A ‘Special’ Chris Cannizzaro Guides No. 11 Virginia Tech To Another Win

Before the season began, before Chris Cannizzaro recorded four hits for No. 11 Virginia Tech in it’s opening series in Charleston, and certainly before Cannizzaro went on a tear so stupid that it only seemed possible because it happened, star pitcher Drue Hackenberg said that Cannizzaro was the toughest player on the team to pitch to.

He could’ve named Jack Hurley or Carson DeMartini, the two who are projected to go in the first round of the MLB Draft in 2023 and 2024, respectively. He could’ve said that it was Garrett Michel, who was dubbed by reliever Kiernan Higgins as “Babe Ruth” for hitting an unofficial ‘eight or nine’ home runs in preseason intrasquads. But instead, Hackenberg, who is also a prospect for this year’s draft, chose Cannizzaro.

“He always just finds a way to put the bat on the ball,” Hackenberg said. “He covers the entire plate really well.”

But not even Hackenberg could’ve predicted the following: Cannizzaro’s cycle on Sunday, a 3-for-4 day against Radford on Tuesday, a walk-off two-run nuke on Friday, followed by a 4-for-5 performance on Saturday in the Hokies’ 6-3 win over Charlotte at English Field on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, Tech is now 8-2 and won a series on Saturday for the first time this season. 

“I think what people should really understand is that what they’re watching is really special,” Virginia Tech head coach John Szefc told Tech Sideline after the win. “It’s hard to hit at this level, but he’s not making it look hard at all. … He’s not as big looking – like a physical underwear looking model – but he gets it done.”

Since his cycle, in which he hit two homers, Cannizzaro is 16-for-21 with four home runs, three doubles and a triple. He’s struck out just once in that stretch, raising his batting average to .533 and OPS to 1.448.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had a run like this,” Cannizzaro said. “Maybe in travel ball when I was like 12 once or twice, but it’s been fun. I’m just trying to stay consistent and keep preparing the same way.”

But long before his sixth inning homer, Virginia Tech was on the ropes early. After jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth – thanks to Clay Grady’s ground ball and Cannizzaro’s RBI single in the second followed by Christian Martin’s RBI triple and an RBI double from Cannizzaro in the fourth – Tech found itself up by only one run when Christian Worley entered with no outs in the fifth.

Drue Hackenberg, who had worked efficiently around traffic all afternoon, had suddenly found himself at 90 pitches. He surrendered a RBI single, though that run went unearned, and then a two-run homer off the bat of Austin Knight that ultimately chased him from the game. He fanned five in his four innings and, really, the only bad pitch he threw was on the Knight’s blast.

Instead of letting Hackenberg finish out the inning, Szefc motioned for Worley who then trotted in from the bullpen. He was expected to maybe only pitch for two, maybe three innings at most, if all went well. Instead, Worley turned in his best performance of his career.

Worley finished off the fifth, working around a two-out double. Then again in the sixth after yielding a lead-off single to Drew Tyndall, who only made it as far as second base after Worley forced a foul out and then two ground outs. From there, in the final three innings, no one reached base against Worley as he set down the final 12 hitters he faced.

“Worley is as good as you’re gonna get when you throw five [innings] out of the bullpen,” Szefc said. “It puts us in a good place tomorrow.”

After the Hokies threw six pitchers in their 10-inning win on Friday, it was crucial that either Hackenberg gave them a long start or get some length out of a bullpen arm or two. That’s exactly what happened when Worley punched out seven in his five innings and was the bridge to the win.  

“It’s always great to just keep the game close,” Worley said. “If you can finish it out, then you can finish it out, and if you can’t, just let the rest of the bullpen do the same thing.”

That gave Tech’s offense a chance to reset, which it did in the fifth when Gehrig Ebel – who had three hits on Saturday – drove in Eddie Eisert, to increase the lead to two, with an RBI single. 

“I’ve been struggling a little bit, I just thought I needed to be patient at the plate,” Ebel said. “I had a really good preseason, so I just thought to myself, ‘Just stick with what you’re doing and it’ll come.’”

Then there was Cannizzaro, who was down 1-2 in the count in the sixth. He drove his fifth home run of the season – the fourth in his last four games – over the left field wall. Though he struck out in his final at-bat in the eighth, the home run on Saturday put the emphasis on the week he’s had. 

If there were any questions about his bat coming in from a mid-major, they’ve certainly been answered. The only question remains: What will the former First-Team Patriot leaguer do for an encore on Sunday?

Box Score: No. 11 Virginia Tech 6, Charlotte 3