BLACKSBURG – Combatting its slow start with 14 unanswered runs on Tuesday afternoon, the No. 19 Virginia Tech baseball team overcame its four-run deficit to defeat ETSU, 14-4, during seven innings of play at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park.
Sixth-year outfielder Chris Cannizzaro led the Hokies by batting 3-for-4 with three doubles, two of which bounced over the outfield wall in ground-rule fashion. Leadoff second baseman Christian Martin hammered a three-run home run as his lone hit of the game, walking twice while Henry Cooke went 2-for-4 with a two-RBI double.
Virginia Tech (15-4) trailed, 4-0, through an inning and a half of action and had made three calls to its bullpen before the Hokies' offense spun momentum in its favor during the bottom of the second inning.
Eddie Micheletti Jr. started Tech's five-run rally by drawing a leadoff walk against opposing starter Walker Trusley, who did not survive the end of the inning. Senior first baseman Gehrig Ebel followed by flaring a base hit into right field, moving Micheletti into scoring position before a costly throwing error helped creep the Hokies back into the contest.
With Ben Watson slapping a ground ball to the right side, second baseman Noah Gent throw awry to second base and up the left field line, cueing the merry-go-round that scored both Micheletti and Ebel on the error.
Despite Cooke flying into a 9-5 double play (as Watson had tried to tag), David McCann kept the second inning alive with a walk while Clay Grady forced the end of Trusley's start, reaching on an infield single to the right side. Three pitches into Kenny Keller's relief outing, Martin greeted him with a three-run home run to center field, supplying Virginia Tech its first and final lead at 5-4.
Ebel widened Tech's lead to 7-4 during the third inning with his fifth home run of the season, scoring Cannizzaro on his two-run shot to left field. Cannizzaro later came through with a pair of two-RBI doubles during the fourth and fifth innings as the Hokies climbed to the 12-4 advantage.
Like Cannizzaro, Cooke connected on a two-RBI double down the left field line during the bottom of the sixth inning, introducing Virginia Tech's 10-run lead that threatened to end the game as early as the seventh inning (by coaches' prearrangement). Sure enough, Madden Clement retired the Buccaneers in order during the top of the seventh inning, clinching the Hokies' 13th victory during their last 15 games.
Matthew Siverling earned his first winning decision of the 2024 season, pitching two and one-third innings of relief, allowing one hit while striking out three batters without issuing a walk. Preston Crowl followed Siverling with two flawless innings of relief work, retiring each of the six batters he faced in addition to registering a strikeout.
McCann went 1-for-3 with an RBI single during the fifth inning, moving from designated hitter to catcher during the seventh inning.
Tommy Barth led ETSU (14-6) with his 2-for-3 day at the plate, singling in a run off Jacob Exum during the second inning. Cody Miller produced the RBI double that shot the Buccaneers in front during the first inning while designated hitter Nick Iannantone belted a two-RBI double during ETSU's three-run second inning.
UP NEXT
Virginia Tech will put its best ACC start on the line this weekend when the Hokies open a three-game league series at Boston College on Friday, March 22.