Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Despite freshman Ethan Ball hammering his first collegiate home run on Friday, the Virginia Tech baseball team struggled slowing down the hot bats of Rutgers as the Hokies played to the 16-1 defeat in an eight-inning game shortened by run rule at English Field.
Leading off the bottom of the second inning, Ball barreled a 2-0 pitch from starter Dallin Harrison to straightaway center field, carrying it by the estimated 407 feet through the camera well of the batter’s eye. Accented by his inaugural swing of the program’s iconic sledgehammer, Ball’s solo blast knotted the contest at 1-1 while simultaneously extending the rookie’s career-opening hitting streak to five consecutive games.
Behind Ball’s homer, Virginia Tech (4-1) put two more runners on during the second inning but was unable to bring anyone around to score – an omen that plagued the Hokies throughout the remainder of the afternoon. By game’s end, the home team had batted 2-for-14 with runners on base and 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, all while stranding 11 runners on base.
Rutgers (4-1), meanwhile, distanced itself largely due to a mammoth game from third baseman Charlie Meglio, who packaged four run-scoring hits into his 4-for-5 line that featured two home runs and seven RBIs. Meglio answered Ball’s game-tying home run with his own solo homer during the top of the third inning, later powering a three-run shot off Preston Crowl during the fifth inning that pushed the Scarlet Knights’ lead to 5-1.
Virginia Tech had its chances to keep pace with Rutgers during the middle innings, though was routinely denied by timely defending and effective pitching. Ethan Gibson ended the third inning by lining into a disheartening, 1-6 double play before the Hokies were held scoreless again during the fourth inning, having loaded the bases with one out.
Meglio continued to do damage as the game went on, singling home Peyton Bonds in the meat of the Scarlet Knights’ three-run seventh inning. Bonds finished 3-for-6, scored three times and stole a bag atop the Rutgers lineup that witnessed eight batters combine to produce the team’s 17 hits with nine distinct players scoring.
Virginia Tech starter Brett Renfrow recorded five strikeouts through three innings of work, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits. Renfrow’s balk during the second inning – the first of his collegiate career – plated an unearned run for the Scarlet Knights in the aftermath of an error that had been made by Treyson Hughes in center field.
Preston Crowl was banged up for six earned runs through three relief innings, striking out four batters while walking three. Four of the Hokies’ relievers were needed to handle Rutgers during the top of the eighth inning when the Scarlet Knights brought 12 batters to the plate, rallying for eight runs.
Yomar Carreras doubled inside his 3-for-5 day, yielding three RBIs. Matt Chatelle and Ryan Jaros posted 2-for-4 hitting lines from the bottom two spots in the Rutgers order.
Left-hander Joe Mazza struck out six Hokies, walked none and scattered three hits to earn his first victory of the 2026 season.
UP NEXT
Virginia Tech will play to even its three-game series against Rutgers on Saturday, Feb. 21. First pitch times between the Hokies and the Scarlet Knights have moved to 3 p.m. ET on Saturday (previously 4 p.m. ET) and noon ET on Sunday, Feb. 22 (previously 1 p.m. ET).
REMAINING SERIES PROBABLE STARTERS
• Saturday (Feb. 21): Zack Konstantinovsky (RHP, 1-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. Griffin Stieg (RHP, 0-0, 3.86 ERA)
• Sunday (Feb. 22): TBA vs. TBA