TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Virginia Tech baseball team, twice, had No. 1 and unbeaten Florida State on the ropes, but the Seminoles battled back both times and used a two-out, bases-clearing double in the 10th inning to register a 9-8 walk-off victory in the ACC season opener for both teams Friday night at Dick Howser Stadium.
Tech had held a 6-3 lead as late as the top of the eighth frame, but Florida State tallied three runs in the home half and tied the game on a Drew Mendoza two-RBI double.
In the 10th, the Hokies (8-4, 0-1 ACC) got a clutch hit from Reagan Teegarden, who delivered a two-out, two-RBI single that plated both Jack Owens and Luke Horanski to put Tech ahead at 8-6
However, Florida State (12-0, 1-0 ACC) responded by loading the bases without the aid of a hit – two walks and a hit batsman. With two outs, J.C. Flowers launched a ball into deep center that hit off the wall and allowed all three Seminoles to score and end the game.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first, Tech used a solo home run from Horanski and a two-run shot by Kevin Madden to take a 3-1 lead. In the fourth, Owens hit a solo home run to make it 4-2 and in the seventh, Teegarden and Carson Taylor each knocked in a run to push Tech into its three-run lead.
A total of six home runs were hit in the first four innings, with Florida State hitting solo long balls in the first, third and fourth.
Inside the Box
- Zach Brzykcy – career-high four strikeouts, struck out the side in the eighth, first time in his career; fourth time this season with at least two strikeouts, seventh time in his career.
- Horanski – home run, fourth of the season, eighth of his career; three hits, third multi-hit game of the season, 15th of his Tech career; second three-hit game of the season, fifth of his career.
- Madden – home run, the first of his career; two hits, third multi-hit game of the season; two RBI, first career multi-RBI game.
- Nick Menken – two runs, first multi-run scoring game of season, third of career.
- Owens – home run, first of the season, eighth of his career; three hits, fourth multi-hit game of the season, 39th of his career; third three-hit game of the year, 19th of his career.
- Ian Seymour – fourth start of year, 17th of his career; season-high tying 5.0 innings pitched; season-high eight strikeouts, fifth time in his career with at least eight strikeouts; struck out the side in the fifth, the second time this year, seventh time in his career.
- Taylor – two hits, fifth multi-hit game of the year.
- Teegarden – double, first extra base hit at Tech; two hits, first multi-hit game of the season.
Tech notes
- In the previous 58 meetings between the two schools, none of them had ever gone into extra innings.
- This was Tech's first extra-inning game of the year. The Hokies were 3-5 in extra-inning games in 2018.
- In their last game at Florida State – March 29, 2015 – the Hokies also lost in walk-off fashion when the Seminoles scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth.
- Tech has lost its last two games by one run.
Up Next
Due to impending weather on Sunday, the series will now be completed on Saturday with a doubleheader that starts at 12 p.m. The final game of the set (and second game of the doubleheader) will begin approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of Saturday's first game.