Hokie ClubRICHMOND, Va. – Knocking six doubles around the yard on Tuesday afternoon, the Virginia Tech baseball team slugged its way to the 8-6 road victory against VCU at The Diamond, sweeping the programs’ 2026 regular season home-and-home series.
Freshman second baseman Ethan Ball went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles for the Hokies, who witnessed seven players tally at least one hit and six players record at least one RBI. Henry Cooke and Sam Grube both doubled in runs – Cooke doing so inside his 2-for-5 game that featured three RBIs (team high) and Grube within his two-hit day from the leadoff spot.
Virginia Tech (20-19) relied largely on bunches of scoring by the top end of its lineup as the first three players in its batting order – Grube, Ethan Gibson and Ball – combined to score seven of the team’s eight runs. Locked in a 3-3 game after three innings of play, the Hokies broke out for the 6-3 lead courtesy of their three-run sixth inning, matching two-run innings with VCU (22-18) down the stretch before holding the Rams to a lone run during their two-out rally during the ninth inning.
Making his longest midweek start of the season, left-hander Madden Clement went two and two-thirds innings for Virginia Tech before right-hander Aiden Robertson followed with four and one-third innings of relief, earning his first winning decision with the Hokies. Robertson set a season high in strikeouts (six) before passing the torch to left-hander Brody Roe, who picked up the six-out save – his first since joining the program.
Ball set the table for Virginia Tech’s two-run first inning, pulling a double into right field that bumped Gibson, who had walked, over to third base. Gibson darted home on Cooke’s ensuing RBI groundout prior to each of the next three Hokies reaching base: Hudson Lutterman as a hit batsman, Willie Hurt via an infield single and Nick Locurto as a run-producing hit batsman.
Answering Jacob Lee’s solo home run during the bottom of the first inning, Gibson hammered his fourth homer of the season to left field during the top of the second inning, defiantly extending his hitting streak to 10 consecutive games. However, Virginia Tech’s 3-1 lead was short-lived as Lee returned during the third inning to swing an RBI double off Clement, two batters before the Hokies’ failed inning-ending double play led to an errant throw by Gibson that plated an unearned run.
From Virginia Tech’s nine spot, Sam Gates kickstarted the Hokies’ three-run sixth inning with his one-out double down the right field line, scoring the go-ahead run when Grube pulled a second consecutive two-base hit to the same part of the ballpark. Arriving with the bases loaded after walks had been issued to Gibson and Ball, Cooke pushed the lead to 5-3 with his RBI single through the right side before Lutterman capped the rally with his sacrifice fly to right field.
Cruising into the sixth inning, Robertson made his first mistake when he allowed a two-run home run to Teige Lethert that cut the Virginia Tech lead to 6-5. After Robertson had plunked Ethan Acevedo to put the Rams’ potential tying runner aboard, Cooke bailed out his pitcher by catching Acevdeo stealing second base - one of two inning-ending caught stealing plays executed by the senior.
Back-to-back RBI doubles by Ball and Cooke during the eighth inning all but sealed the victory for Virginia Tech, which had to endure VCU introducing the potential game-tying run during the ninth inning. Michael Petite’s RBI single resulted in an unearned run against Roe and brought Lee – who had already doubled and homered – to the plate, where he proceeded to pop up into foul territory to end the game.
UP NEXT
Virginia Tech will begin a three-game ACC home series against NC State on Friday, April 24, at English Field. Game times between the Hokies the Wolfpack are scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on Friday, 3 p.m. ET on Saturday (April 25) and 1 p.m. ET on Sunday (April 26).