Virginia Tech Baseball: Hokies Fall in Battle of the Techs

The Hokies (17-16, 7-8) dropped their third straight ACC series this weekend and have fallen below .500 in conference play for the first time since March 13.

Friday, Georgia Tech @ VT: L, 11-5

The Hokies fell to the visiting Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (21-11, 7-8) in game 1 after the beleaguered bullpen squandered yet another lead in an ACC contest.

Hokies ace Sean Keselica wasn't perfect by any means, but battled into the seventh inning until the Yellow Jackets finally chased him from the game. Georgia Tech got to Keselica early in the second with two runs off of a double and a few well-placed balls around the Hokies infield.

The Hokies pulled within one in the third with an RBI single from Saige Jenco that plated Andrew Mogg. The Hokies tied the game at two in the fourth when designated hitter Phil Sciretta singled home Erik Payne who had led off the frame with a double off the wall.

The Hokies took a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth when Senior Brendon Hayden smashed a 3-run homer to right field. With the 3-run shot, Hayden's home run total moved to a team-leading seven.

After Georgia Tech elevated Keselica's pitch count early, the Hokies ace finally worked a quick inning in the sixth when he retired the Yellow Jackets in order. The bottom of the Hokies order went down quietly in the sixth as well to send the game to the seventh.

Keselica's up-and-down evening finally ended in the seventh when Georgia Tech cut the Hokies lead to one courtesy of two extra-base hits and a single. Fellow southpaw Sean Kennedy replaced Keselica but was unable to maintain the lead as Georgia Tech's third double of the inning tied the game at five.

Despite not allowing a hit in the eighth, Kennedy and bullpen mate Luke Scherzer allowed Georgia Tech to take a 6-5 lead off of a walk, an error, a HBP, and a fielder's choice. The wheels then came flying off of the Virginia Tech bullpen in the ninth which turned a manageable one-run deficit into an 11-5 game that was all but over.

The Hokies managed to put two runners in scoring position in the ninth off of Georgia Tech's sidewinding Joe Wiseman, but a Brendon Hayden fly out brought the disappointing game 1 to a close.

Knowing they had let a third straight ACC game escape from their grasps, the Hokies were understandably frustrated after the loss. However, the team remained confident in the bullpen and believes success isn't far off.

"We have confidence in our bullpen," said Payne. "We feel that if we give them the lead at the end of the game, we have confidence that they can close it out for us. It just hasn't happened the past couple weekends."

An exasperated Coach Mason was stuck searching for solutions from a bullpen that he referred to as a "little bit of Jekyll and Hyde."

While Mason wouldn't divulge specific details on upcoming personnel changes in the 'pen, he did promise that there would be some tinkering in the hopes of improving a struggling staff.

Little did anyone know that the tinkering would surface just 24 hours later.

Saturday, Georgia Tech @ VT: W, 9-8

When normal Sunday starter Jon Woodcock took the mound for the Hokies on Saturday against Georgia Tech, it was clear Coach Mason and his staff had decided to make some changes. While no one could be sure, it appeared as if Mason wanted to strengthen the bullpen by adding typical Saturday starter Aaron McGarity to the mix.

When McGarity jogged in from the bullpen to start the eighth inning, it was obvious: the Hokies, at least for the time being, have a new closer.

As baseball so often seems to play out, McGarity somehow managed to earn his third victory of the season after the Hokies walked off with a win with two runs in the bottom of the ninth.

After pitching well enough to win on Friday, Senior Sean Keselica helped the Hokies jump out to an early lead with a bases-loaded double in the second that gave the Hokies a 3-0 advantage.

With some assistance from a key Ricky Surum error, the Yellow Jackets answered with three runs of their own to tie the game in the third.

The Hokies grabbed the lead back in the fifth inning when Erik Payne singled through the left side to score Rahiem Cooper. Mac Caples followed with a bases-loaded hit by pitch to give the Hokies a 5-3 lead.

With Woodcock at 99 pitches after just five innings, Coach Mason went to his bullpen for the sixth. Freshman Chris Monaco allowed four Yellow Jackets to score in the sixth and it appeared as if a fourth straight ACC lead would be wasted for the Hokies. The Hokies offense wasn't nearly done, though, as they scored twice in the seventh to tie the game.

