Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Receiving two clutch, late-inning home runs on Sunday from Owen Petrich (seventh inning, go-ahead) and Hudson Lutterman (ninth inning, walk-off), the Virginia Tech baseball team snatched the rubber match from Pitt, 6-5, clinching the Hokies’ second ACC home series of the season at English Field.
Virginia Tech (19-19, 9-12 ACC) trailed, 4-2, during the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and the bases empty when Ethan Gibson pulled a ball to left field that demanded a dive by Justin Irizarry, who missed the catch and recovered too late to deny the junior his sixth double of the season. Two pitches later, Gibson darted for third base on a bizarre battery miscue by catcher Sebastian Pisacreta, who allowed a dirt ball he had stopped to trickle forward out of his glove, cueing Gibson to take off via the error.
Standing in for three additional pitches out of the zone by left-hander Vincent Spizzoucco, freshman Willie Hurt accepted his third walk of the ballgame, joining Gibson on base to put runners at the corners. Despite Spizzoucco fanning Sam Gates for the second out of the inning, Petrich managed to deliver the game-changing swing for the Hokies, hammering the go-ahead, three-run home run to straightaway center field (estimated at 421 feet).
Petrich’s home run presented Virginia Tech with the 5-4 lead and temporarily put right-hander Preston Crowl in line for the victory after he had posted three scoreless relief innings, allowing one hit while recording two strikeouts. Crowl logged the most time on the mound for the Hokies after starter Ethan Grim had gone three and two-thirds innings, scattering six hits – most critically Caden Dulin’s three-run home run during the third inning that had left the Panthers lying the 3-1 lead.
Pitt (24-14, 7-11 ACC) tested Brendan Yagesh during the top of the eighth inning, loading the bases behind a leadoff single by Joey Baran. Dulin’s two-out single – one of four hits on Sunday by the visiting shortstop – coupled with Yagesh’s walk of Lorenzo Carrier pushed the Panthers’ potential tying run over to third base before Lutterman squashed the threat, fielding an unassisted, two-out ground ball at first base.
After Spizzoucco had sat Virginia Tech down on five pitches during the eighth inning, Yagesh hit Fenderson to open the ninth inning, supplying Pitt with an ounce of life. Recovering with his three-pitch strikeout of Carter Dierdorf, the left-hander whittled the Panthers down to their final out by inducing a groundout from Pisacreta that came at the expense of Fenderson, the game’s tying run, moving into scoring position.
Greeting Yagesh with first-pitch contact, Baran appeared to have slugged the game-tying, extra-base hit for Pitt down the right field line had it not been for first base umpire David Arrieta, who dramatically called the ball foul – a ruling ultimately upheld by video replay on the Panthers’ unsuccessful challenge. However, despite the collective sigh of relief by the home side, Baran ironically managed to bat the game-tying double into right field four pitches later, scoring Fenderson and knotting the game at 5-5.
After turning to Luke Craytor to pick up the final out of the ninth inning, Virginia Tech was assured a quick walk-off victory by Lutterman, who hammered the fifth pitch of his leadoff at-bat against new arm Andrew Luczak out of the yard. Left fielder AJ Nessler gave chase and climbed the wall to contest Lutterman’s homer, which cleared Nessler’s glove and landed as the Hokies’ fourth walk-off hit of the season (second such by home run).
Petrich led Virginia Tech with four RBIs (season high), having also lifted a sacrifice fly during the fourth inning that cut Pitt’s lead at the time to 3-2. Gates went 2-for-4, singling in the Hokies’ first run during the second inning before Dulin’s three-run homer had shifted the game into the Panthers’ favor.
Hurt reached base during each of his four plate appearances in addition to registering his first career stolen base. With his single during the second inning (leading to Virginia Tech’s first run of the game), Hurt raised his hitting and on-base streaks to six and seven consecutive games, respectively.
UP NEXT
Virginia Tech will return its home-and-home season series against VCU with a road game on Tuesday, April 21, at The Diamond in Richmond. First pitch between the Hokies and the Rams is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.