Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. – Sophomore Mathew Price struck out a career-high 10 batters, including one with two outs in the ninth and the tying run at third, as Virginia Tech edged Wake Forest 2-1 to split a Saturday double-header and win the teams’ three-game ACC weekend series at English Field. The Demon Deacons took the opening game of the twinbill, 5-0.
Tech found runs hard to come by during the afternoon with just two in 17 innings. But Price made those two stand up in game two. The young right-hander went the distance, finishing strong with six scoreless innings. He allowed six hits and did not walk a batter to improve his record to 3-1. Austin Stadler, who started for Wake and also went the distance, is 1- 1 after the loss.
The Hokies broke their scoring drought in the second inning of game two when left fielder Steve Domecus singled, moved to second on catcher Anthony Sosnoskie’s sacrifice bunt and scored on a single by third baseman Ronnie Shaban. The Demon Deacons followed suit in the third inning with Matt Conway singling before taking second on a sacrifice and coming home on a base hit by second baseman Mark Rhine.
Sosnoskie broke the 1-1 tie with an RBI-single in fourth, scoring first baseman Austin Wates, who also singled in the inning. Tech finished the game with 10 hits, including two apiece by Domecus, Shaban and center fielder Sean Ryan. Conway, Rhine and Pat Blair had two hits each to account for Wake’s six hits.
After failing to score a run in the opening game of the series on Friday night, the Demon Deacons responded with a shutout of their own in the first game of Saturday’s twinbill. Wake starting pitcher Tim Cooney pitched eight scoreless innings, scattering just five hits, while reliever Joel Ernst tacked on a perfect ninth. Cooney improved to 3-1 with the win. He struck out two batters and walked just one.
The Deacons plated a first-inning run against Tech starting pitcher Jesse Hahn when center fielder Steven Brooks poked a two-out single and then scored all the way from first on a single to right-center off the bat of catcher Mike Murray. Wake extended its lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth on a solo home run by third baseman Carlos Lopez. It was the third round-tripper of the season for Lopez, who also had two singles and a double in the game to lead the Deacs’ 13-hit attack.
A bases-loaded walk added another run for the visitors in the seventh. Tech freshman reliever Joe Mantiply, who took over for Hahn with one out in the fifth, issued the one-out walk to designated hitter Conway. The Deacons filled the bases on a lead-off single by Ryan Semeniuk, a double by Mac Williamson and a walk to Blair. The Deacs loaded the bases again in both the eighth and ninth innings, adding a run in each frame.
Ryan contributed two of the Hokies’ five hits, including the only extra-base hit, a double in the fifth. That double marked the only time Tech had a runner in scoring position over the final six innings. Hahn, who worked 4.1 innings, took the loss, his second in a row after winning his first four games.
The Hokies are scheduled to return to action on Tuesday at English Field against VMI at 5:30 p.m.