BLACKSBURG – No. 21 West Virginia hit a pair of home runs and got a strong pitching performance from its starter Nick Snyder to hand Virginia Tech a 7-2 defeat on Wednesday night at English Field at Union Park, the Hokies' final home non-conference contest of the 2019 season.
Kevin Brophy put the Mountaineers on the board in the second with a two-run home run to left and Marques Inman's three-run home run capped the night's scoring in the eighth. Snyder improved to 7-1 on the season after tossing 6.1 innings and striking out 12 batters.
Tech (25-25) scored its only run off Snyder in the fifth, which started with Jonah Seagears and Nick Holesa hitting back-to-back singles to open the frame – for the second time in the night, as they did the same thing in the third.
This time, though, Tech was able to move Seagears into scoring position and he raced home from third on a wild pitch to cut the Mountaineers lead to 4-1 at the time.
In the seventh, Jack Owens reached base on a one-out single – the 190th hit of his Tech career – which chased Snyder from the game.
West Virginia (29-17) called in Tristen Hudson who hit Nick Biddison with a pitch and prompting another WVU pitching change. Zach Reid then hit the next two Hokies with pitches – Kerry Carpenter, which loaded the bases, and Kevin Madden, that scored Owens and made it a 4-2 contest.
However, Reid finished off the frame unscathed, stranding the bases loaded, and the Mountaineers responded with Inman's homer in the eighth, all but putting the game away.
Ryan Okuda threw 4.0 innings of relief, struck out two and allowed just one run, while Connor Yoder and Nolan Wilson each tossed a scoreless inning, with Yoder striking out the side in the eighth and Wilson striking out two in the ninth.
Up Next
Tech will take a week off before returning to action next Thursday, when the Hokies will host Virginia in their final ACC series of the year. First pitch on Thursday is set for 6 p.m., followed by a Friday 3 p.m. game, and will conclude on Saturday – Senior Day – with a 1 p.m. first pitch.Gallery: (5/8/2019) 2019 BASEBALL vs. WEST VIRGINIA