Ups and Downs: Another Week of Mixed Results for the Hokies

Baseball's a funny sport. After the Hokies got run-ruled on Friday night vs NC State in a game where the baseball gods simply didn't want the Hokies to compete, Tech comes out on Saturday and looks every bit like a team that can compete in an NCAA Regional. Unfortunately, it only resulted in a split double-header vs the Wolfpack, as late inning walks yet again turned the tide against the Hokies on their way to a close ACC loss.

But coming back with a run-rule victory of their own against some of NC State's best pitchers is the kind of response you need in this conference. And that win is actually pretty big in the ACC standings. Again, you HAVE TO avoid getting swept if you're the Hokies. They did, and they survived. And a few days later, they took care of their midweek business yet again with a consecutive run-rule victory of hapless VCU.

This was just one of those baseball games where it nothing went right for the Hokies. Yes, the bullpen struggled late in the game. Yes, last year's issues of strikeouts reared their ugly head (albeit for just the third time this season). But the Hokies offense wasn't that bad in this game. The at-bats were competitive for the first five innings of the game. In fact, the Hokies led 1-0 after the top of the 1st off a Jackson Cherry single. But Dominic Fritton was a stud on the mound for the Wolfpack, and he didn't let the Hokies get much action on the base paths. The wind didn't help either. The usually hitter-friendly ballpark in Raleigh somehow kept in some really good swings from the Hokies. In the first 3 innings, the Hokies flew out to the warning track on five seperate occasions. 

The death sentence was in the 5th inning where a high pop up that was only a few feet off home plate blew every which way and landed with a thud in the infield. NC State grabbed a run, extended the innnings, and the vibes were all negative for the Hokies.

Brett Renfrow had another solid start, but lost some of his gusto in the 5th inning and a red-hot NC State offense took advantage. It's the first time Renfrow has been roughed up this season, and truth be told is wasn't that bad. Again, just one of those games for the Hokies where nothing went right, and the other team was on their A-game. Flush it, move on.

The first game in Saturday's doubleheader was a microcosm of what is becoming an annoying norm for the Hokies. Yet again, the Hokies were able to grab a lead in this game. A run in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings saw the Hokies grab a 3-2 lead in the back-half of the game. Freshman arm Jake Marciano continued his great season with 6.0 IP of really solid stuff. But after NC State got some action going in the 7th, the Hokies made the call to the bullpen, and it didn't work out. Andrew Sentlinger, who has shown good stuff in the past, wasn't able to work out of a jam and the Wolfpack tied the game at 3-3 to end the 7th. A leadoff walk in the 8th saw Sentlinger pulled for Jacob Exum, who struggled with command before Josh Berzonski was called upon and gave up a 2-run homer. 

And just like that, a lead in the 7th inning turned into a loss for the Hokies. In their four ACC losses on the season, the Hokies have led after the 4th inning in three of them and were tied in the 9th in the other one. The common issue has been late inning walks, which have been responsible for a majority of the runs scored late against the Hokies. 

It seems like this is a downstream issue of the Hokies being without starting pitcher Madden Clement, who is nursing an injury. It's shifted a few arms up the list, and also made the Hokies hold some guys off to piece together a Sunday pitching rotation due to the injury of another starter, Logan Eisenreich. This is a talented pitching staff who has pretty good numbers early in the season, but you can't count on the Hokies bullpen to be lights out vs ACC competition. This team needs complimentary baseball, and they didn't get it on Saturday's first game.

Offensively, the Hokies had to grind for every base they got. No walks drawn meant the bases were often empty, and a talented NC State infield made a handful of sensational plays to keep the Hokies from creating a big inning.

Down 6-4 in the 4th inning, the Hokies were staring down the barrel of a sweep and a 1-5 start to ACC play. That would be quite the hole to dig out of. But in the bottom of the 4th inning in Raleigh, the Hokies seemingly took a deep breath and simplified their approach at the plate. Big swooping swings turned to short, deliberate attacks. Jared "JD" Davis poked an RBI grounder to right field that set the Hokies up to later tie the game. After that, the onslought had begun.

Cathartic is the word that instantly came to mind as the Hokies finally started getting hits against the best the Wolfpack had to offer. The Hokies put up 14 runs (FOURTEEN!!) in the inning, their most since their Super Regional dismantling of Columbia in 2022. Oh yeah, and Cam Pittman had a little league home run which was oddly the second of the weekend for the Hokies (Sam Tackett had one in the prior game). 

Midweek games are important, and the Hokies have been perfect in them this season. 

Moving to 6-0 on the year in the midweek is much needed after dropping the first two ACC series. Truth be told, however, VCU is pretty pitiful right now. This is the third time the Rams have been run-ruled this season, and the majority of their wins this season have come against Princeton. They were competitive against Clemson in a weekend series, though, which shows they do have some talent. But it's a rebuilding year in Richmond, and it looked like it on Tuesday.

The Hokies offense was feeling it all day, with hard lit line drives to all parts of the field. Jackson Cherry, who leads the ACC in on-base percentage, was hitting the laces off the ball while Jared Davis continues his hot stretch with this 4th homer of the season. And a special shoutout to the birthday boy, David McCann, who went 2-3 with a pair of doubles to continue his very good season at the DH spot.

On the mound, the Hokies got good work from the back half of their bullpen. Freshman Chase Swift has been really good in the opener role so far this season. He has a 0.93 WHIP with 14 strikeouts over his 7.2 IP. 

It's back to back run-rule victories for the Hokies, which means the bullpen should be totally fresh on Friday when Louisville comes to town.

The ACC is proving to be every bit as competitive as we thought preseason. Their truly are no "easy" weekends, but some are certainly tougher than others. I still think this is a conference that will get 9-10 teams in the Regionals. Knowing that we are very early in the season, here are my current power rankings (how well each team is playing right now, disregarding preseason expectations) with movement from last week's rankings in parenthesis:

1. Florida State (-)
2. Wake Forest (+2)
3. Clemson (-)
4. North Carolina (-2)
5. Stanford (-)
6. Louisville (+1)
7. Georgia Tech (-1)
8. NC State (-)
9. Virginia (+2) (As I'm typing this, UVA is getting crushed by Richmond who is pretty good)
10. Virginia Tech (-)
11. Boston College (-2)
12. Notre Dame (+3)
13. California (+3)
14. Pittsburgh (-)
15. Miami (-2) (This won't last, they'll have a good weekend here soon)
16. Duke (-4) (Holy cow this is the season from hell for Duke)

The Hokies have their biggest series to date as they host #16 Louisville in Blacksburg. The Cardinals are one of the teams from the middle of the pack in the ACC that have emerged as a conference title contender. A few elite starting pitchers compliment an offense that has been much better than anticipated this season. The Cardinals will be most vulnerable on Saturday, where they're just 2-3 on the season in game 2's of series. 

In the midweek, the Hokies will travel down I-81 for the first installment of the Sharkey's Classic vs Radford. The Highlanders are 10-8 on the seasons and have an impressive 2-1 series win over UNC Greensboro on their resume. Expect a big day for CF Cam Pittman, who transferred over from Radford in the offseason.