BLACKSBURG – Relying on small ball during the eighth inning when it mattered most on Saturday, the No. 13 Virginia Tech baseball team creatively found a way to flip a one-run score line in its favor as the Hokies stole the finale and the series against Pitt, 6-5, at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park.
Virginia Tech (21-5, 10-2 ACC) entered the bottom of the eighth inning trailing, 5-4, when senior catcher Gehrig Ebel grounded a double over the standing glove of third baseman Keeton Burroughs, sparking the Hokies' second late-inning comeback of the weekend.
Behind Ebel, Ben Watson roped a hard-hit ball into and out of the glove of the diving first baseman Luke Cantwell, who was forced to pocket his recovery as Watson had comfortably beaten the play to the bag. Squaring to squeeze, rookie Ethan Gibson dropped the perfect bunt towards the right side of the pitcher's mound, providing Ebel ample time to slide home as the game-tying run with an out yet to be recorded.
Tech's confidence to bat small continued as Clay Grady bunted the first pitch he saw from Ethan Firoved up the third base line for an infield single, loading the bases for the Hokies. Two batters later, junior third baseman Carson DeMartini – who began the day tied for the ACC lead in home runs (14) – dipped his bat and pulled the go-ahead squeeze bunt up the right side of the diamond, scoring Gibson to cement Tech's 6-5 lead.
Jordan Little cleaned up Virginia Tech's victory by stamping his fifth save of the season (his fourth within the Hokies' last seven games), striking out Jayden Melendez and Cantwell, back-to-back, before inducing the game-ending fly out to right field.
Tech rode the waves of Saturday's finale that featured five tied scores. Watson went 3-for-4 to lead the Hokies offensively, delivering two RBI hits during the second and fourth innings that kept them in line with the Panthers, 2-2, after four innings of play.
Pitt (12-13, 2-10 ACC) pulled in front, 3-2, during the top of the fifth inning, staging a two-out rally against Tech starter Griffin Stieg. With runners at the corners, right fielder Eddie Micheletti Jr. misplayed the inning-ending fly ball in the evening sun, allowing it to drop in front of him and leave C.J. Funk with an RBI single.
Despite surrendering the lead, Virginia Tech charged ahead, 4-3, during the bottom of the fifth inning courtesy of solo home runs by Christian Martin and Chris Cannizzaro. Martin's fifth homer of the year cleared the fence in right field while Cannizzaro's seventh of the season arced high down the left field line, barely staying fair to supply the Hokies with their second lead of the day.
Cannizzaro was stuck in the heat of controversy during the sixth inning when he was unable to bring back Jake Kendro's two-run home run in left field that had temporarily put Pitt on top, 5-4.
However, Kendro's homer was overturned by a base running technicality. Amidst the confusion of Cannizzaro securing the catch and losing the ball behind the left field wall, Kendro had passed lead runner Justin Fogel between first and second base, reducing the homer into a one-run scoring play that left the game knotted at 4-4.
Pitt ultimately earned its run back during the top of the seventh inning when the Panthers brought home the go-ahead run in the aftermath of Melendez's leadoff single. Tyler Bischke came through with the RBI single off Brady Kirtner, instating the 5-4 lead before the Hokies' wild comeback unfolded.
Stieg pitched solidly through his start lasting five and one-third innings, tying his season and career highs in strikeouts (seven). Kirtner improved to 4-0 this season as a reliever, navigating through one and two-thirds innings of relief while striking out a pair.
Firoved was tagged with the loss for the Panthers after notching five strikeouts through three and two-thirds innings of relief work. Eight of Pitt's nine offensive starters recorded hits during the contest with Bischke and Kendro providing the Panthers' lone multi-hit games.
UP NEXT
No. 13 Virginia Tech will travel to Marshall on Tuesday, April 2. First pitch between the Hokies and the Thundering Herd at Jack Cook Field in Huntington, West Virginia, is scheduled for 6 p.m.Gallery: (3-30-2024) BSB: Pitt Game 3