Hammerin’ Hokies Keep on Winning

The Virginia Tech baseball team completed an important sweep of the visiting
Boston College Eagles over the weekend and took a giant leap towards making the
ACC Tournament for the first time since the league expanded to 12 teams.

The Hokies were good at the plate and on the mound, beating BC 9-4 on Friday,
3-1 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday. The Eagles entered the series as the #2 team
in the Atlantic Division with a 12-9 record, so this represents a quality series
win.

As a result of the sweep, Tech moved up from #18 to #16 in this week’s
Baseball America poll. Four other ACC teams are ranked: #1 Virginia, #5 Florida
State, #13 Miami and #17 Georgia Tech. Three of those teams are in the Coastal
Division along with Virginia Tech.

Friday evening’s game was a blowout, with the Hokies leading 9-1 before the
Eagles got three runs in the top of the ninth to make the final 9-4. Starting
pitcher Justin Wright pitched 6.2 innings, allowing just five hits and walking
none while striking out nine. Wright gave up just one earned run.

With another impressive start under his belt, Wright is now 3-2 with a 2.75
ERA in ACC play. Opponents are batting just .204 against him, and he averages
9.29 strikeouts per nine innings.

On Saturday it was Matthew Price’s turn to pitch a beauty. The sophomore from
Marietta, GA pitched all nine innings, allowing just one run and six hits. He
struck out nine batters, and his only mistake was a homerun allowed to John
Spatola in the second inning.

Price has pitched very well recently, and the former Atlanta Braves draft
selection is now 6-3 on the year with a 4.86 ERA.

The Hokies had to play on Sunday without ace pitcher Jesse Hahn, who missed
his second consecutive start with shoulder problems. Freshman Joe Mantiply, a
late round selection by the Mets last summer, got the start and performed well
under the circumstances.

Mantiply lasted 5.2 innings and allowed four runs while striking out five
batters. Reliever Sean McDermott got the win, as the Hokies finally went ahead
for good in the bottom of the sixth inning. They went on to earn a 10-5 victory.

Tech’s top hitters of the series were Buddy Sosnoskie (5-9, 2 RBI’s), Sean
Ryan (7-13, 2 RBI’s) and Steve Domecus (4-9, 3 RBI’s). Matt Blow, Andrew Rash
and Michael Seaborn all homered for the Hokies over the weekend.

With the three-game sweep, the Hokies inched closer to the ACC Tournament.

 

As
of now, NC State would be in the ACC Tournament and the North Carolina Tar Heels would be
sitting at home.

The top eight teams in the league will make the event in Greensboro, which
will be held from Wednesday, May 26 through Sunday, may 30. The top two teams in
each division automatically make the field, and the next four teams, regardless
of division, are also in. The winner of each division is guaranteed one of the
top two seeds in the tournament. Everyone else is seeded based on conference
winning percentage, regardless of division.

Right now the Hokies would be the #5 seed. They trail Georgia Tech for the #4
seed by three games.