Hokie ClubATLANTA – Winding up on the wrong side of a big first inning on Friday night, the Virginia Tech baseball team was left facing an uphill battle at No. 5 Georgia Tech that proved too steep to climb as the Hokies were defeated, 16-1, during a seven-inning game shortened by run rule at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Virginia Tech (7-6, 0-1 ACC) began the evening with intention as Treyson Hughes and Nick Locurto cracked back-to-back, game-opening singles, creating base traffic against right-hand starter Tate McKee. However, McKee deterred the Hokies from pouncing early, retiring the top two threats in the batting order – Ethan Ball (now batting .375) and Sam Grube (now .348) – before stranding Hughes and Locurto in scoring position.
From there, Georgia Tech (13-1, 1-0 ACC) flexed hard against freshman right-hander Ethan Grim, who allowed seven of the eight batters he faced to reach base. Drew Burress led off the bottom of the first inning with a loud double for the Yellow Jackets, preluding three run-scoring singles by Kent Schmidt, Ryan Zuckerman and Caleb Daniel on which Schmidt and Daniel both pocketed two RBIs apiece.
Grim was lifted with Georgia Tech leading, 5-0, at the moment the game entered an inclement weather delay lasting one hour, 53 minutes. Upon play resuming, reliever Preston Crowl was greeted immediately by RBI singles off the bats of Carson Kerce and Buress (his second hit of the inning), sandwiching two more walks around Jarren Advincula’s sacrifice fly.
When the dust from the first inning had finally settled, the Yellow Jackets had plated eight runs – ironically, the most first inning runs Virginia Tech had allowed to an opponent since May 14, 2005, against Georgia Tech (12).
Anderson French helped the Hokies squash the home hopes of a shutout with his RBI double during the second inning that was slugged high into the right field corner. McKee - who rode out the nearly two-hour weather delay - had issued consecutive leadoff walks to Sam Gates and Henry Cooke, the former of whom scored easily on French’s first two-bagger of the season.
Georgia Tech rallied for five more runs during the bottom of the third inning, putting the game well out of reach before the Hokies had completed two trips through their batting order. The Yellow Jackets tacked on two runs during the fifth inning and capped their scoring with an RBI single by Drew Rogers during the sixth inning.
Five distinct Virginia Tech starters accounted for the team’s five hits. Ethan Gibson doubled during the fourth inning, though was ultimately stranded at second base.
Josh Berzonski and Danny Lazaro set season highs for relief innings pitched, respectively logging two-plus innings on the mound. Lazaro’s three strikeouts also equated to a season high.
Carson Kerce (3-for-4) led Georgia Tech with three RBIs from the nine spot in the Yellow Jackets’ lineup. After starting 2-for-2, Burress finished 2-for-5 while Zuckerman went 2-for-3 with a walk, scoring twice.
UP NEXT
Virginia Tech will resume its series at No. 5 Georgia Tech on Saturday, March 7. First pitch at MacNease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium between the Hokies and the Yellow Jackets is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
REMAINING SERIES PROBABLE STARTERS
• Saturday (March 7): Brett Renfrow (0-2, 4.50 ERA) vs. Dylan Loy (1-0, 2.08 ERA)
• Sunday (March 8): TBA vs. Cooper Underwood (1-0, 6.75 ERA)