MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – On the second day of the 19th Annual Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach tournament, Virginia Tech’s Luke Horanski had three hits and three RBI but it was not enough as the Hokies fell to No. 17 South Alabama, 7-5, Saturday evening at TicketReturn.com Field.
Trailing 2-0 after the top of the first, the Hokies responded with a single run in the home half after back-to-back doubles by Sam Fragale and Horanski and then, they took a two-run lead in the third with a three spot.
Jack Owens started the frame with a hit-by-pitch and moved to third on a Fragale double. Horanski followed with an RBI single that scored Owens and Nick Menken added a sacrifice fly that drove in Fragale. After a Stevie Mangrum double, Horanski scampered home on a wild pitch to make it 4-2.
South Alabama (3-0) cut its deficit to one on a Travis Swaggerty solo home run in the fifth and then, an inning later, sent eight Jaguars to the plate and plated half of them to reclaim the lead. Brendan Donovan’s second RBI of the game gave his team a 7-4 advantage.
Horanski picked up RBI No. 3 of the night in the sixth with a two-out single that drove home Tom Stoffel, who doubled, one of three hits for the senior. However, the Hokies would get no closer.
Connor Coward earned a no decision on the mound after tossing five innings and allowing two earned runs on two hits, but he walked six while striking out seven. In relief, Andrew McDonald kept the Jaguars off the board over the final 3.2 innings that included four strikeouts.
Additional Notes
- This was the first ever meeting between the two programs.
- Freshman pitcher Ryan Okuda made his collegiate debut in the sixth inning.
Inside the Box
- Coward – first start on mound this season, led team with 12 last year; seven strikeouts, one shy of his career high of eight, done twice; struck out the side in the fifth, fourth time in his career.
- Fragale – two runs, first multi-run scoring game of the season, 20th of his career; two hits, first multi-hit game of the season, 39th of his career; two doubles, fourth two-double game of his career, 31 double in his career.
- Horanski – double, his second of the season; three hits, first multi-hit game of the season; three RBI, first multi-RBI game of the season.
- Mangrum – double, his first of the season, 11th of his career.
- Menken – stolen base, first of his Tech career.
- Stoffel – three hits, first multi-hit game of the season, 39th of his career, 17th career game with at least three hits and now has 150 hits in his Tech career; double, first of the season, 38th of his career.
Up Next
- On Day 3 of the 19th Annual Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach, the Hokies (0-2) will face Oklahoma (1-2) at 2 p.m. The game will be played at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.