pennsylvania to face off against the Pittsburgh Panthers (9-9, 1-3 ACC).