Four weeks ago, after a Friday night loss to then-No. 5 Virginia, Virginia Tech had a mountain to climb in order to get back into the ACC race. It was 2-8 in conference play at the time.
Since, the Hokies have won eight of their last 10 ACC games. They took the series against Virginia, split a doubleheader at Duke, swept Georgia Tech and then snatched two-of-three from Florida State.
Now, another ACC foe awaits them this weekend in North Carolina (26-15, 9-10 ACC) — who has won just one of its last six conference games. The Tar Heels beat Miami once, though lost the series, before being swept by Boston College in Chapel Hill.
Tech (24-14, 10-10 ACC) currently sits in fourth place in the Coastal Division, two games back from Duke (12-8), who leads the standings. Virginia and Miami both follow at 12-9. The Tar Heels (9-10) aren’t too far behind, while Pitt (8-11) and Georgia Tech (8-13) round out the rest of the Coastal.
But the Hokies are a little more banged up heading into the weekend — more than they have been in the past. Carson DeMartini is the DH after tweaking his shoulder against Georgia Tech, though there’s not much of a drop off with David Bryant’s glove, while his bat has come around. Jack Hurley exited last Saturday’s game in the ninth after taking a pitch off the hand but is expected to be back this weekend.
Anthony Arguelles (5.97 ERA in 37 ⅔ innings) is expected to start against Max Carlson (6.29 ERA in 48 ⅔ innings) on Friday; Drue Hackenberg (4.62 ERA in 60 ⅓ innings) will go against Connor Bovair (3.95 ERA in 54 ⅔ innings) on Saturday. Hackenberg was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday after he completed his first career complete game against Florida State.
Sunday will likely be a bullpen game for Virginia Tech again with Griffin Green expected to miss this weekend. Green, who suffered an elbow injury against Georgia Tech on April 15, underwent an MRI on his elbow on Monday, per head coach John Szefc. The team should know more about his future status later this week.
It is, quite obviously, a series with two teams on opposite trajectories. UNC fell out of D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings this week and is in danger of missing the NCAA tournament. Tech, meanwhile, is on the right side of the bubble.
D1 Baseball listed the Hokies as one of the “last five in” teams with a No. 3 seed in the Morgantown Regional with No. 1 West Virginia (No. 15 national seed), No. 2 Kentucky and No. 4 Central Michigan.
Another series win for Virginia Tech this weekend would bump the Hokies up a few spots in the RPI (No. 43) and cement their place as postseason contenders in the NCAA tournament.
Here’s a snapshot at the schedule vs. North Carolina:
Friday, April 28: 1 p.m. ET, ACC Network Extra
Saturday, April 29: 7 p.m. ET, ACC Network
Sunday, April 30: 1 p.m. ET, ACC Network Extra
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