Virginia Tech Baseball Methodically Handles Ohio 11-2

After two run-rule victories on Saturday, Virginia Tech closed out its series vs. Ohio on Sunday with a methodical 11-2 win.

The Hokies (31-14) jumped in front when a Ben Watson groundout scored Christian Martin in the bottom of the first inning. The Bobcats (14-28) answered quickly, however.

Similar to Saturday, they got runners aboard early. Against Tech’s Grant Manning, who started his first-ever D-I game in place of the injured Griffin Stieg (lat), three straight batters singled for Ohio in the top of the second. The third hit was Ben Slanker’s, which scored Caleb Karll.

Jacob Stretch entered for Manning with the runners on the corners, and though he allowed a run on an RBI single from Nick Dolan, he eventually got out of the jam with a double play.

Stretch gave Tech a much-needed lift for 3 ⅓ innings, his longest outing of the year. He yielded three hits but no runs while striking out two.

With the Bobcats leading 2-1, it was a quiet few frames until Tech’s Henry Cooke and Gehrig Ebel reached base on consecutive at-bats to lead off the bottom of the fifth. It was the first time Ohio starter Blake Gaskey was really shaken up, and the Hokies jumped on him when Carson DeMartini scored Cooke on a sacrifice fly, which tied things at two.

From there, it was all Virginia Tech. Chris Cannizzaro led off the sixth and stole second after a five-pitch walk. Eddie Micheletti walked on four pitches and David McCann was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Cooke received a free pass, scoring Cannizzaro, and a two-run single from Christian Martin made it 5-2.

𝘾𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 @chickrileymart1 🎯#Hokies 🦃⚾️ pic.twitter.com/nvnq1NSPQD

— Virginia Tech Baseball (@HokiesBaseball) May 5, 2024

McCann scored Watson in the seventh on an RBI single, and things really got out of hand in the eighth when Watson brought Martin and DeMartini home on a two-run double to left. Cannizzaro followed it up with a single and Micheletti tripled to score two. In a flash, it was 10-2, and Micheletti stole home two at-bats later as icing on the cake.

While the offense found its groove, the bullpen trio of David Shoemaker, Jordan Little and Preston Crowl threw the final 4 ⅔, striking out four while allowing just one hit — a sixth-inning single from Cole Williams.

Tech (13-11 ACC) has won five games in a row now after taking just five of its previous 14. It has two midweeks remaining — at Liberty on Wednesday (6 p.m. ET), vs. James Madison on Tuesday, May 14 (7 p.m. ET) — sandwiched in between two ACC series vs. Miami (21-25, 8-16 ACC) and at Virginia (35-12, 14-10).

Box Score: Virginia Tech 11, Ohio 2