Virginia Tech Storms Back Late to Stun No. 12 Notre Dame

Nick Holesa stood at second base while clapping his hands. Virginia Tech head coach John Szefc raced out of the dugout and pointed his finger at his first baseman before patting the backside of Christian Martin and Eduardo Malinowski as they reached the visiting dugout.

Then Szefc high-fived his guys as the Hokies’ dugout jumped and screamed all around him. Holesa had just laid down a bases-clearing safety-squeeze with an out in the top of the ninth as Matt Lazzaro air-mailed a throw to first base in an attempt to cut down Holesa. Instead, the error pushed the game out of No. 12 Notre Dame’s reach in Virginia Tech’s 10-5 win on Friday night in South Bend, Ind.

And all of a sudden Holesa, who came on as a defensive replacement for Cade Swisher in the bottom of the seventh, was the hero.

After a quick 2-0 start courtesy of Jack Hurley’s solo home run in the top of the second, which extended his hit-streak to 19 games, Virginia Tech (14-6, 3-4 ACC) was nearly buried in the fifth inning after Griffin Green surrendered two two-run homers.

Worried that there wouldn’t be a chance to play Saturday’s and Sunday’s game with the looming gloomy weather (Both games were canceled on Saturday morning), both head coaches treated Friday as an elimination game.

Saturday starter Drue Hackenberg threw for a bit in the bullpen before Szefc yanked Green with no outs in the fourth, but the questions began to pile up: Was there time for Hackenberg to hold the veteran Irish bats to give his team time to battle back? Would Hackenberg struggle and Szefc’s plan implode? Or was it the right move?

It turned out to be the perfect adjustment. For the first time in his collegiate career, Hackenberg was out of the bullpen, and he yielded a walk, three hits and a run while striking out four in three innings.

The only problem was that Tech couldn’t touch the Irish’s bullpen until Jack Hurley hit his second home run of the day in the eighth inning to pull VT to within a run, 5-4. 

And the Hokies looked all but dead when third baseman Carson DeMartini’s throwing error gave Notre Dame (12-5, 2-4 ACC) a chance for insurance runs when it placed runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the eighth.

That was until Graham Firoved forced a three-pitch flyout that was too shallow to even test Biddison’s arm in right field. He then struck out Zack Prajzner and TJ Williams, which allowed Virginia Tech to stay in it.

Then with backs against the wall, the Hokies rallied against a trio of Notre Dame arms: Aidan Tyrell, Jack Brannigan and Lazzaro.

The top of the ninth began with lead-off man Nick Biddison getting hit by a pitch. Tanner Schobel doubled down the right field line after that, driving Biddison home and tying the score at five. Hurley and Malinowski walked on back-to-back at-bats.

Cade Hunter followed that up with a go-ahead RBI single that scored Schobel and gave Tech a 6-5 lead. Then, on a full count with bases loaded, a pitch bounced off Sam Tackett’s face, scoring Hurley. That all set the stage for Holesa.

The Hokies’ first baseman squared around to bunt to give Tech a third insurance run. Instead, an errant throw allowed the bases to clear, giving the Hokies a five-run lead for Firoved to protect in the bottom of the ninth.

That’s exactly what he did. Working around two singles, Firoved held Notre Dame scoreless as Tech completed a much-needed, resume-boosting win to its NCAA Tournament hopes later this spring.

Next up for the Hokies is a Tuesday non-conference contest at VMI (8-15) before their second straight road ACC series of the spring against North Carolina (18-5, 5-3 ACC), which starts on Friday.

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