Hokies head to Atlanta for first ACC road seriesHokies head to Atlanta for first ACC road series
Baseball

Hokies head to Atlanta for first ACC road series

Opens in a new window Game Notes - Week 5

Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech
March 16-18, 2018 - Russ Chandler Stadium - Atlanta, Georgia

Gameday Information
Stats: All weekend - Link
Audio: All weekend - Link
Video: Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3

Friday, March 16 - 6 p.m.
Tech: Sr. RHP Connor Coward (1-1, 1.93 ERA)
GT: So. RHP Xzavion Curry (3-0, 1.57 ERA)

Saturday, March 17 - 2 p.m.
VT: Fr. LHP Ian Seymour (2-1, 4.07 ERA)
GT: So. LHP Connor Thomas (2-1, 2.08 ERA)

Sunday, March 18 - 1 p.m.
VT: TBA
GT: Fr. LHP Brant Hurter (0-1, 12.91 ERA)

QUICK HITTERS
Tech opens road ACC slate with Georgia Tech: 
After notching a 2-1 ACC home-opening weekend against Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech heads out on the road for its first road conference series at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The Hokies and Yellow Jackets will open the weekend on Friday at 6 p.m.

Hokies against Georgia Tech: The two Tech schools first met back in 1980, but played just six times from that first meeting through 1997 - however, once the Hokies joined the ACC (2005), the teams have faced each other 39 times. Overall, the Yellow Jackets own a 31-16 advantage including a 27-12 mark in conference games and a 19-8 edge in Atlanta. The Hokies have played seven ACC series at Georgia Tech and have won a pair of series back in 2007 and 2010. Key to those two series wins for the Hokies was winning Game 1 - they have never won an ACC series in Atlanta after dropping the first game.

Coach Szefc against Georgia Tech: As the head coach at Maryland, current Virginia Tech head coach John Szefc faced the Yellow Jackets just four times, all back in the 2014 season. In a three-game series in Maryland, Szefc's Terps won the series two games to one (April 18-20). The two squads then met in the 2014 ACC Baseball Championship game on May 25, won by the Yellow Jackets, 9-4.

Speaking of Coach Szefc: Over the weekend, Virginia Tech head coach John Szefc picked up the 400th victory in his head coaching career. The Hokies' head coach, who is the school's 25th head coach in program history and is in his first season leading the team, had previously won 180 games in five seasons at Maryland (2013-17) and 212 games in seven years at Marist (1996-2002).

Hokies start 2-0 in ACC for first time ever: In 14 seasons in the league, Virginia Tech is now 6-8 in ACC openers, including winners in three of its last four, as the team picked up a 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh last Friday night. For the first time in six tries, the Hokies then won their second game as well, with a 3-1 victory over the Panthers on Saturday, giving the program its first ever 2-0 start in ACC play.

Looking ahead after weekend No. 1: With the series win over Pittsburgh last weekend, it marked just the third time in 14 seasons the Hokies won their ACC series opener (2007 at No. 21 Georgia Tech and 2010 versus Maryland). Looking ahead, only twice has the team had a winning record after weekend No. 2 - posting a 4-2 record in both 2013 (after opening 1-2 vs. Georgia Tech, swept Duke on the road) and 2015 (after opening 1-2 at Wake Forest, swept Virginia at home). The team has also been .500 (at 3-3) in 2007, 2014 and 2017.