BLACKSBURG – Fast starts have become the norm for the Virginia Tech baseball team in 2019 as the Hokies have scored in the first inning of every single game this season. It was no different Sunday afternoon at English Field at Union Park as Tech put four on the board in the first and rolled to a 12-4 win over visiting UNC Greensboro.
The Hokies have now outscored their opposition by a 19-1 count in the first inning, however, it was the Spartans who scored that lone opposition run which opened the day's scoring when a Caleb Webster grounder plated Austin Embler, who had tripled.
Tech (5-0) responded quickly, getting two men on board before Luke Horanski homered over the centerfield fence to erase the team's first deficit of the year. It was Horanski's second home run of the season, the sixth of his Tech career. Reagan Teegarden later added an RBI single in the frame to make it 4-1.
The Hokies blew the game open in the second, sending 11 men to the plate and scoring seven times, with Horanski plating two with a single and Kerry Carpenter knocking in three with a bases-loaded double. The five RBI for Horanski tied his career-high at the school.
Tanner Thomas, who had a season-high four hits, launched his solo home run in the third inning – the first of the year – to make it a 12-1 contest, which also closed out the Tech scoring for the day. He also added a double in the fifth frame.
UNCG (3-1) hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth, the first a two-run shot by Hogan Windish, which provided its final runs of the afternoon.
Ian Seymour (2-0) tossed the final four innings of his day scoreless and Nic Enright earned his first save of the season after throwing the final 3.1 innings scoreless. In fact, he retired all 10 Spartans he faced.
Tech Notes
- Is 22-3 all-time in home games played in the month of February, winning nine straight dating back to a 7-3 loss to Temple (Feb. 24) in the 2013 home opener.
- Is now 5-1 all-time against UNCG, including a 2-0 mark at home. It's the first game versus the Spartans since 1993.
- Is 5-0 for just the 13th time in school history, and John Szefc is 5-0 for the first time as a head coach at either Tech or his last stop at Maryland.
Up Next
The Hokies and Spartans will play again on Monday with first pitch now scheduled for 2:30 p.m.