Hokie ClubCHARLESTON, S.C. – After being held to four runs in Saturday’s win, the Virginia Tech offense woke up on Sunday to tally 15 hits and cruised to a 13-1 victory over Charleston Southern to complete a three-game sweep of the Buccaneers in Charleston, S.C.
The Hokies scored 34 runs over the weekend to improve to 4-2 on the season. Redshirt junior shortstop Tim Smalling accounted for six of those runs on Sunday, going 3-for-6 with a Tech season-high six RBIs, including a grand slam that served as his first home run of the season.
First baseman Austin Wates went 4-for-6 with two triples, both in the fifth inning, to tie a Virginia Tech single-game record that he holds with 10 former Hokies. Wates also had a two-triple game as a freshman against Liberty in 2008.
On the mound, true freshman pitcher Joe Mantiply looked great in his first collegiate start, scattering seven hits over six innings to earn his first win. The 6-foot-4 left-hander walked none and struck out five to tie a single-game season high by a Tech pitcher.
Tyler Thornburg took the loss on the mound for CSU, which fell to 2-5. Thornburg gave up six runs on seven hits in four innings, but he accounted for the Buccaneers’ lone run on offense by hitting his third home run of the season.
The Hokies broke a scoreless tie in the top of the second. After Thornburg walked the bases loaded, Smalling delivered a two-run single to center field, scoring second baseman Michael Seaborn and center fielder Sean Ryan to spot Tech with a 2-0 lead.
Thornburg led off the Buccaneers’ half of the fourth with a solo home run to left field to cut Tech’s lead to 2-1, but the Hokies got that run right back and then some thanks to seven runs on seven hits in the top of the fifth.
Wates led off the frame with his second triple of the season and first of the inning, hitting the ball just out of the reach of a diving Brantley Meier in right field. Designated hitter Steve Domecus then blooped a single into left field to score Wates, extending Tech’s lead back to two. Following a base hit by catcher Anthony Sosnoskie, third baseman Ronnie Shaban then slapped an RBI single up the middle to plate Domecus. After a walk to Ryan loaded the bases, right Mike Kaminski chopped an infield single to short that scored Sosnoskie. Smalling capped the outburst with a towering grand slam to right field to clear the bases and give the Hokies a 9-1 advantage.
Tech tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth inning to set the score at 12-1. Wates notched the first tally when he scored a on a failed pickoff attempt by CSU pitcher Andrew Markham, Domecus scored the second run on a sac fly by Seaborn, and Sosnoskie registered the final run on a single by Ryan.
Freshman Brent Zimmerman added one more run for the Hokies in the ninth when he sent an RBI single to right field for his first collegiate hit, bringing home Domecus.
Tech is scheduled to open the home portion of its schedule on Tuesday with a 3 p.m., contest against Radford at English Field.