CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Eyeing a season-opening sweep on Sunday afternoon, the Virginia Tech baseball team was unable to bring out the brooms at Charlotte as the Hokies stumbled, 10-5, during the finale of the clubs' three-game series at Robert and Mariam Hayes Baseball Stadium.
Sophomore first baseman Garrett Michel doubled and homered inside his 2-for-4 outing to lead Virginia Tech (2-1), which had outscored the 49ers by the 20-5 margin through the opening two games of the weekend. Fellow second-year infielder Clay Grady matched Michel's 2-for-4 batting line, working himself into the hit column for the first time during the young season.
Senior catcher Gehrig Ebel ran Tech out to the 1-0 lead during the top of the second inning, scoring from second base on a poorly-handled wild pitch by the 49ers. Ebel slid aggressively under the tag of position mate Rene Lastres, who managed to snap-fire to third base, nabbing Grady and ending the theatrics.
Charlotte (1-2) burned Tech starter Griffin Stieg for five earned runs, ending his day all too early before an out had been recorded during the bottom of the third inning. Noah Furcht's solo home run and Thad Ector's RBI double had supplied the 49ers with the 2-1 lead – their first of the weekend – during the previous inning before the hosts chased Stieg, plating four more runs to race out to the 6-1 advantage.
Michel put a charge into the Hokies when he led off the fourth inning with a monster home run to left field, a no-doubt rocket that left the yard at 107 miles per hour. Grady's leadoff single during the fifth inning later resulted in him crossing the plate on Chris Cannizzaro's sacrifice fly, bringing the visitors within 6-3 by the game's midway point.
Fifth-year right-hander Jeremy Neff (transfer from Richmond) was tasked with cleaning up Charlotte's four-run third inning, recovering nicely to face the minimum into the sixth inning. There, Neff's one-out walk to Ector was met by back-to-back singles by Shane Taylor and Brandon Stahlman, sending the Hokies back to the bullpen with the 49ers on top, 7-3.
Despite Carson Bayne's sacrifice fly pushing Charlotte's lead to 8-3, Tech answered with two runs during the top of the seventh inning. Carson DeMartini hugged the left field line with his RBI double that scored Christian Martin from first base while Cannizzaro delivered his second sacrifice fly of the game to creep the Hokies back within 8-5.
However, the 49ers' bats continued to stay hot into the late innings, where Charlotte ultimately recorded six of its 13 hits. Dante DeFranco and Lastres accounted for the 49ers' final RBI singles during the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, denying Tech its bid for a series sweep.
Charlotte left-hand starter Cole Reynolds allowed four hits and three runs through four and two-thirds innings, fanning three batters while walking three. Right-hander Tony Rossi was credited with the victory on scorer's discretion, collecting the final eight outs without conceding a run and tallying four strikeouts.
UP NEXT
Virginia Tech is off until Wednesday, Feb. 21, when the Hokies will complete their four-game, season-opening road swing at James Madison. First pitch between Tech and JMU at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is scheduled for 3 p.m.