No. 19 Virginia Tech pulled out the brooms for its second road sweep of ACC play this season, dramatically taking both games of a Friday doubleheader and emphatically winning the Sunday finale in Chestnut Hill against Boston College this weekend.
With a four-run ninth in Game 1 (9-6), a massive defensive play to preserve a late lead in Game 2 (4-3) and a seven-run seventh in Game 3 (12-6), the Hokies (18-4, 8-1 ACC) continued their program-best start in conference play and remained atop the ACC Coastal Division, sitting a game above No. 20 North Carolina. Their eight conference wins are also the most of any team.
It certainly wasn’t easy for Tech, however. With a Saturday storm creating a doubleheader on Friday, the Hokies discovered a flair for the dramatics to steal both games against the Eagles (11-11, 2-7).
Game 1: Virginia Tech 9, Boston College 6
The series opener was a game of runs. Tech got off to an early 4-1 lead thanks to a pair of RBI singles from its catching duo of Henry Cooke and David McCann and an RBI triple from Clay Grady, who leads the ACC in three-baggers.
In the fifth inning, the Eagles’ bats woke up and chased Hokies starter Brett Renfrow out of the ballgame with a five-run frame. After allowing just three baserunners in the first four innings, he gave up a two-run homer before being pulled for Brady Kirtner. In 4 ⅔ innings, the freshman gave up four runs on five hits and two walks, but struck out six batters.
Kirtner struggled mightily, failing to record an out while giving up two runs, yielding three hits and a walk to put the Hokies down 6-4. However, with runners on the corners and two outs, David Shoemaker took the mound and delivered a game-changing outing. After stranding the bases loaded, the UPenn transfer put together a scoreless day, tossing three innings and giving up two hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Tech’s offense was only able to plate a run in that time frame courtesy of a Chris Cannizzaro two-out RBI double in the seventh, which cut the deficit to one. That’s where the score remained heading into the ninth inning, where the Hokies roared back to life.
After freshman first baseman Ethan Gibson led things off with a single, Clay Grady worked a walk to turn the lineup over to Christian Martin. On a full count, the second baseman blasted a no-doubt, go-ahead three-run homer to right field to put the Hokies up 8-6.
Tech plated another run via an RBI double from Eddie Micheletti before Jordan Little shut things down on the mound in the home half of the ninth to record his second save of the season and clinch the comeback victory.
Game 2: Virginia Tech 4, Boston College 3
The second game of the doubleheader had no shortage of theatrics either. It proved to be a pitcher’s duel as Wyatt Parliament tossed five innings of one-run ball, giving up three hits and a walk while striking out six Eagles batters. On the other side, AJ Colarusso went six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks.
Those four runs came early for the Hokies on a pair of sac flies, an RBI groundout and a solo home run from Henry Cooke, which made it 4-1 after four innings.
That’s where the score remained until the bottom of the eighth inning, where things got quite tense. With Jeremy Neff entering his second full inning on the mound, he quickly recorded two outs before giving up a single and a walk. With the tying run entering the batter’s box, John Szefc made a call to the bullpen and brought in Matt Siverling, who has arguably been Tech’s best relief arm in 2024. That wasn’t the case in this instance, however, as he walked the lone batter he faced to load the bases.
Siverling was pulled for true freshman Preston Crowl, who faced the biggest moment of his young career. On his fourth pitch, he gave up a hard-hit double into the gap in left center field, allowing two runs to score. With the tying run rounding third base, Cannizzaro and Grady teamed up for a perfectly-executed relay to the plate, nabbing the runner at home to preserve Tech’s 4-3 lead heading into the ninth inning.
After going down in order in the top of the ninth, the Hokies sent Little back out to record his second save of the day. He easily did so, striking out the side to sweep the doubleheader and clinch the series win for Tech.
Game 3: Virginia Tech 12, Boston College 6
The series finale on Sunday proved to be another tight one until the Hokies once again used a monster inning to break away late.
Tech got out to an early 3-0 lead, highlighted by Carson DeMartini’s 13th home run of the season, which was upheld by another solid performance from Griffin Stieg. The sophomore went 4 ⅓ innings, giving up two runs on four hits with six strikeouts. After entering the game with four walks on the season — a figure which led the ACC — he gave up a season-high three free passes to first base.
Still, the Hokies held a 3-2 lead heading into the sixth inning, where Siverling yielded a walk and a double to bring the tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position. That’s when Szefc gave the ball to Kirtner in another high-leverage situation.
Like Friday, Kirtner struggled a bit. The Hokies nabbed the lead runner at home on a sac bunt attempt for the first out, but the junior right-hander gave up a walk to load the bases. After a strikeout, his wild pitch allowed the tying run to score and made it three-all. He was able to keep it there, though, with a lineout to end the inning.
When Tech’s bats came back up, they exploded to put the game on ice. A Cannizzaro two-run homer and a Cooke two-run triple plated four runs before the Eagles were able to record an out. Later, with the bases loaded, a Martin hit by pitch, a wild pitch from BC pitcher Jordan Fisse and a DeMartini sac fly made it 10-3 seemingly in the blink of an eye.
In total, the Tech only registered two hits in the frame, but still scored a whopping seven runs to separate itself. The teams traded a few more runs after each squad loaded the bases in the eighth, but after Grant Manning shut things down in the bottom of the ninth, the Hokies wrapped up a 12-6 win and their third sweep of 2024.
Tech has now won six games in a row and 10 of its last 11, including two ACC sweeps, with the Friday game in Louisville being the lone blemish.
The Hokies host Marshall for a midweek matchup on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET before a home series against Pitt (11-9, 1-8), who currently holds the worst record in the ACC.
Print
Exciting games; well written recap. Thx Rama. Hope you and the BB Hokies keep it up.
good work Hokies……sweepem up