Hokie ClubLYNCHBURG, Va. – In a wild nonconference game at Liberty Baseball Stadium on Tuesday night, the Virginia Tech baseball team fell behind early to the Flames, but used an eight-run eighth inning to tie the game and Sam Fragale’s RBI single in the ninth gave the Hokies the 11-10 victory.
After the seventh, Liberty held a 10-2 advantage before Tech sent 13 men to the plate in an inning that started with an error. Five Hokies drove in one run during the rally, while pinch hitter Tom Stoffel tied the game with a two-out, three-RBI double.
Nic Enright (1-2) won his first game as a collegiate as he threw the final two innings scoreless. He did face a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth and had two runners on in the ninth before getting a strikeout to end the game. Shane Quarterly took the loss for Liberty (5-4).
How the runs were scored
- Liberty (21-22) used a two-out rally to open a four-run lead in the second. Josh Barrick was hit by a pitch with two outs to load the bases and was followed by a two-run double by Jack Morris and a two-run single by D.J. Artis that made it 4-0.
- Tech (14-28) cut its deficit in half in the fourth frame as the Hokies also loaded the bases, but with no outs. Phil Sciretta crossed the plate on a wild pitch and Garrett Hudson hit a sacrifice fly to center that brought home Nick Anderson and Tech trailed 4-2.
- In the fifth, the Flames used three straight RBI singles – by Andrew Yacyk, Dalton Britt and Payton Scarbrough – to pad their lead and added an RBI single by Will Shepherd in the sixth to make it an 8-2 advantage.
- A two-run home run by Sammy Taormina in the seventh pushed Liberty’s lead to eight.
- The Hokies made their comeback with an eight spot in the eighth and a single run in the ninth. Saige Jenco, Ryan Tufts, Anderson, Fragale and Hudson all notched an RBI in the eighth-inning rally. However, after Hudson’s second sacrifice fly of the night, Tech still trailed 10-7.
- With the bases loaded and two outs, Stoffel cleared the bases with a double that tied the game. Fragale’s RBI single that drove in Tufts in the ninth put the Hokies ahead.
Inside the Box
- Tufts: double, 10th of the season, 17th of his career; season-high tying 3 hits, 10th multi-hit game of the season, 21st of his career; 2 runs, sixth multi-run scoring game of the season, 12th of his career.
- Sciretta: 2 runs, fifth multi-run scoring game of the season, eighth of his career.
- Anderson: first collegiate start on the mound; season/career high 3.0 innings pitched; 2 hits, 12th multi-hit game of the season and career; 2 runs, second multi-run scoring game of the season and career.
- Fragale: double, 10th of the season, 12th of his career; 2 hits, ninth multi-hit game of the season, 13th of his career; 2 RBIs, seventh multi-RBI game of the season, ninth of his career.
- Hudson: 2 RBIs, second multi-RBI game of the season and his career.
- Andrew Mogg: 2 runs, third multi-run scoring game of the season, sixth of his career.
- Stoffel: 3 RBIs, ninth multi-RBI game of the season and career.
Up next
Tech heads up to the state of Massachusetts for a three-game ACC series with Boston College. The set starts in Chestnut Hill on Friday at 2:30 p.m.