Late Rally Key for Virginia Tech in Seventh-Straight Victory to Open 2022

If not for Virginia Tech third baseman Carson DeMartini, if not for his first collegiate triple, if not for his RBI single in the seventh that extended the Hokies’ slim lead from one to two runs, it could’ve been a disappointing night.

But instead, VT (7-0) defeated High Point (1-8), 10-4, despite giving the Panthers a legitimate chance to steal a mid-week game at English Field in Blacksburg.

The final score hid some of the missteps that got the Hokies there. They struck out seven times in five innings against a team that was picked as one of the bottom feeders in the Big South.

“They walked us eight times and we got 20 free bases out of it,” Tech head coach John Szefc said. “We only got 10 runs out of it, but sometimes you gotta win ugly.”

Starter Ryan Kennedy, who pitched four innings and allowed two runs, combined with the efforts of relievers Sean Fisher, Jackson Ritchey, Jonah Hurney, Brady Kirtner and Perfect Game 2021 top-100 recruit Tyler Dean out of the bullpen. Those five threw the next five innings and yielded the two final runs. But the offense nearly wasted it against the Panthers.

Then DeMartini ripped a three-bagger to right center in the sixth, sliding into third base as he lost his helmet. He immediately stood up, pumped his arms and bellowed a “let’s go!” chant as the Hokies trailed 3-2 in the sixth inning. Five pitches later, first baseman Sam Tackett flew out to deep center field to drive in DeMartini on a sacrifice fly.

It was the spark Tech needed to get its offense going, one that had averaged more than 10 runs-per-game entering Tuesday’s contest. In the inning that ensued, the floodgates opened. 

Shortstop Tanner Schobel reached on a lead-off walk in the seventh then stole second. Left fielder Jack Hurley then walked on six pitches with one out. That set the stage for catcher Cade Hunter, who roped an RBI single through the right side of the infield, giving the Hokies their first lead since the third inning, 4-3.

The runs didn’t stop coming.

DeMartini fisted a ball the opposite way that dropped in front of left fielder Sam Zayicek, scoring Hurley from second. Hunter, DeMartini and Brennan Reback, who pinch-ran for Tackett, crossed the plate on three separate wild pitches. When the inning finally came to a close on a double-play, VT had scored five runs and taken an 8-3 lead. 

The Hokies had erased any doubt, and that’s how they found themselves off to their best start since 2019 when they started 7-0, only to finish 26-27, just the second year into Szefc’s rebuild.

Szefc knows the tougher competition lies ahead, especially this weekend against Wright State. Even though the Raiders have started their season 0-6, they played a competitive series against No. 10 Georgia Tech and lost one of their two games to No. 3 Oklahoma State by one run.

But it’s the mid-week games and early weekend series where Szefc says he’ll likely learn the most about his team. And he certainly had many takeaways from Tuesday starter Ryan Kennedy, who transferred from Kennesaw State this season. In his final season there in 2021, Kennedy posted a 4.16 ERA in 71 ⅓ innings. 

Against High Point, he turned in a similar start to the ones he had last season. In four innings, he surrendered six hits and two runs, but didn’t yield a walk. He also recorded two strikeouts and attacked the zone, tossing 42 strikes on 62 pitches.

For Szefc that’s all he could ask for.

“To get a game where your starter only allowed two runs, that’s pretty good,” Szefc said. “You’ll take that any day.”

The Hokies gave their starter a cushion to work early when Nick Biddison walked with the bases-loaded in the second inning, pushing DeMartini home. But that lead was short-lived.

Kennedy initially ran into trouble in the third and fourth innings after setting the first six hitters he faced in order. He yielded a two-out RBI single to center fielder Javon Fields in the third and a sacrifice fly to first baseman Cole Singsank in the fourth, but bounced back to limit the damage both times.

Tech responded with Gavin Cross’s lead-off double in the fifth, followed by an Eduardo Malinowski sacrifice fly to tie the score at two after Schobel moved Cross to third on a single to left field. But the Hokies would soon face another deficit a half-inning later.

Fisher, who replaced Kennedy at the top of the fifth, walked Singsank to open the sixth and was relieved by right-hander Jackson Ritchey. He nearly escaped the inning unscathed but bounced a two-out wild pitch to let Singsank score. And that’s how Tech ended up trailing before Tackett’s sac-fly tied the game at three.

“It was a day where [Fisher] didn’t have his best stuff, but Jackson [Ritchey] did a great job to get us out of it,” DeMartini said.

Jonah Hurney threw a clean seventh inning, which set the stage for VT’s explosion in the bottom half. Then he worked to get two quick outs in the eighth before surrendering a homer to shortstop Adam Stuart, but finished the inning by punching out Zayicek on four pitches.

The Hokies tacked on a few more insurance runs — via a DeMartini sacrifice fly and a Nick Holesa RBI double — for good measure.

In the final inning, they turned to Brady Kirtner for the first two outs in the ninth, then went to Dean who threw three 95 mile-per-hour fastballs for three-straight strikes to punch out pinch-hitter Tyler Leach looking for the final out.

“Tyler [Dean]’s going to be good, man,” Szefc said. “He had an injury early in the preseason … He ran into a door frame or something and tweaked his shoulder, but he’s 100% now and could’ve pitched last weekend [against Fordham]. We just wanted to get him into a spot without any pressure.”

It was the conclusion to a spot Virginia Tech didn’t expect to be in, but the final push came when it mattered most. The path to the win wasn’t the smoothest, but at the beginning of the year, it doesn’t always have to be.

Box Score: Link