CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The Virginia Tech baseball team continues league play this weekend with a three-game ACC series at the No. 22 Miami Hurricanes that starts on Friday at 7 p.m. The series will continue on Saturday at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field with another 7 p.m. first pitch, while it will conclude on Sunday starting at 1 p.m.
Miami enters the series with a 28-14 overall record and is 11-10 in the ACC, while the Hokies are 24-18, 7-14 in conference play. Links for this weekend's games, which includes broadcast, audio, stats and game notes, are below.
Virginia Tech at Miami
April 26-28, 2019
Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field
Coral Gables, Florida
Gameday Links
Broadcast: ACC Network Extra
Game 1 - Friday, 7 p.m.
Game 2 - Saturday, 7 p.m.
Game 3 - Sunday, 1 p.m.
Stats (all three games): Miami Sidearm Stats
Audio (all three games): VT/IMG Radio Network
Tech Game Notes (PDF)
Miami Game Notes (PDF)
Four-game road trip closes April for Hokies: Tech enters the ACC series at Miami winners of two straight and has reached 24 wins for the first time since 2015, when the Hokies finished with 27 victories and made the ACC Championship tournament. Winning on the road has much to do with Tech's success this year, as the Hokies have won five games away from home in the ACC for only the sixth time in program history and the most since 2013 (school-record high tying 8). They've also won 10 road games, most since the 2015 team won 11, and their 12 wins away from Blacksburg overall is the most since 2013 as well.
Winning in the non-conference: The Hokies have now won five straight midweek games, pushing their season total to 17 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 which started the 2019 season was the longest streak since the 2012 team won 18 in a row during the year and went on to win 23 during the regular season.
Multiple grand slams: In the win over Marshall (April 9), Nick Biddison hit his second grand slam of the season in the second inning, marking a couple noteworthy accomplishments. Since Tech joined the ACC in 2005, the program has hit 26 grand slams overall, with the most being four by the 2010 squad, which the 2019 team has now 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). Shaban hit one in 2009, 2010 and 2011, while Cooper is the only other Hokie to hit two in the same season (he actually did it in the same game - Feb. 26, 2017 at Nevada).
Winning big, playing close: Half of Tech's 24 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 18 losses, 10 have been decided by one or two runs. The Hokies are 7-5 in one-run games and 3-5 in two-run games - they were 5-11 and 5-4 in such games last year. And until March 30, Tech pitching had not allowed an opponent to reach double figures in scoring - Clemson did it twice, the only two times this season. Opponents reach double figures in runs scored 12 times last year. Lastly, Tech is 3-2 in shutouts this seasons, while they went 0-3 in 2018.
An early lead is the difference: Tech is 42 games into the season and it appears that most Tech games are being decided by the end of the fifth inning, when the game has become "official". In games when leading after the fifth inning, Tech is 20-2, while they are 2-10 in games when its opponent has already claimed the lead, however both of those wins came in the last five contests - No. 11 Georgia Tech (April 18) and at Radford (April 24). In games tied after the fifth inning, the Hokies are 2-6.