BLACKSBURG – From the confines of its home ballpark, the No. 4 nationally-seeded Virginia Tech baseball team will begin its road to Omaha on Friday, June 3, when the Hokies contest their opening game of the NCAA Blacksburg Regional at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park. Tech, the top-seeded regional host, will begin double-elimination play against fourth-seeded Wright State at 7 p.m. opposite early action between second-seeded [No. 14] Gonzaga and third-seeded Columbia (1 p.m.).
Friday's regional opener between the Hokies and the Raiders will air live on ACC Network. Fans may also tune into WRAD-FM 101.7 to listen to this weekend's regional games as called by the play-by-play voice of Tech baseball, Evan Hughes.
| REGIONAL SCHEDULE | |||||
| Day | Date | Time | Opponent | Network | Radio |
| Fri. | June 3 | 7 p.m. | Wright State | ACCN | WRAD-FM 101.7 |
| Sat. | June 4 | 1 p.m. | Game 3 | -- | -- |
| Sat. | June 4 | 7 p.m. | Game 4 | -- | -- |
| Sun. | June 5 | 1 p.m. | Game 5 | -- | -- |
| Sun. | June 5 | 7 p.m. | Game 6 | -- | -- |
| Sun. | June 6 | 7 p.m. | Game 7 | -- | - |
PROBABLE STARTERS
• Game 2: Drue Hackenberg (10-2, 2.83 ERA) vs. Jake Shirk (6-6, 5.20 ERA)
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
• Tale of the Tape: June baseball is returning to Blacksburg as Virginia Tech prepares to compete in its first home NCAA Regional since 2013. Coming in at No. 4, the Hokies have been graced with their highest all-time national seed for the NCAA tournament – a testament to the strength of the program's historic 2022 campaign that has showcased unprecedented success. Championing the ACC Coastal Division for the first time, Tech achieved the best regular season record within the conference that tied for the most postseason bids (nine). From the depths of their five-game losing streak in mid-March, the Hokies reset themselves to take college baseball by storm, since winning 31 of their last 37 games and a program record, nine ACC series. Tech has failed to drop consecutive games across the last 10 weeks of the season – a feat that makes the Hokies one tough out during this weekend's double-elimination regional.
• We've Met Before: Virginia Tech is all-too familiar with its regional-opening opponent, Wright State, needing to come back from one game down to defeat the Raiders during the teams' early-March series in Blacksburg. After prevailing during seven consecutive games to start the season, Tech appeared to be on course for its eighth straight win when Wright State pulled into English Field on March 4. The Hokies brought eight batters to the plate during the bottom of the first inning, shooting out to the 4-0 lead with help from Eduardo Malinowski's three-run homer. However, the Raiders stunned Tech for five second-inning runs, blitzing Griffin Green for five inning-opening singles to soon tie and proceed to take the 5-4 advantage. Held to one run the rest of the way, the Hokies suffered their first setback of the year at the hands of Wright State, which managed to outscore Tech by the 11-1 margin across the final eight innings of play. However, the Hokies answered the bell during the remainder of the weekend, recovering to outscore the Raiders, 26-4, across the final two games. Against right-hander Jake Shirk, Tech plated five runs on seven hits, sending him packing after five innings of work. Malinowski led the Hokies against Wright State with his .583 batting average, three homers and seven RBIs while Drue Hackenberg impressed on the mound, delivering six strikeouts across seven innings of one-run ball.
• Postseason Awards Class: With only one draft pick out of high school on its 2022 roster (Cade Hunter), Virginia Tech has churned out some of the nation's best players at nearly every position. On Friday, three Hokies were selected as Collegiate Baseball Newspaper All-Americans: sophomore shortstop Tanner Schobel (Third Team), sophomore outfielder Jack Hurley (Third Team) and freshman pitcher Drue Hackenberg (Third Team). Tech is also stacked with two Golden Spikes Award semifinalists in third-year outfielder Gavin Cross and Schobel as well as two Dick Howser Trophy semifinalists in Hurley and Schobel. Positionally, third-year catcher Cade Hunter has been named one of 16 semifinalists for the Buster Posey Award (presented annually to the best collegiate catcher) while Schobel is one of five finalists for the Brooks Wallace Award (presented annually to the best collegiate shortstop). Tech's eight ACC year-end, all-conference winners set the program record, as did its four All-ACC First Team selections. Additionally, John Szefc was named the 2022 ACC Coach of the Year on the eve of leading his third program to the NCAA tournament (seven combined appearances at Marist and Maryland).
UP NEXT
The champion of the NCAA Blacksburg Regional will play the winner of the NCAA Gainesville Regional during next weekend's Super Regional round.