BLACKSBURG – Kicking off its annual intrasquad Fall World Series on Monday at English Field, the Virginia Tech baseball team made its way into the seventh inning of Game 1 before rain suspended play with Orange leading Maroon, 6-3.
FALL WORLD SERIES SCORING
To win the Fall World Series, Maroon or Orange must win at least two of the following three categories: (a) Game 3 score, (b) series run differential and (c) series points. Teams earn one series point for every inning won on the scoreboard. If an inning is tied, no points are awarded and the value of points to be awarded during the next inning increases by one.
GAME 1
With Maroon as the home team, its fifth-year left-hand starter Ryan Okuda rolled through the Orange lineup at a feverish pace, striking out seven of the 10 batters he faced across three innings of work. Okuda scattered a pair of hits to rookie infielder Christian Martin (Amherst, Virginia) and fifth-year senior Brennan Reback, recovering to pick off both runners during the first and third innings, respectively.
Freshman infielder Warren Holzemer (Burke, Virginia) opened the scoring for Maroon during the bottom of the second inning when he carried a 1-1 pitch off Kiernan Higgins (Shippensburg University) over the left field wall. Holzemer's solo blast remained the only run charged to Higgins, who recorded three strikeouts across three and two-thirds innings on the mound.
Maroon cushioned its leads to 3-0 for the game and 5-0 in series points during the bottom of the fifth inning. Two batters after third-year catcher Cade Hunter had poked a leadoff single up the middle, senior outfielder Conor Hartigan (James Madison) cleared the fence with his two-run homer, banking three clutch series points for Maroon.
Orange chipped away at the Maroon lead during the sixth inning, receiving a leadoff home run from Reback and an immediate double by sophomore Jack Hurley. The outfielder later crossed the plate during an inning-ending rundown before senior Ryan Kennedy (Kennesaw State) posted a scoreless frame to earn Orange its first series point.
Sophomore catcher Gehrig Ebel helped energize Orange's four-run start to the seventh inning. Ebel connected on an RBI double that scored third-year infielder Cade Swisher, helping Orange build the 6-3 lead before rain halted play.
Monday's opening game was suspended with two outs in the top of the seventh inning; Orange has a runner at second base and grad transfer Eduardo Malinowski (Pennsylvania) is batting with a 1-0 count.
UP NEXT
Game 1 of the Fall World Series will resume on Wednesday, Oct. 27, before Game 2 is played. Fans are encouraged to follow @HokiesBaseball on Twitter to learn the latest information on start times.