GREENSBORO, N.C. – Providing the pulse to the "Hammerin' Hokies" offense this season, Virginia Tech junior outfielder Jack Hurley has merited selection to the 2023 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I Atlantic All-Region Second Team, as announced by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) on Tuesday.
Chosen to the 2022 Atlantic All-Region First Team as a sophomore, Hurley logged another stellar campaign on the diamond as a junior, batting .320 during his 45 games (44 starts) with 15 doubles, two triples and 17 home runs. The native of Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, belted 57 hits, scored 46 runs and collected 49 RBIs, swiping four bases while carrying a perfect fielding percentage into the postseason.
At time of release, Hurley possessed the fourth highest slugging percentage among ACC hitters (.713), ranking in turn among the top 50 NCAA Division I players nationally. He also placed among the country's top 40 players in home runs per game (0.38), averaging one trip around the bases every 10.5 at-bats.
After taking the ACC by storm last season, Hurley lived up to expectations in 2023, hammering numbers that maintained his standing among the league's elite hitters. Considering conference regular season games, the 2023 All-ACC First Team honoree championed the league in slugging percentage (.743), ranking among its top 15 players in batting average (.347), home runs (10) and RBIs (27).
Despite starting slow to his standards – a .268 batting average through his first 19 games – Hurley caught fire during late March, laying the foundation from which he would sprout a 22-game hitting streak (the second longest of his career). By season's end, he had managed to swing .355 during his final 26 games, crossing the finish line with his 32-game reached base streak still intact.
Beginning with his two-homer show at Pitt on March 24, Hurley unloaded 11 home runs during a stretch of 13 consecutive games, including four straight occasions that ran through Tech's three-game home sweep of Georgia Tech (April 14-16). At the peak of his hot streak, he batted 11-for-20 with five home runs and 11 RBIs during the Hokies' three-win week against VMI (March 28) and then-No. 5 Virginia (March 31-April 2), garnering ACC Player of the Week and D1Baseball National Player of the Week honors, among other national accolades.
Hurley's junior season may have been grander had he not missed eight games due to injury, yet his return to Virginia Tech's lineup could not have been more memorable. During his first at-bat back on May 10 at Liberty, he walloped a two-run home run to right center field, leading the Hokies on their way to the 14-1, run-rule victory in Lynchburg.
Against schools represented in the ABCA Atlantic Region, Hurley batted .313 and slugged .727 this season during 24 games, charting seven doubles, two triples, 10 home runs, 29 runs and 28 RBIs.
Hurley is currently forecast as the No. 33 prospect in the 2023 MLB Draft (to be held between July 9 and July 11), according to mlb.com. As a program, Virginia Tech is seeking to produce top-50 draft picks during consecutive calendar years for the first time (2022, Gavin Cross – No. 9 overall).
