Hokie ClubWINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Batting around to the tune of nine runs during the first inning of Friday’s series opener, the Virginia Tech baseball team ran away with a loud victory against No. 16 Wake Forest, downing the Demon Deacons, 13-2, during an eight-inning game shortened by run rule at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Virginia Tech (18-8, 5-5 ACC) brought 14 batters to the plate during the top of the first inning, spinning the merry-go-round against Wake Forest (20-7, 7-3 ACC) and starter Logan Lunceford. After Lunceford had walked the bases full of Hokies to start the game and allowed a run to score via wild pitch, cleanup man David McCann stepped in and knocked a two-RBI single through the right side of the infield, rushing the visitors out to the speedy, 3-0 lead.
From there, Virginia Tech reaped the benefits of an inning that began snowballing fast on the Demon Deacons. Henry Cooke and Hudson Lutterman connected on back-to-back singles – the latter of which put the Hokies ahead, 4-0 – while Treyson Hughes was hit by Lunceford’s 1-2 pitch, marking the end of the road for the right-hander.
With only one out on the scoreboard, Virginia Tech accepted two bases-loaded walks from reliever Nate Brittain, inching its lead up to 6-0 with Ben Watson due at the plate. Breaking the game open, Watson drove the sixth pitch of his at-bat with Brittain to the wall in left center field, clearing the bases and delivering the 9-0 lead for the Hokies.
Nine runs were more than enough for Brett Renfrow to comfortably keep Wake Forest at bay as the sophomore right-hander toed six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits while recording five strikeouts. After surrendering a run back to the Demon Deacons during the bottom of the first inning (RBI single by Kade Lewis), Renfrow proceeded to retire each of the next 10 batters he faced, denying them another run until the fifth inning.
Nifty defense by Garrett Michel during the bottom of the fifth inning helped Renfrow and Virginia Tech avoid significant trouble during Wake Forest’s best rally of the night. With the bases loaded and one out, Michel dove at full extension towards the first base line to take a double away from Lewis, flipping to Renfrow for the key second out that ultimately held the Demon Deacons to one run.
Hudson Lutterman hammered a solo home run for Virginia Tech during the top of the sixth inning, part of the freshman’s 3-for-5 night that included a double, three runs and two RBIs. Two innings later, the Hokies tacked on two runs behind Lutterman’s double, tipping the game into run rule territory.
Cameron LeJeune picked up six outs after Renfrow from eight batters faced, finishing off Virginia Tech’s eight-inning victory – the Hokies’ third ranked ACC win within their last four tries.