Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – With Sam Tackett’s two-run home run breaking up Jay Woolfolk’s shutout bid during the seventh inning on Thursday night, the Virginia Tech baseball team pulled within a run of Virginia during the opening game of the Commonwealth Clash presented by Smithfield, despite the Hokies submitting to a flood of late-inning offense during their 12-2 defeat at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park.
Virginia Tech (29-23, 11-17 ACC) was desperate for an offensive spark against Woolfolk, who was perfect through his first 10 batters faced and had allowed one hit through his first six innings on the mound. Two batters after Clay Grady had opened the seventh inning by squeezing a hustle double out of Woolfolk, Tackett hammered his 14th home run of the season into the left field night, cutting the Hokies’ deficit to 3-2 with two innings left to play.
However, Virginia (31-16, 15-10 ACC) managed to zap Virginia Tech’s momentum in an instant, riding the high of cleanup first baseman Chris Arroyo’s solo homer on the first pitch of the eighth inning. From there, the Cavaliers proceeded to finish the game scoring eight more runs off 10 additional hits, turning what had been a narrow affair into a runway result.
After falling behind by a run during the top of the first inning, Virginia Tech right-hand starter Brett Renfrow preserved the game’s 1-0 score line deep into the sixth inning when Harrison Didawick cracked a two-out RBI single that pushed Virginia’s lead to 2-0. Renfrow completed the inning with no further damage, exiting after six innings and 101 pitches having allowed eight hits and two walks while registering three strikeouts.
In relief of Renfrow at the start of the seventh inning, LeJeune was burned by his leadoff walk of Luke Hanson, who scored two batters later on Eric Becker’s RBI double to left center field. Luckily, LeJeune was saved from further harm by a bizarre baserunning double play when he picked off Becker on his way to third base, leading to Hudson Lutterman’s tags of Becker and Henry Ford who were attempting to occupy second base at the same time.
Together, Virginia Tech and Virginia united to field five double plays – three by the Hokies and two by the Cavaliers.
Didawick’s RBI single during the eighth inning knocked LeJeune out of the ballgame and brought in Preston Crowl, who allowed three hits, including Becker’s two-RBI single that capped Virginia’s five-run inning. Ference belted a two-run home run for the Cavaliers during the ninth inning off Luke Craytor, who also surrendered an RBI double to James Nunnalee.
Ben Watson extended his hitting streak to 17 consecutive games with his one-out single during the fourth inning that broke up Woolfolk’s perfect game. Woolfolk ended up striking out six batters during his longest start of the 2025 season (eight innings), allowing his only runs on Tackett’s homer.