BLACKSBURG – Tying its season low for hits allowed (four) – all singles – on Wednesday afternoon, the Virginia Tech baseball team coupled its masterful pitching with steady offense as the Hokies shut out VMI, 11-0, at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park.
Right-hand starter Kiernan Higgins retired six consecutive batters after issuing a leadoff walk, setting the standard for Tech's midweek hurlers to uphold the rest of the way. Freshman right-hander Andrew Sentlinger followed and matched Higgins in length, doubling the vet's strikeout tally from two to four to set a rookie season high in the zone.
Virginia Tech (13-7) scored a pair of runs during the first and third innings while rallying for seven more unanswered runs during the bottom of the fifth inning. In victory, the Hokies snapped their five-game losing streak while remaining perfect, five-for-five, against midweek opposition this season.
Aggressive on the bases, Christian Martin made VMI (13-9) pay for its game-opening error, going from first to third on rookie shortstop Clay Grady's shallow base hit into center field - the throw on which pulled Grady an extra 90 feet into scoring position. Carson DeMartini proceeded to chalk his first of three RBIs when his towering fly ball to left field tailed into foul ground, bringing home Martin with ease to put the Hokies on top, 1-0.
With runners at the corners during the third inning, Jack Hurley stroked an RBI single up the middle to push Tech's lead to 3-0. Carson Jones followed by lifting his sacrifice fly into center field, spotting the Hokies' bullpen the early, 4-0 advantage.
Freshman right-hander Griffin Stieg opened the fifth inning with back-to-back strikeouts of Jimmy Koza and Ty Swaim, preserving Tech's shutout past the game's halfway point. Grant Umberger, Luke Jackman and Tommy Szczepanski posted zeroes down the stretch for the Hokies, who notched their largest shutout victory (11-0) since Feb. 25, 2022, against Fordham (12-0).
DeMartini batted 2-for-2 during Tech's seven-run fifth inning, singling to open the inning and later connecting on a two-RBI double into the left field corner. Rookie first baseman Garrett Michel put the game out of reach between DeMartini's at-bats, hammering his first career grand slam beyond the wall in left center to rush the Hokies out to the 9-0 lead.
Virginia Tech played 18 position players during the course of Wednesday's shutout victory, substituting for every starter. Hurley and Michel both went 2-for-4 behind DeMartini's 3-for-3 day at the plate.
UP NEXT
Virginia Tech will return to ACC play on Friday, March 24, when it opens a three-game league series at Pitt. First pitch between the Hokies and the Panthers at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Gallery: (3-22-2023) BSB: VMI Military Appreciation Game