Baseball Report Week 8: Hokies Fruitless Against Wake Forest
Virginia Tech's hot streak comes to a close. Wake Forest's bullpen was able to grab the sweep in Blacksburg, but the Hokies got back to business against Liberty in their Wednesday night game.
Freshman sensation Brett Renfrow was back on the bump and got off to an efficient start retiring four of the first five batters, but a string of walks and two homers ended his day much earlier than expected. Chase Burns, who leads the nation in strikeouts, showed VT why he was was Perfect Game's Preseason Pitcher of the Year with 15Ks. The Blacksburg Bombers struggled to get the bat on the ball and in play, registering just three hits in the matchup.
Eddie Micheletti's four-run grand slam was the bright spot in an otherwise dim game. He gave Tech the bulk of their scoring output in just one swing and reached the bases three times.
After a phenomenal, career-high performance of 15 strikeouts from Chase Burns the night before, the Hokies still struggled to score in their Saturday matchup against the Deacons. With seven hits to the Deacons' ten, the Hokies lost 6-3 at English Field.
Starting pitcher Wyatt Parliament had six strikeouts through nearly five innings while Grant Manning finished the game recording five strikeouts through his four innings with only allowing two hits from Wake.
Ben Watson and Gehrig Ebel were able to get on the bases with two lead-off singles before Henry Cooke walked to first after an 0-2 count. Ultimately, it was Sam Tackett with the RBI to give the Hokies their first run, and Carson DeMartini pushing Ebel home to close the gap score to 3-2.
In the end, the Hokies couldn't quite catch up to the Deacons, and Wake extended their lead by two more runs after outfielder Jake Reinisch brought in a two-run RBI and sealed the deal in the ninth inning with first baseman Nick Kurtz's solo homer to close the game.
Griffin Stieg got the start against Michael Massey on Sunday, trying to avoid getting swept at home by the Demon Deacons. A two-run homer from Kurtz gave Wake a 2-0 lead in T1, but VT came right back with two walks and a single from Ben Watson to even it up. Kurtz continued his hot weekend; however, with an additional three-run shot in the 3rd and a two-run bomb in the 9th. He finished the series with five homers for nine RBIs.
The Hokies kept trying to climb back into it, but after every success, Wake was able to put another run on the board. Henry Cooke and Clay Grady were each able to knock a run in with singles, but Kurtz and the Demon Deacons found a way to out-slug the Hokies at their home field, sweeping the three-game series.
The Wednesday matchup with Liberty was wacky to say the least. Freshman Madden Clement started for Tech against Todd Hudson for the Flames. No pitcher lasted long on the mound, with 14 different players taking the rubber in the eight-inning mercy.
Liberty got the upper hand in T3, with Brayden Horton's two-RBI single to left. Five singles and a walk helped VT overcome the deficit in B3, taking a 4-0 lead over the Flames. Liberty was able to score another run in the 7th, once again from Horton, but the Hokies' patience paid off with an absolute collapse of Liberty's bullpen in B7. Four different players tried their arms at pitching, throwing a combined nine walks, one hit-by-pitch, and one single to give Tech a 12-3 lead. Yes, you read that correctly: one hit, eight runs for Virginia Tech.
With a strong lead and the bullpen cleared out, David McCann slapped a double to the left-center gap to score Gehrig Ebel, claiming victory in what might be the most unique baseball game to ever take place on English Field.
