DURHAM, N.C. - The Virginia Tech baseball team continues league play this weekend with a three-game ACC series versus the Duke Blue Devils that starts on Friday at 3 p.m. - please note the new start time due to the weather expected in the Research Triangle.
Duke enters the series with an 18-15 overall record and is 6-9 in the ACC, while the Hokies are 20-14, 5-10 in conference play. Links for this weekend's games, which includes broadcast, audio, stats and game notes, are below.
Virginia Tech at Duke
April 12-14, 2019
Jack Coombs Field
Durham, North Carolina
Gameday Links
Broadcast: ACC Network Extra - Stats: Duke Statbroadcast
Game 1 - Friday, 3 p.m. - Stats
Game 2 - Saturday, 1 p.m. - Stats
Game 3 - Sunday, 1 p.m. - Stats
Audio (all three games): VT/IMG Radio Network
Tech Game Notes (PDF)
Duke Game Notes (PDF)
Road Warriors: During the month of April, Tech is scheduled for 19 games with 14 of those being contested on the road – including three of its four ACC weekend series. In contrast, Tech will close out the regular season in May without having to leave Blacksburg, finishing with a seven-game homestand.
The Hokies opened the month winners in four of six, including three straight. However, they lost two-of-three to Wake Forest last weekend, with two of those games being decided by one run (won 1, lost 1).
Gerard in rare company: Freshman pitcher Chris Gerard has done a couple things this season rarely, if ever done, in Tech's history in the ACC.
1) He is just the second freshman to win three games in ACC action, joining Justin Wright (2008), but he's the first to win all three of those games as a starter.
2) He's just the third Tech pitcher to win three ACC road games in a single season, joining Joe Parsons (2011 - at BC, Maryland and Duke) and Devin Burke (2013 - at Duke, Maryland and BC), but he's the first to do it as a freshman (at Florida State, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest). All three did it as starters as well.
3) He's the 12th Hokie to strike out at least 10 batters in an ACC game (at FSU March 9-G1) and just the second to do it as a freshman - Ian Seymour vs. Pittsburgh (March 10, 2018).
Winning in the non-conference: This week, the Hokies won a pair of midweek games, pushing their season total to 15 which is the most in a single season at the school since the 2013 team won 20 during the regular season. From 2003 through 2013 (11 years), Tech won at least 16 non-conference regular season games, while the team won a high of 14, twice, during the past five years.
Also, their previous seven-game winning streak over non-conference foes was the longest streak since the 2012 team won 18 in a row during the year, who went on to win 23 during the regular season.
Multiple grand slams: In the win over Marshall on Tuesday, Nick Biddison hit a grand slam in the second inning, marking a couple noteworthy accomplishments. Since Tech joined the ACC in 2005, the program has hit 26 grand slams, with the most being four by the 2010 squad, which the 2019 team has just matched. Also, Biddison became just the third Hokie in that time frame to hit multiple grand slams, joining Ronnie Shaban (3) and Rahiem Cooper (2).
Winning big, playing close: Twelve of Tech's 20 wins have been decided by five or more runs, the team is 12-3 in such games, opposed to 8-14 last year. Meanwhile, of Tech's 14 losses, eight have been decided by one or two runs. The Hokies are 5-4 in one-run games and 2-4 in two-run games - they were 5-11 and 5-4 last year. And until March 30, Tech pitching had not allowed an opponent to reach double figures in scoring - Clemson did it twice. At this point last year, opponents reached 10 runs six times. Lastly, Tech is 3-1 in shutouts this seasons, while they went 0-3 in 2018.