BLACKSBURG – Through the first four frames of the evening, the Virginia Tech baseball team held an 8-1 lead, however the visiting VMI Keydets stormed back scoring six runs in the ninth and had the tying run on second base.
Jack Dellinger, the Hokies' fourth pitcher of the inning got Josh Hollifield to fly a ball into left, which Tanner Thomas made a diving catch on to give Tech a 10-9 victory over VMI in nonconference action on Tuesday evening at English Field at Union Park.
Dellinger picked up his second save of the year, while Thomas not only saved the game for the Hokies with his grab, but his eighth-inning, two-out RBI single that scored Kerry Carpenter, which made it 10-3 at the time, turned out to be the game winner.
Luke Horanski led the Hokies with three RBI in the game, notching a pair of sacrifice flies in the first and fourth, while hitting an RBI double in the third, part of Tech's four-run frame that put them ahead at 6-1.
Nick Biddison hit a solo home run to lead off the third, his sixth of the year, and Jonah Seagears capped off the inning with a two-out, two-RBI double that brought home Horanski and Dalton Harum.
Thomas also hit a sacrifice fly in a two-run fourth that put Tech up by seven at that point.
Ryan Okuda (3-1) stymied the VMI offense over four frames, allowing just two hits, one run and struck out a career-high seven batters, including striking out the side in the sixth, for the first time in his career.
VMI (10-31) got a solo home run in the eighth from Jake Huggins and when he hit his second of the night, a three-run shot in the ninth, he had pulled his team to within one at 10-9.
The Keydets sent 10 men to the plate in the final frame, which included Hollifield for the second time. He started the rally with a walk, and with the game-tying run on second, he sliced a ball into shallow left, a ball Thomas pulled in on his belly.
Up Next
The Hokies (23-18) will head to Radford for another midweek game, which starts at 6 p.m., before heading to the Sunshine State for a three-game ACC series at Miami.Gallery: (4/23/2019) 2019 BASEBALL vs.VMI