LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Playing from behind most of the way on Friday night, the Virginia Tech baseball team suffered its first ACC setback of the season at Louisville as the Hokies dropped the opening game of the weekend, 9-6, at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Chris Cannizzaro, Eddie Micheletti Jr. and Ben Watson each cracked multiple hits from the heart of Tech's lineup while shortstop Clay Grady chalked a 2-for-4 game from the ninth spot in the order. True freshman starter Brett Renfrow was chased during the fourth inning and tagged with the loss, snapping his streak of four consecutive career-opening victories.
Virginia Tech (12-4, 3-1 ACC) fell behind, 3-0, during the bottom of the second inning, sliding as close as two runs when Micheletti homered to lead off the top of the fourth inning. Micheletti's swing marked his seventh home run of the season (his sixth such hit within his last seven games played), moving him into a tie for the team lead with Carson DeMartini.
Despite Louisville (13-5, 1-0 ACC) jumping out to the 6-1 advantage after six innings of play, the Hokies threw the kitchen sink at a comeback. Tech scored two runs during the seventh inning, loaded the bases three batters into the eighth inning and nearly introduced the game-tying run during the ninth inning after Cannizzaro's three-run, two-out home run.
Renfrow worked around Lucas Moore's double during the first inning, though ran into deeper trouble during the second inning. Luke Napleton became the first opponent to homer off Renfrow this season when he parked his solo blast over the right field fence, putting the Cardinals on top, 1-0.
Zion Rose pushed Louisville's lead to 2-0 with his RBI single that scored Isaac Humphrey, leaving Renfrow with another two-on, two-out situation to escape. Tech had a chance to limit the damage to a pair of runs, but Moore's hard-hit grounder was mishandled by Grady, resulting in an unearned run that set the Hokies back, 3-0.
Renfrow was lifted midway through the fourth inning after allowing six hits and conceding four walks, including the intentional walk that loaded the bases at his departure. David Shoemaker induced the inning-ending groundout that kept the score rigid at 3-1 for the time being, though the Cardinals would soon break through again when Napleton homered for the second time to start the fifth inning.
Louisville tacked on two runs (one unearned) during the sixth inning, loading the bases before a dropped throw by Sam Tackett on an RBI ground ball presented the Cardinals with one more scoring chance. Sure enough, Napleton delivered a sacrifice fly to left field, plating Moore to increase the hosts' lead to 6-1.
Virginia Tech was gifted life during the seventh inning as Humphrey allowed Henry Cooke's single to bounce behind him in right field, scoring Ben Watson from first base. Cooke darted home on an ensuing wild pitch, keeping the Hokies close at 6-3.
Tech threatened to make up the ground during the eighth inning, putting each of its first three leadoff batters aboard. However, Louisville reliever Riley Phillips closed the door on the Hokies, finding back-to-back strikeouts of Cooke and pinch-hitter Gehrig Ebel to leave them scoreless.
Napleton powered a third home run for the Cardinals during their three-run eighth inning, shooting the hosts out to the 9-3 lead. Tech ultimately went down fighting during the ninth inning, bringing five batters to the plate with two outs and receiving a three-run home run swing by Cannizzaro – his fifth homer of the season.
UP NEXT
Virginia Tech will look to even its series at Louisville on Saturday, March 16. First pitch between the Hokies and the Cardinals is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Jim Patterson Stadium.