Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – It was again the long ball that helped the No. 19 Virginia Tech baseball team to a 9-7 victory over the Radford Highlanders on Tuesday afternoon at English Field at Union Park. Joe Freiday, Jr.’s three-run home run in the fifth broke a 4-4 tie and solo homers by Ryan Tufts and JD Mundy late provided enough insurance for Tech to secure the win.
The Hokies improved to 8-1 with the victory and ended a two-game slide to their cross-town foes, while Radford fell to 1-7 on the season.
Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth, the Hokies loaded the bases with one out as Freiday stepped to the plate. Tom Stoffel scored from third on a wild pitch early in the at-bat before Freiday took a 2-2 pitch over the left-center field wall.
Tufts padded the lead to 8-4 with his fourth home run of the season, while Mundy collected his first collegiate home run in the seventh, two innings after notching his first collegiate hit with a single in the fifth.
Kit Scheetz tossed three innings of relief for Connor Coward and improved to 2-0 on the season with the win out of the bullpen. Aaron McGarity tossed a scoreless ninth to pick up his third save of the young season.
Inside the box score
- Rahiem Cooper: double, first of the season, eighth of his career.
- Freiday, Jr.: home run, third of the season, sixth of his career; three RBIs, first multi-RBI game of the season, fifth of his career.
- Stevie Mangrum: double, fourth of the season, fifth of his career; two runs, second multi-run scoring game of the season, fourth time in his career.
- Mundy: home run, first of his career; two hits and two runs, first career multi-hit and multi-run scoring game.
- Stoffel: double, second of the season, 18th of his career; season-high three hits, fourth multi-hit game of the season, 22nd career multi-hit game; two runs scored, second multi-run scoring game this year, ninth of his career.
- Tufts: home run, seventh of his career; double, sixth of the season, 28th of his career; three hits, sixth multi-hit game of the season, third with at least three, 33rdd career multi-hit game, eighth game with at least three; two runs scored, fifth multi-run scoring game this year, 20th of his career.
More Tech notes
- Turned a double play for the 11th time this season.
- Has hit already hit 23 home runs this season, after hitting just 34 all of 2016 (35 in 2015).
- Is now 43-14 all-time against Radford including a 24-3 mark at home.
- Is now 12-5 all-time on February 28, including a perfect 4-0 mark at home.
Up next
- The Hokies continue a six-game homestand when they welcome the Binghamton Bearcats to English Field at Union Park for a four-game series starting on Friday at 3 p.m.