Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – In its home opener, No. 24 Virginia Tech faltered in its opener, dropping a 7-3 decision to Temple, but rebounded with a 7-5 victory over Holy Cross to end the first day of its four-game home set with a split at English Field on Saturday.
The loss ended the Hokies’ 22-game non-conference winning streak – the third longest streak in school history – and saw their home opening winning streak snapped at three straight.
Temple (1-2) plated five runs over the last two frames to break a 2-2 tie and secure its victory, as Eric Peterson picked up the win out of the pen.
The Hokies scored in the first – a Chad Pinder single scored Gary Schneider – and in the sixth on a Brendon Hayden RBI double, plating Andrew Rash. After the Owls went up 5-2 in the eighth, Tyler Horan scored on a Rash double, but that was as close as Tech would get.
In the second game, the Hokies got out of the gates early, scoring three runs in the first on an RBI single by Mark Zagunis and a two-run home run by Horan.
Holy Cross (0-1) would tie the score at 3-3 in the third, 4-4 in the fourth and take a 5-4 lead in the fifth.
Zagunis broke the 3-3 tie with a solo home run in the bottom of the third and Tech plated three in the fifth to make it 7-5. Rash singled home Pinder, Sean Keselica drew a bases loaded walk to bring in Horan and Rash would score on a wild pitch.
Hayden earned the win on the mound in the second game after tossing three scoring frames of relief and Clark Labitan earned his second save of the season with two scoreless innings, each of which ended in double plays. Tech turned four in the game.
The Hokies (5-1) return to action to face Delaware in the third game at English Field on Sunday, with a start time of 6 p.m.