Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Less than a month away from opening the doors to its 16th annual Baseball Night in Blacksburg, the Virginia Tech baseball program is encouraging alumni, fans and friends alike to take advantage of last-call ticket options to reserve seats at the Hokies' preseason banquet featuring special guest and keynote speaker Roger Clemens.
This year's celebration will take place on Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Hahn Hurst Basketball Practice Center adjacent to Cassell Coliseum. Opening remarks will be made at 6 p.m., leading into a dinner service and ensuing Q&A with Roger Clemens before the event's close at approximately 9 p.m.
As of Jan. 12, only a limited number of individual tickets (reserve now at $200 per guest) and non-VIP tables accommodating eight seats (reserve now at $2,000 per table) remain available. Additionally, feature seating at the following VIP tables remains on sale at the following pricing:
- Erik Neander (six-seat table, $10,000) – Neander is the current president of baseball operations with the Tampa Bay Rays and a Virginia Tech graduate. He has helped lead the Rays to five consecutive MLB postseason berths, including a 421-287 mark during those seasons (.595 winning percentage).
- Joe Mantiply (six-seat table, $8,000) – Mantiply co-led Virginia Tech to NCAA Regional appearances in 2010 and 2013 and has since blossomed into a coveted MLB reliever. Currently rostered with the Arizona Diamondbacks, he pitched in the 2022 MLB All-Star Game and won the 2023 National League pennant, starting Game 4 of the 2023 World Series.
- Gavin Cross (six-seat table, $5,000) – Virginia Tech's highest all-time MLB Draft selection (No. 9 overall, 2022), Cross was a 2022 Perfect Game All-American outfielder, hammering 28 home runs with the Hokies between 2020 and 2022. He co-led Tech to the 2022 ACC Coastal Division championship and finished the 2023 campaign with the Kansas City Royals' Double-A affiliate.
- Packy Naughton (six-seat table, $5,000) – Virginia Tech's sixth highest MLB Draft selection during the 2010s, Naughton registered 172 strikeouts during his career with the Hokies, making his MLB debut in 2021 with the Los Angeles Angels. Joining the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022, he has his eyes set on a return to the pitcher's mound in 2024.
- Chad Pinder (six-seat table, $5,000) – One of the best bats on Virginia Tech's 2013 NCAA Regional team, Pinder logged 10 seasons in the Oakland Athletics organization, including seven MLB campaigns. He mashed 62 career home runs and 89 career doubles with the Athletics, retiring from professional baseball during the spring of 2023.
- Graham Firoved & Tanner Schobel (six-seat table, $5,000) – Firoved compiled 108 strikeouts in a Virginia Tech uniform prior to his 16th round selection by the Baltimore Orioles during the 2022 MLB Draft; he competed in 2023 with the Orioles' High-A affiliate. Schobel was a 2022 All-American shortstop who led the Hammerin' Hokies that season in home runs (19) and RBIs (74); he was named a 2023 MiLB.com Minnesota Organization All-Star at second base, batting .265 across the High-A and Double-A levels.
To reserve any remaining tickets and/or tables, please click here. Registration for Virginia Tech's 16th annual Baseball Night in Blacksburg will close to the public on Thursday, Feb. 1, at 12 noon ET.
All Baseball Night in Blacksburg proceeds will go to support the Virginia Tech baseball team, especially its continual enhancements to English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park and its accompanying facilities. Past banquets have supported the installation of artificial turf and expanded dugouts, among other general ballpark overhauls and additions.
Roger Clemens will become the Hokies' latest high-profile special guest, joining the class of notable past speakers: Cal Ripken Jr. (2008), Mike Williams (2010), Billy Wagner (2011), Bobby Valentine (2012), Chuck Hartman (2014), Tim Kurkjian (2018), Ken Rosenthal (2020), Jeff Passan (2022), Chipper Jones (2023) and others.
SPONSORSHIPS
Sponsorship opportunities for Baseball Night in Blacksburg are available to all corporations, groups and individuals. For more information regarding event sponsorship opportunities, please contact Cam Davis by email at camd25@vt.edu or by phone at (540) 231-9948.
ROGER CLEMENS
Roger Clemens is an 11-time MLB All-Star, two-time World Series champion (1999, 2000), seven-time Cy Young Award winner and NCAA Division I pitcher at Texas. Among the most dominant pitchers of his generation, Clemens made 20-plus starts during all but three of his 24 MLB seasons, spanning from 1984 with the Boston Red Sox to his age-44 season in 2007 with the New York Yankees.
A prolific college talent at Texas, the two-time All-American co-led the Longhorns to the 1983 Men's College World Series championship before honoring his first round (No. 19 overall) selection by the Boston Red Sox during the 1983 MLB Draft.
Nicknamed "Rocket," Clemens poetically earned his 4,000th career strikeout and his 300th career victory during the same June 2003 game at Yankee Stadium. Upon retiring after the 2007 season, he ranked second all-time in MLB strikeouts (now third – 4,672) and eighth all-time in wins (now ninth – 354).