BLACKSBURG – After being picked to finish second-to-last in the conference preseason poll, the Virginia Tech baseball team came into its 2022 campaign with plenty to prove. The third-ranked Hokies did that and more, silencing all doubters en route to winning their first-ever ACC Coastal Division title and earning the top seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament in Charlotte.
Tech finished atop the division standings with a 19-9 mark, its most league victories in a single season, and won nine of 10 series against conference foes. The Hokies' 40 wins across the entire regular season are also the program's most since 2013.
The squad, which is under the direction of fifth-year head coach John Szefc, could score in bunches regularly and ended up putting together seven games of 10-or-more runs against ACC foes, including two 20-run outings.
A big reason why for those outbursts were on the shoulders of outfielders Gavin Cross and Jack Hurley. Cross leads the ACC with five triples on the year, while Hurley has racked up 23 doubles, which also ranks first in the league. To wrap up a star-studded lineup, Tech features six players that own double-digit home runs, including shortstop Tanner Schobel (16), catcher Cade Hunter (15), Hurley (13), Cross (13), third baseman Carson DeMartini (13) and second baseman Eduardo Malinowski (12).
As a team, the Hokies without a doubt can rake, leading the ACC in both slugging percentage (.569) and doubles (128). The Hammering Hokies mantra has certainly been backed up, with the club eclipsing the 100 mark for home runs to become the fifth team in school history to do so (104 through 51 games).
Tech has shown off its speed on the bases, too, tying the second-most stolen bases in school history (68, 2010), which ranks second in the ACC. And even though the impressive hitting and savvy on the base paths gets most of the attention, as it should, the pitching and defense have been on point, too.
Pitcher Drue Hackenberg, who is in the mix to win ACC Freshman of the Year, leads the ACC in ERA with a 2.44 (85 innings pitched) and is 10-1 on the bump, with his 10 wins being tied for the most in the league. Then collectively, from the starters to the bullpen, the pitching staff has been able to buckle down with runners in scoring position, allowing the second-fewest runs in the league (226). Defensively, Tech has the second-best clip for fielding percentage (.980) in the conference.
But it's one thing to have all of these great stats. It's another to be consistent in the win column week in and week out, and the Hokies have been able to do just that. The team has won 30 of its last 35 games and has won a school-record nine straight ACC series.
A model of consistency, the Hokies are the hottest thing in college baseball heading into a time that matters most – the postseason.
UP NEXT
Tech fans can watch them next at the ACC Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they will face eighth-seeded North Carolina (34-19, 15-15) and 12th-seeded Clemson (35-21, 13-16) in Pool A. Earlier in the year, the Hokies won twice down in Chapel Hill. They did not play the Tigers during the regular season.
GIVE FOR THE W
The Hokies are the kings of the Coastal division. Celebrate this moment by making a gift to their program today.
