Hokies Baseball Stays Hot In Midweek Drubbing Of Radford

The 69th all-time meeting between New River Valley rivals Virginia Tech and Radford on the diamond felt over before it even started.

The Hokies (6-2) stayed hot with their surging bats and pitching, shutting down the Highlanders (2-5) 14-4 for their fourth consecutive victory amidst some rain and wind 20 minutes south of Blacksburg. All of Tech’s runs came in the first five innings.

Tech knocked double-digit hits — four of which left the ballpark — for the fifth straight game and plated 14 runs for the third time in its last four contests. Its arms gave up four or less runs for the fourth game in a row, too.

The Hokies’ offense set the tone early with five first-inning runs before the Highlanders had the opportunity to retaliate, highlighted by Chris Cannizzaro cranking his fourth homer of the young season — a three-run shot.

The Highlanders got two runs back courtesy of a pair of RBI groundouts in the bottom of the first off Jeremy Neff, who started his first game for Tech. Those were the lone runs relinquished by the grad transfer from Richmond, who tossed a scoreless second inning.

Neff was replaced by Grant Manning in the third, who delivered an excellent outing. The Chapman (D-III) transfer threw four innings of one-run ball, yielding two hits and a walk while striking out six batters. From the second through sixth innings, he retired eight batters in a row.

With Manning holding things down on the mound, Tech’s bats remained torrid. A pair of home runs in the bottom of the third stretched the lead to six. Garrett Michel left the yard for the third consecutive game with a two-run shot and Sam Tackett notched his first round-tripper of the season on a solo blast. 

The home run party continued in the fourth as Ethan Gibson, who made his first start as a Hokie at shortstop, launched a leadoff dinger to left. The true freshman had a debut to remember, reaching safely in all five of his plate appearances with the home run, two singles and a pair of walks. 

The fifth inning is where Tech put the game on ice, plating five runs on just a trio of hits. Tackett and Ben Watson went back-to-back doubles to score three Hokies. Later, Carson DeMartini worked a bases-loaded walk — he had three free trips to first base on the day — and Cannizzaro hit a sac fly to bring two more home, making it a 14-2 game.

On the day, Cannizzaro led the way going 2-for-4 with four RBI to extend his team-high total to 1. Watson got his season batting average to a whopping .514 with his 3-for-3 effort, plating three runs along the way. Michel (3-for-4) and Tackett (2-for-4) each brought two runs home as well.

Radford scored a run in both the sixth and seventh innings, but the Hokies’ bullpen remained largely excellent. Matthew Siverling, Jacob Stretch and Jordan Vera combined for three innings of one-run ball, giving up just two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. Siverling struck out the side in the seventh while Stretch, a transfer from Frostburg State with some of the nastiest stuff in the pen, did the same in the eighth.

Tech returns to English Field on Friday to kick off an eight-game home stand, starting with a weekend series against Stony Brook (4 p.m. ET, ACC Network Extra).

Box Score: Virginia Tech 14, Radford 4