No. 14 Virginia Tech Baseball Enters 2023 With ‘Experience’ And ‘Talent’

Seven months after Virginia Tech surged on the national landscape, falling just nine innings short of a College World Series berth, head coach John Szefc held a wooden clipboard in the third base dugout and began talking to his team about the little things. He’s always liked to talk about the little things. 

And it’s hard to blame him. It’s what worked when he turned both Marist and Maryland around from conference bottom dwellers into NCAA Tournament competitors. He did the same for Virginia Tech last year, too. 

The Hokies, for an overwhelming majority of last year, were fundamentally sound. They practiced what Szefc preached. The keys to a winning ball club: no three-walk innings, pick your teammate up when they’re down, don’t play for just yourself. It showed in the way they ran the bases, the way they hit with runners in scoring position and the way the pitching staff attacked hitters with two strikes.

And he used those words some more a week before the 2023 season began. Because, in Szefc’s eyes, the only thing that’s changed from last year’s team is experience.

“Our biggest goal is to step out prepared and be prepared everyday and play to a certain standard,” Szefc said in an interview with Tech Sideline on Friday. “Everyone wants to go to the College World Series, and host a Regional, and a Super Regional, but we don’t really talk about it.”

To Szefc, this spring – just like the last – is the same. It’s a clean slate.

But even so, Tech has worked its way into the conversation with the ACC’s baseball bluebloods. After winning the ACC Coastal Division last season, Tech was picked fourth in the Coastal in 2023 (with one first place vote) – behind Miami, Virginia and North Carolina – and also received a vote to win the ACC outright. 

Szefc’s roster, which was full of unknowns last year, is now mainly filled with familiar faces. Griffin Green. Drue Hackenberg. Kiernan Higgins. Jack Hurley. Carson DeMartini. Eduardo Malinowski. Those are just a few of the returners from last year’s Super Regional team.

The national respect isn’t lacking either.

Hurley, Hackenberg, DeMartini and Higgins were all voted as Preseason All-Americans by various publications. Tech received rankings in most of the national polls, including a No. 14 start in the D1 Baseball poll.

But it’s an offense that’ll look much different after some professional talent departed in the offseason. The Royals made Gavin Cross the highest draft pick in program history. Tanner Schobel went to the Twins, Nick Biddison to the Dodgers and Cade Hunter was picked by the Reds.

The pitching staff, which Szefc called his “deepest he’s ever had,” only lost Graham Firoved to the Orioles. Some key veterans ran out of eligibility: Jordan Geber – who was signed as a free agent by the Mets – Ryan Metz, and Ryan Okdua.

With a few transfers – David Bryant (Radford), Chris Cannizzaro (Bucknell), Anthony Arguelles (Miami), Eddie Eisert (NC State) and Chris Sparber (Loisburg) – mixed in with some immediate impact freshmen in first baseman Garrett Michel, catcher Brody Donay and infielder Clay Grady, pitchers Andrew Sentlinger, Griffin Stieg and Ryan Kennedy, the team still believes it won’t have trouble hosting an NCAA Regional for a second consecutive season.

“The biggest difference for us, at least on paper, is the experience,” Szefc said.

Here’s a breakdown of No. 14 Virginia Tech’s 2023 roster:

Pitching staff

Unlike last year where most of its pitching was unproven, Virginia Tech returns both of its Friday and Saturday night starters in Griffin Green (4.83 ERA in 72 ⅔ innings) and Drue Hackenberg (3.30 ERA in 92 ⅔ innings). The pair guided Tech to 15 ACC wins on the days they started.

Replacing Jordan Geber as the Sunday arm is Anthony Arguelles, a transfer from Miami. He had a 4.82 ERA in 18 games out of the bullpen for the Hurricanes but pitched to a 1.76 ERA in four starts in the Cape Cod League this summer.

“[Arguelles] has some special stuff,” Green said in an interview on Monday. “His fastball rises and then sort of veers away.”

“He’s going to be pretty good this year,” Kiernan Higgins added.

Speaking of Higgins, he took one of the best leaps in Tech’s player development last year. After walking 41 batters at the Division II level for Shippensburg in 2021, he closed out Game 2 of the Blacksburg Super Regional a year later. nearly cut his walk rate in half (14 walks in 31 ⅔ innings) and kept his ERA under 2.00 last season. He’ll return to the back-end of the bullpen for his final season of eligibility.

And adding to the core bullpen returners: Jonah Hurney (2.70 ERA in 43 ⅓ innings), who helped save Virginia Tech in Game 2 of the Super Regional; Henry Weycker (4.38 ERA in 49 ⅓ innings); Matthew Siverling, who comes into the spring fully healthy after undering going surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome and missing most of last season; and Christian Worley, who is on the radar for MLB organizations as a potential draft pick in the summer.

“It’s really a plus having those guys back,” Szefc said. “You know, the experience and the talent that they have. I think [Tyler] Dean and [Brady] Kirtner are ready to take that next step where they can be overly effective against opposing teams. Same thing with Grant Umberger.”

As for the freshman arms, VT brought in two top-200 recruits in Tommy Szczepanski and Griffin Stieg. Szefc said Andrew Sentlinger, a lanky left-handed pitcher, will figure to play a role during the weekend. Meanwhile, Ryan Kennedy (a freshman from Northern Virginia), will likely be the mid-week starter.

Position players

Even after losing half of their offense, the Hokies still shouldn’t have much trouble scoring runs. All-Americans Jack Hurley and Carson DeMartini are back, as is Carson Jones, whose eight-homer tear in the last 12 games of last season only seemed possible because it happened.

“DeMartini is an elite-level third baseman,” Szefc said. “You know what you’re getting from him.”

In the outfield, Chris Cannizzaro will play left field while Hurley moves from left to center. Jones will stay put in right.

“Cannizzaro is the toughest to pitch against,” Hackenberg said. “He always finds a way to get his bat on the ball – no matter where the pitch is.”

As of February, the plan is for Gehrig Ebel to catch most games – the junior hit his first career home run in Tech’s Regional blowout over Columbia. Sam Tackett and Eddie Eisert will likely play first base and/or designated hitter. Meanwhile, Bryant will man short while DeMartini returns to the hot corner.

“I think our staff likes to throw to Ebel,” Szefc said. “I know our coaching staff is very comfortable with him back there. He’s taken a step offensively, too.”

Eduardo Malinowski and Christian Martin return to second base, the latter was an all-star in the Valley League this past summer. 

Some talented freshmen made their way to Blacksburg, too. Brody Donay figures to work his way into catcher as a 6-foot-7 power bat that regularly tattoos baseballs at 95-plus miles-an-hour. The team calls Garrett Michel “Babe Ruth” for the way he’s hit the ball this spring (he’s had an unofficial count of nine home runs in intra-squads since the new year). And infielder Clay Grady will likely work his way into the lineup some days as well.

“Clay plays hard, he’s very coachable,” Szefc said. “He’s the same guy everyday. There’s not a lot of ups and downs with him. It’s very consistent.”

What’s next?

It’s hard to top a top-four national seed in back-to-back years, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Tech once again hosted a regional this upcoming June. With the experience the Hokies return and the talent they brought in via freshmen and the portal, Virginia Tech will likely compete in the Big Dance in two consecutive years for the first time since 1999-2000.

The Hokies begin their 2023 season on Friday, Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. at the College of Charleston in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. on FloSports.