Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Commanding the zone on Wednesday night to the tune of 17 strikeouts (season high), the No. 25 Virginia Tech baseball team prevailed during its duel with No. 20 Troy, pocketing the 3-1 win at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park.
In victory, Virginia Tech (23-10) improved to 6-1 against the D1Baseball top 25 poll this season, charting another top-20 takedown onto its 2025 ledger. Wednesday’s result also happened to mark head coach John Szefc’s 30th such win since the beginning of the 2021 season.
Six Virginia Tech pitchers united for the team’s highest strikeout mark during a nine-inning game since 2021, each contributing at least one strikeout to the game total.
Freshman midweek starter Chase Swift earned the first five outs of Wednesday’s ballgame by strikeout, finishing with six whiffs through three scoreless innings. Left-handed junior Josh Berzonski followed with three strikeouts through two and one-third innings of relief; Preston Crowl added four strikeouts through one and two-thirds innings on the mound while Brendan Yagesh (one strikeout), Mathieu Curtis (one) and Grant Manning (two) protected a two-run game from the sixth inning onward.
Virginia Tech completed its scoring during its first two innings at the plate, finding success against starter Drew Nelson.
Electric baserunning by leadoff batter Jared Davis put the wheels in motion for the Hokies to take the 1-0 lead during the bottom of the first inning. Having reached base when his bouncing comebacker to Nelson awkwardly bounced into foul territory, Davis ambitiously tagged to second base on Ben Watson’s fly ball to center field, sliding into a collision.
Holding at second base long enough for third baseman Jimmy Janicki to field Sam Tackett’s groundout, Davis dodged an inning-ending, 3-5-3 double play with his aggressive baserunning, baiting the Trojans into making another throw. His aggression paid off as Henry Cooke proceeded to lift the go-ahead RBI single into center field, scoring Davis for the first run of the night.
A trio of doubles by Ethan Gibson, Clay Grady and Tackett during the second inning allowed Virginia Tech to extend its lead to 3-0. Grady’s shallow base hit into left field was met with a weak-developing entry throw by Harrison Bowman, scoring Gibson while leaving time for Grady to leg out two bases.
Two batters later, Watson cracked an RBI single to left center field to set the score at 3-0, part of the graduate outfielder’s 2-for-4 evening – his fifth multi-hit performance during his last seven games.
Troy (24-9) chipped a run off its deficit during the top of the fourth inning when Gavin Schrader delivered a two-out, RBI double to left field against Berzonski. Despite representing the game’s tying run at second base, Berzonski induced the inning-ending groundout from Peryn Bland – one of three instances during the middle to late innings when the Trojans left the potential tying run on base.
Virginia Tech had a chance to break the game open during the bottom of the fourth inning, loading the bases in the wake of two leadoff outs. However, Cooke was unable to capitalize on the 3-1 pitch he received, grounding into the fielder’s choice that stymied the Hokies’ rally.
From the mound, Virginia Tech’s hurlers kept Troy at an arm’s length to complete the midweek upset. Through nine defensive innings, the Hokies’ pitchers recorded inning-ending strikeouts seven times, including every inning from the fifth inning onward.