Virginia Tech Baseball: Hokies Drop Series to Duke

The Hokies (20-24, 9-14) stumbled to a 1-3 record this week as they fell to Radford (28-14, 14-4) in a midweek contest and dropped two games to Duke (24-19, 7-16) over the weekend.

Tuesday, VT @ Radford: L, 7-4

A red-hot Radford squad took the season series from the Hokies on Tuesday with a 7-4 victory that gave them their 19th win in 23 tries.

Freshman Packy Naughton started for the Hokies and surrendered two runs in his three innings of work. Radford put their first run on the board with a Josh Gardiner solo home run to right in the bottom of the third. The Highlanders scored for the second time in the frame when Patrick Marshall hit a one-out grounder to second that brought Shane Johnsonbaugh in to score.

Jon Woodcock, who recorded just one out in his start against North Carolina on Saturday, relieved Naughton for the Hokies looking to get back on track. After a strong fourth inning, Woodcock allowed four consecutive Radford hits that plated two Highlanders, ending his second straight forgettable outing at just 30 pitches.

Senior Erik Payne hit the first of his two home runs on the evening in the sixth which cut the Radford lead to three.

The Highlanders feasted on the Virginia Tech bullpen once again in the bottom of the sixth with three more runs that gave them a commanding 7-1 lead.

The Hokies started off the eighth with hits from Ryan Tufts and Saige Jenco that put two runners in scoring position. After two quick strikeouts, Erik Payne stepped to the plate and smashed his second home run which pulled the Hokies within three.

Despite the outstanding performance from Payne, Tech went down in order in the top of the ninth to give Radford their first series victory over the Hokies since the 1996 season.

Friday, VT @ Duke: L, 6-3

Duke took game 1 from the Hokies on Friday with a 6-3 victory behind 7 strong innings from Andrew Istler.

The Hokies got to Istler early in the second with a Brendon Hayden solo home run, but then managed just one additional hit off the senior right hander throughout the rest of the evening. Duke responded in the bottom of the third with a two-run home run from catcher Mike Rosenfeld that gave the Blue Devils a 2-1 lead.

The Blue Devils chased Hokies starter Kit Scheetz in the sixth with an RBI single from Kenny Koplove that scored Cris Perez. Luke Scherzer emerged from the pen for the Hokies with two men on and quickly got a ground ball to short to end the threat.

After a quiet top of the seventh, the Blue Devils loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning off of Scherzer. Duke first baseman Jalen Phillips proceeded to smoke a bases-clearing double to left field that gave the Blue Devil bullpen three important insurance runs. Now trailing 6-1, the Hokies fought back in the eighth with a two-RBI single from Hayden, but pinch hitter Max Ponzurick struck out with two runners on to end the inning.

Kenny Koplove, Duke's starting shortstop who also doubles as the team's closer, set down the Hokies in order in the ninth to record his eighth save on the year.

Saturday/Sunday, VT @ Duke: L, 4-3

While game 2 in Durham may have taken two days to complete thanks to the rainstorm that also wreaked havoc on the Virginia Tech spring game, the outcome was no different for the Hokies as Duke clinched the series victory with a 4-3 win.

Hokies ace Sean Keselica took the mound for the first time since April 10 and took the loss after allowing 4 runs in 4 2/3 innings of work.

Duke took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single from Cris Perez. The Hokies cut that lead in half in the second as Saige Jenco legged out an infield single that scored Phil Sciretta.

Duke widened their lead back to two in the bottom of the second with an Evan Dougherty RBI double. Due to his sporadic control (just 56 strikes on 105 pitches), Keselica was removed in the fifth after two Blue Devils reached base with two outs in the inning. Aaron McGarity was unable to strand both inherited runners as he issued two walks that allowed Cris Perez to trot home.

Brendon Hayden continued his stellar weekend with a two-RBI double in the seventh that pulled the Hokies within one. With the Hokies now down just 4-3, the umpires elected to suspend the final 2 1/2 innings until Sunday due to the continuous rain and the worsening field conditions.

After about 24 hours, mother nature finally relented and allowed the Hokies and Blue Devils to finish off game 2. With two outs in the eighth, Saige Jenco tallied his third hit of the game which brought Duke closer Kenny Koplove to the mound. Koplove got four quick outs against the heart of the Hokies order to give Duke the series win.

Sunday, VT @ Duke: W, 11-3

The Hokies cruised to a game 3 victory over Duke on Sunday courtesy of an 8-run sixth inning that gave Tech a much-needed ACC win.

Freshman Packy Naughton started for the Hokies and tossed six scoreless innings, more than enough to earn him his second win of the season.

The Hokies struck first in the top of the third with a sacrifice fly from leadoff hitter Saige Jenco that scored Andrew Mogg. Tech added two more runs in the fourth with RBI's from seniors Brendon Hayden and Sean Keselica.

The Hokies put the Blue Devils away for good in the sixth inning when they sent 12 batters to the plate against three different Duke relievers. Hayden got things started for Tech with an infield single and Sean Keselica worked a walk to put runners on first and second. After Sam Fragale was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Andrew Mogg walked to bring home Hayden. Ryan Tufts singled through the left side to give the Hokies their second run of the frame. Saige Jenco and Rahiem Cooper followed Tufts with consecutive bases loaded walks that brought home two more Hokies. Alex Perez and Erik Payne followed Cooper with a pair of two-RBI singles that put an exclamation point on Tech's big inning.

Holding an 11-0 lead, Coach Mason went to the bullpen in the seventh as Jon Woodcock entered the game. Woodcock worked a quick seventh but did surrender two unearned runs in the eighth. Joey Sullivan came on for the ninth and allowed one run before inducing a Max Miller groundout to end the game.

This Week (4/27–5/3)

The Hokies weren't able to take advantage of their series with the cellar-dwellar of the ACC, but their goal of making the ACC tournament remains within reach. However, Tech is still currently on the outside looking in with just two ACC series remaining (BC, at Pitt). I'll spare you a long-winded breakdown of the Hokies chances of making the ACC tournament because it really comes down to winning and getting a little help. The series loss at Duke gave the Hokies even more ground to make up as they currently sit in 11th place. Since only the top ten teams make the ACC tournament regardless of division affiliation, the Hokies will need to jump up a couple of spots. If I was a betting man, I'd say the Hokies will need to go at least 4-2 (and 5-1 wouldn't hurt) to ensure themselves a spot in the ten-team field. That starts this weekend with a 3-game series with Boston College (22-21, 9-14).