The aforementioned McGarity came on to work the eighth and retired the Yellow Jackets in order. After the Hokies went 3-up, 3-down in the bottom half, Georgia Tech scraped across the go-ahead run off McGarity in the ninth with a sacrifice bunt sandwiched between two singles.

Unwilling to go down without a fight, Erik Payne reached on his third single of the day to put the tying run on base for the Hokies. After Brendon Hayden flew out, Mac Caples worked a 2-out walk to keep the Hokies afloat. Sean Keselica then smashed his fourth hit of the day to left center field which brought home Payne and moved Caples to third. With the game now tied, Andrew Mogg hit a chopper to second baseman Wade Bailey. Bailey fielded the ball cleanly and turned to flip to shortstop Connor Justus, but his flip ricocheted off the back of Keselica which let Caples trot home for the game-winning run.

Sunday, Georgia Tech @ VT: L, 7-6

Trailing by one with two outs and two men on in the bottom of the ninth, the Hokies found themselves in a nearly identical situation as Saturday afternoon's walk-off win. Unlike the previous day, the Hokies couldn't corral the same magic and dropped the series to their Coastal Division rival.

Since the bullpen shakeup had moved Jon Woodcock to a Saturday role, Coach Mason gave the ball to normal midweek starter Kit Scheetz for his first ACC start of the season. Georgia Tech jumped on Scheetz early and often, causing the Hokies to go to their bullpen in just the fourth inning.

The Yellow Jackets plated five in the second highlighted by a two-RBI double from leadoff hitter Daniel Spingola. The Hokies pulled within two in the bottom of the third off of RBI's from Saige Jenco, Alex Perez, and Erik Payne. Payne's RBI single extended his streak of reaching base safely to 32 games, a streak that stretches all the way back to the Hokies second game of the season.

After allowing a leadoff homer in the fourth, Scheetz was replaced by Luke Scherzer. Scherzer, who started the season as the Hokies closer, allowed one additional Georgia Tech run in the fourth but then completely shut down the Yellow Jackets over his final four innings of work.

Facing a 7-3 deficit, the Hokies climbed back into the game with a three run sixth inning. After a Mac Caples single and an Andrew Mogg walk, second baseman Sam Fragale singled up the middle to score Caples. Alex Perez, in his 203rd consecutive start for the Hokies, followed with a 2-RBI single that brought the Hokies within one.

Georgia Tech finally got something going off of Scherzer in the ninth when they loaded the bases off of a single, a walk, and an error. The newest member of the Hokies bullpen, Aaron McGarity, entered into the ninth-inning jam and induced an infield fly and a ground ball to short to keep the Hokies within striking distance.

Like Saturday, Caples worked a two-out walk to keep the Hokies alive. Staying with the theme, Sean Keselica followed with a single to move the tying run to second. Caples would advance no further, though, as Phil Sciretta struck out swinging to end the game.

This Week (4/6 - 4/12)

While the past three weekends have been disappointing for the Hokies, there are a few positives to take away from the Georgia Tech series. After the much-maligned bullpen surrendered six runs in Friday's final three innings, Coach Mason promised the Hokies would make adjustments. While the changes may have been a tad unorthodox, the bullpen saw at least some improvement. Aaron McGarity was able to work two high-leverage situations for the Hokies, and despite allowing one run on Saturday, appears to have settled in to his new role. Stretching out Luke Scherzer worked brilliantly on Sunday as he threw 76 pitches in relief of Kit Scheetz. Getting Scherzer back on track will be vital if the Hokies hope to rebound from a tough midseason stretch.

On the other hand, the placement of McGarity in the bullpen requires the Hokies to find one more weekend starter. Scheetz will need to give the Hokies more on Sundays moving forward for the change to truly be deemed a success.

The Hokies will need a short memory this week with Radford (19-11, 8-1) and Charlotte (11-15, 5-10) coming to English Field on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. The Hokies will then travel to Coral Gables for a 3-game series with No. 12 Miami (24-9, 11-4) this weekend. Miami, fresh off of a sweep of Duke, will present a huge road challenge for Tech. Now sitting at 7-8 in ACC play, a strong series in South Florida would not only help the Hokies climb up the ACC standings, but could also provide some momentum for the second half of the ACC slate.

Can the team recover and turn the corner after 3 straight series losses in the ACC? Luke Scherzer believes they can.

"Coach Woodard and Coach Mason have built us to be mentally tough," said Scherzer. "I think we can bounce back. We've hit a rough point in the middle of the season, but we'll be back."