Hokie ClubSPARTANBURG, S.C. – Thirteen Virginia Tech batters combined for 32 hits and nine pitchers joined for 27 strikeouts to help the Hokies sweep a baseball double-header from Wofford on Saturday in the Courtyard by Marriott Baseball Classic at Russell C. King Field.
Anthony Sosnoskie (Front Royal, Va.) smacked two home runs and Steve Bumbry (Cockeysville, Md.)added a third to power a 19-hit attack that led to a 14-10 Tech win in the opening game. Sophomore pitcher Sean McDermott (Walpole, Mass.) pitched six strong innings, striking out six batters and allowing just one unearned run as the Hokies finished out the day with a 10-2 victory in the nightcap.
Sosnoskie’s second homer put Tech (3-0) ahead for good in the see-saw first game. The junior catcher smacked a towering drive to left field with a man aboard to break a 10-10 tie in the top of the eighth inning. Earlier in the game, he blasted a solo homer to left to open the fifth inning. Sosnoskie also hit a round-tripper in the second game, topping off a 4-for-7 day that included three homers, a double, five runs scored, five runs batted in and four walks.
Five of Wofford’s first six batters reached base in the bottom of the first as the Terriers jumped to a 2-0 lead against Tech starting pitcher Justin Wright (Chesterfield, Va.) in the opener. The Hokies went ahead 3-2 in the top of the second, but the two teams would see the lead exchanged two more times and the contest tied three times before finally being decided.
Sosnoskie, Bumbry and left fielder Steve Domecus (Novato, Calif.) produced three hits apiece during the opener, with Sosnoskie and Bumbry accounting for three RBIs each. Center fielder Sean Ryan (Ashburn, Va.) contributed a pair of doubles and scored three runs.
Submariner Ben Rowen (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the victory in game one. All four of Rowen’s outs were recorded on strikeouts, contributing to the Tech staff’s total of 15 for the game.
McDermott, a sophomore left-hander, started and pitched five scoreless innings in the second game before giving up an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth. He scattered six hits, struck out six batters and walked three in posting the win. The bullpen allowed just one run and posted six more strikeouts over the final three innings.
An RBI-single by catcher Domecus in the first inning, and first baseman Sosnoskie’s two-run homer in the third, gave McDermott all the working room he would need. Tech added a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Ryan before breaking it open with a four-run fifth. Sophomore second baseman Tony Balisteri (Lexington, Va.) provided three of the runs in that inning with a two-out double. Ryan tacked on two more runs with a double in the ninth.
Domecus, Ryan, shortstop Ty Hohman (Tomball, Texas) and left fielder Klint Reed (Chesterfield, Va.) led a 13-hit attack with two hits each. Ryan and Balisteri drove in three runs apiece.
Wofford (1-2) managed 10 hits in the finale and 25 for the day. Mac Doyle and Mike McDonnell both homered for the Terriers in the opener, while center fielder Jake Williams contributed four hits during the two games.
Tech is scheduled to close play in the Baseball Classic on Sunday with a 2 p.m., game at USC Upstate