BLACKSBURG – After taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning against previously unbeaten and No. 1 Florida State, striking out 10 Seminoles over seven frames and combining on a 6-0 shutout, Virginia Tech pitcher Chris Gerard has been named the ACC Pitcher of the Week.
Collegiate Baseball, who has the Seminoles ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation this week as well, also announced a dozen National Players of the Week powered by Diamond-Sports and Gerard was one of six pitchers named to the squad - link for release. On Tuesday, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Player of the Week awards and Gerard was named the National Co-Pitcher of the Week - link for release.
Against Florida State on Saturday, Gerard threw a perfect first frame before walking a pair in the second. He retired the next 13 Seminoles in order – with perfect innings in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth, including striking out the side in the third.
In the seventh, Gerard walked the leadoff batter, then allowed the first and only hit of the day to Drew Mendoza, a single, before retiring the last three to keep the Seminoles off the board.
It was the longest no-hit bid by a Tech pitcher in the last 15 years, with Packy Naughton's effort versus Boston College on May 3, 2015 being the previous best, which lasted 5.2 innings. Devin Burke took a no-hitter into the sixth inning at Boston College on May 4, 2016, the previous best bid versus an ACC opponent on the road.
The freshman southpaw from Wayne, New Jersey, who has not allowed an earned run over his last 17 innings pitched and has tossed 11.2 consecutive scoreless innings, won his first start of the year and lowered his ERA to 0.43, the second-best mark in the conference.
With the effort, Gerard became the third Tech freshman pitcher in an ACC regular-season game to win a start on the road (Mathew Price, at Maryland, April 12, 2009 and Naughton, at Duke, April 26, 2015) and also became the second Tech freshman pitcher to strike out 10 batters in an ACC game (Ian Seymour, 10, vs. Pittsburgh, March 10, 2018).
Jack Dellinger, who combined on the one-hitter by throwing the last two innings scoreless, and Gerard held Florida State to just one hit in the game as the Hokies shut out Florida State for the first time in Tallahassee. It was also the fewest hits allowed by a Tech staff in a nine-inning game since the Hokies joined the conference in 2005. The previous low was two, four times to non-conference opponents, and versus ACC foes, the low was three, done five times.
Gerard became just the fifth Hokie to earn an ACC Pitcher of the Week honor and the first since Nick Anderson on March 20, 2017 – when he scattered five hits over eight innings in a 17-0 win over then No. 1 Florida State in Blacksburg. Gerard is the first Tech freshman pitcher to earn the honor, and joins three-time honoree Justin Wright (April 27, 2009, March 29 and April 5, 2010) and two-time honorees Ryan Kennedy (Feb. 21 and May 2, 2005) and Sean Keselica (March 16 and March 30, 2015). Click for ACC release.