Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Sprinting out to the 6-0 lead courtesy of Tanner Schobel's two home runs on Thursday night, the No. 21 Virginia Tech baseball team ended No. 2 Miami's nation-long winning streak with its 12-5, series-opening victory at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park.
With the win, Virginia Tech (22-8, 8-6 ACC) celebrated its first victory against a top-five opponent (as ranked by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper) since 2019 when the Hokies defeated No. 1 Florida State in Tallahassee. Tech's win on Thursday marked its 12th across its last 14 games, including its sixth top-25 victory of the 2022 season (as ranked by D1Baseball).
Nick Biddison opened the Hokies' 16-hit night by fisting a 2-2 pitch from the Hurricanes' starter, Carson Palmquist, into shallow center field, cranking up the jets for a hustle double – his 10th two-bagger of the season. After Gavin Cross had singled Biddison over, Schobel caught enough of Palmquist's 0-2 delivery to clear the left field fence, shooting Tech out to the 3-0 lead without an out having been registered.
Jack Hurley followed with a fourth consecutive hit to start the game as the Hokies went on to bring nine batters to the plate, becoming only the second team this season to bat around against the Miami left-hander.
Tech's fireworks trickled into the second inning where Biddison punished Palmquist's first pitch off the batter's eye for a solo home run. Two innings later, Schobel brought the Hokies' iconic home run hammer out again, delivering the two-run homer that all but chased Palmquist out of the game after three and one-third innings pitched.
After starting his night with four shutout innings, Griffin Green ran into trouble for the first time during the top of the fifth inning where Miami (27-7, 13-3 ACC) rallied for three two-out runs. With Mike Rosario aboard following his one-out triple, CJ Kayfus singled him in, stole a base and scored on two Tech miscues before Edgardo Villegas smoked a solo homer deep to right field.
Green recovered to survive the fifth inning and blank Miami during the sixth inning, finishing with seven strikeouts across six innings and change while allowing three runs on seven hits. Graham Firoved whipped up two strikeouts to help the Hokies out of the seventh inning, letting the home fans stretch in a 6-3 ballgame.
Conor Hartigan's RBI single during the bottom of the seventh inning proved key for Tech as Miami trimmed the Hokies' lead to 7-5 during the eighth inning. Maxwell Romero, Jr. homered to open the frame while Jacob Burke followed with a triple during his ensuing at-bat, scoring on Zach Levenson's RBI single that brought the visitors within a pair of runs.
However, Tech answered by staging a two-out, bases-loaded rally that resulted in five runs, clinching the victory with Cade Hunter's bases-clearing double that bounced off the warning track in left center.
NOTEWORTHY
• Virginia Tech has won six of its last eight games against opponents ranked in D1Baseball's top 25.
• The Hokies snapped Miami's nation-long winning streak of 14 consecutive games – its longest since 2014.
• Tech celebrated its first victory against a D1Baseball top-five opponent since May 13, 2017, when the Hokies defeated No. 3 North Carolina at English Field.
• Tanner Schobel has hit five home runs during his last four games and seven across his last nine appearances. On Thursday, he became the Hokies' fifth player to eclipse 10 home runs this season.
• Virginia Tech has won four consecutive ACC series-opening games, three of which have been won by starter Griffin Green.
UP NEXT
No. 21 Virginia Tech will play for its fifth consecutive ACC series victory on Friday, April 15, when the Hokies contest the middle game of their three-game series against No. 2 Miami. First pitch at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park is scheduled for 7 p.m.Gallery: (4-14-2022) BSB: Miami Game 1