Hokie ClubDURHAM, N.C. – From a dutiful start on short rest by freshman Jake Marciano on Tuesday to Grant Manning’s eight-out save, the 12th-seeded Virginia Tech baseball team used them and everyone in between to put away 13th-seeded Stanford, 7-4, during the first round of the 2025 ACC Baseball Championship at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Four days from making his previous start, Marciano threw four and two-thirds innings for the Hokies, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out five batters without issuing a walk. Had it not been for his wild pitch during the third inning, the freshman southpaw would have opened with four scoreless innings against the Cardinal prior to allowing a solo home run to Trevor Haskins during the top of the fifth inning.
Virginia Tech (31-24) received three multi-hit games from the top three batters in its lineup as the Hokies assembled four scoring frames from the third through seventh innings. Despite starting 0-for-3, leadoff outfielder Ben Watson belted two hits during his final two at-bats of the game, extending his hitting streak to 20 consecutive games (career long at the NCAA Division I level).
After Stanford (27-25) had batted two singles during the top of the third inning and taken the lead on Marciano’s wild pitch, Hudson Lutterman backed his fellow rookie by connecting on an RBI double during the bottom of the inning. With Cam Pittman aboard following a one-out walk, Lutterman pushed starter Joey Volchko’s 1-1 pitch through the gap in left center field, scoring Pittman from first base for the game’s tying run.
Virginia Tech challenged Volchko again during the bottom of the fourth inning in the wake of back-to-back leadoff singles by Sam Tackett and David McCann.
With runners at the corners, Jackson Cherry’s squeeze bunt bit the turf with a significant degree of backspin – enough to leave Volchko without a play towards any runner as Tackett rushed home, providing Virginia Tech its first lead at 2-1. Two batters later, Pittman punched a two-out RBI single into left field, scoring McCann to put the Hokies ahead, 3-1.
Stanford refused to quietly, chipping a run off Virginia Tech’s lead during the fifth inning when Haskins drove his solo home run to the left field patio. Threatening to score more with the bases loaded during the sixth inning, reliever Cameron LeJeune and the Hokies were saved by a tumbling outfield catch by second baseman Jared Davis, who tracked a dying quail over this shoulder to stifle the rally with the final out of the inning.
Virginia Tech used the Davis catch as fuel for its three-run sixth inning that left the Hokies lying a 6-2 lead. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, Clay Grady was gifted a stroke of luck when center fielder Charlie Bates lost his final out in the overwhelming sunlight, letting the ball drop to his left side for a bizarre two-RBI single.
Despite the four-run margin, Stanford again tested Virginia Tech’s bullpen by loading the bases during the top of the seventh inning with two outs left to spare. Inheriting one of the day’s most difficult jams, Grant Manning silenced the Cardinal by striking out Temo Becerra and Rintaro Sasaki, back-to-back, preserving the Hokies’ 6-2 advantage.
Mycah Jordan – who had pinch ran and scored a run during the sixth inning – gave Manning a shot of insurance during the bottom of the seventh inning, hammering his first collegiate home run atop the left field patio. Manning was on the hook for surrendering a two-run home run to Jimmy Nati during the ninth inning, though held on to score his fifth save of the season, picking up six of his eight outs by strikeout.
With Tuesday’s victory, Virginia Tech advanced to Wednesday’s second round of the 2025 ACC Baseball Championship. The Hokies will oppose fifth-seeded Clemson at 1 p.m. with the game airing live on ACC Network.