Virginia Tech has won in all sorts of ways this season. Tuesday night’s victory at English Field vs. James Madison was just another example.
It’s been a rollercoaster of a year for the Hokies (24-14, 10-10 ACC). After a 12-2 start, they regressed to 15-10, falling to 2-8 in the conference. They dropped eight games in a stretch of 11, including five in a row.
Yet, they rallied. Since the beginning of April, they’re 9-4. They brought their league record to an even 10-10 and took the last three ACC series, sweeping Georgia Tech in the process. Their two biggest blemishes came in midweek clashes with Liberty and Radford.
Some teams might’ve folded. But the Hokies have stuck together, which was evident as they gutted out a 7-5 win over the Dukes. Trailing entering the eighth, they scored four runs in the bottom of the inning off two hits and five walks, and they were patient and confident.
“We’re a tight-knit group,” Tech pitcher Kiernan Higgins said. “We’re just going to try to win for each other, and that’s what we did. We just kept going through it and making sure we’re going to do whatever it takes to win this game.
“I think it’s just going game-by-game, going in there with a positive mindset. We’ve kind of shrunk it down to, ‘Just win the inning.’ If you win more innings than they do, you have a pretty good chance to win the game. … It’s baseball, you’re going to lose here and there, but at the end of the day, you’ve just got to stay with what you’ve been doing.”
The turnaround is even more impressive considering the injury bug Tech’s faced. Hitters Chris Cannizzaro, David Bryant, Carson DeMartini and most recently Jack Hurley have been banged up for stretches. Griffin Green, one of the team’s three starting pitchers, left the Saturday game vs. Georgia Tech with an elbow injury. (Green underwent an MRI on Monday and the team should know more later this week, according to head coach John Szefc.)
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On top of that, bullpen arm Christian Worley is out for the year. Relievers Henry Weycker and Kiernan Higgins, who contributed to Tuesday’s win, missed time in March.
“We’ve come from behind quite a bit this year. The only difference now is we’re pretty banged up,” Szefc said. “… That wasn’t the case last year. We had a lot of good players, but we also had a lot of healthy players. Now we have a lot of good players, some of which are not healthy, so you try and glue it together whatever way you can.”
The Hokies have done just that as of late. Sometimes it’s been hot bats. They posted 32 runs in 27 innings vs. Georgia Tech, and they scored 24 runs in Game 1 at Florida State this past weekend. Against UVa, they recorded 24 runs in two victories.
Other times, it’s been the guys on the mound that have set the tone; Drue Hackenberg’s a perfect example. In his last three starts, he’s thrown 23 innings, allowing five runs. Anthony Arguelles made life difficult for the Cavaliers, Yellow Jackets and Seminoles, setting the table for the bullpen. Higgins, Weycker and Jonah Hurney are just three of the arms that produced solid outings when called upon.
Against JMU on Tuesday night, it was a combination of both. Higgins, Grant Umberger, Matthew Siverling and Weycker yielded just five runs and four walks. Tech received a quality start from Higgins, who got out of two jams. Umberger and Siverling limited the damage, not giving the Dukes — who walked VT 11 times — many free bases. And Weycker shut the door.
And when push came to shove in the eighth inning, Tech stood tall, taking 26 pitches across five at-bats that led to walks. They were squeezed in between a double from Christian Martin and a single from Clay Grady.
Even while trailing, the Hokies were composed, never flustered. And they’ve been that way for most of year, even when they haven’t had their full selection of players. That’s why they’ve ripped off nine wins in their last 13 outings, and it’s why they’re in a good position heading into the final few weekends.
“You kind of get there in different ways,” Szefc said. “… With how we played last weekend and today, I like to say, ‘At least it gives a group hope.’ Everyone needs hope, in whatever you do. … The way we’ve played puts us in a position to give us some kind of hope for the future.”
Three ACC series remain for Virginia Tech: vs. North Carolina (9-10 ACC), vs. Clemson (9-9 ACC) and at Wake Forest (16-4). In between are non-conference outings against Marshall (16-22), Bowling Green (14-22), Liberty (19-21) and JMU (23-17).
The Hokies are in an OK spot. They’re 43rd in the RPI, per D1Baseball, and are included in the latest NCAA tournament projections. Their schedule is favorable, too, and first place in the ACC Coastal Division is still within their grasp.
It all comes down to putting the pieces together at the right time and jumping on opportunities when they arise, just like the eighth inning vs. James Madison on Tuesday in Blacksburg.
“I think we’re playing really well,” Tech outfielder Carson Jones, who was 2-for-4 vs. JMU, said. “Obviously, we have to keep it up. Big win this past weekend and a tough win today. We just have to keep playing, but I think we’re in a good spot moving forward. … We’ve got to stick to our plan and what we want to do and we’ll be fine.”
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Good article, although just not sure how the remaining schedule is “favorable”, other than maybe more home games. Wake is #3 rpi, Clemson is #22, and UNC is #47 with a very good team. Tall order for this team with the banged up pitching, even moreso if Hurley misses more games.
I agree with you. Also, yesterday JMU’s pitching completely blew it in the 8th inning. I feel we’ve won a few games this way. But that’s also baseball, still love the Hokies:)