Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. – Manny Martir threw seven shutout innings and Buddy Sosnoskie, Ronnie Shaban and Michael Seaborn combined for nine hits and eight RBIs to lead the Virginia Tech baseball team to a 10-0 victory over Liberty on Wednesday night at English Field.
It was the third shutout tossed by Virginia Tech this season, which improved to 14-8 with the win. Martir lowered his ERA by more than five full points in just his second start as a Hokie, scattering four hits and five walks over his seven innings of work, while striking out four. Brandon Fisher and Ben Rowen each pitched an inning of hitless ball in relief to preserve the blanking of the Flames, who fell to 13-6.
The Hokies tallied 13 hits as a team in this one, with Sosnoskie, Shaban and Seaborn recording three apiece. Sosnoskie added two runs and four RBIs, including his third home run of the season, while Shaban tallied three RBIs on a pair of doubles.
The Hokies opened the scoring in the third inning with five runs on four hits and two walks. The first run came courtesy of right fielder Mike Kaminski, who doubled to deep right-center field to bring home Seaborn all the way from first. Sosnoskie then plated Kaminski on a base hit to right field that landed just out of the reach of a diving Michael Robertson. Center fielder Sean Ryan, who had walked, promptly came home on a groundout to first by first baseman Austin Wates. Shaban concluded the scoring spurt with a two-run double to the right-field corner to make it 5-0 Hokies.
Tech picked up another run in the sixth inning when Shaban scored on a single by Seaborn. A three-run homer by Sosnoskie and an RBI double by Shaban in the eighth inning set the final score at 10-0.
The Hokies will resume ACC play this weekend when Wake Forest comes to English Field for a three-game series. First pitch on Friday is set for 5:30 p.m.