Virginia Tech Baseball: Defensive Miscues Doom Hokies

Virginia Tech faced a win or go home play-in game in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Tuesday. The Hokies (27-27, 13-16) fought valiantly against North Carolina (33-22, 13-16). Tech twice cut into a late Tar Heel lead to keep their fleeting dream of a magical postseason run alive. Ultimately, two pivotal Hokies' defensive mistakes turned into four Tar Heels' unearned runs, and that proved to be too much to overcome as the Hokies fell 5-3.

"Really proud of how we played today," said Virginia Tech head coach Pat Mason. "It wasn't a perfect game, but to walk away from this loss, and know that we left everything that we had on the field today, it makes you proud."

Sophomore Kit Scheetz started on the mound for the Hokies and lasted four innings while allowing three earned runs. Scheetz encountered trouble early in the bottom of the first as Carolina put two runners in scoring position, but it was nothing the crafty lefty couldn't work around.

Virginia Tech's Kit Scheetz (9) pitches to North Carolina during game two of the 2015 ACC Baseball Tournament Championship in Durham, N.C., Tuesday, May 19, 2015. (Atlantic Coast Conference / Sara D. Davis)

"He came out in the first inning and got in a little bit of trouble," said Mason. "But when you're in the dugout when Kit is pitching, that's almost a standard inning for him. You're going to give up some hits, but he kind of figures a way to get out of them."

After escaping the first unscatched, the Hokies took an early 1-0 lead in the second when Saige Jenco smoked his second single of the day to score Max Ponzurick.

After Tar Heel starter Zac Gallen and Scheetz breezed through the third inning, North Carolina's Landon Lassiter led off the bottom of the fourth with a fly ball to centerfield, normally a fairly routine play for Hokies centerfielder Saige Jenco. Jenco glided underneath the ball in plenty of time but appeared to lose it in the sun at the last second as the ball bounced off his glove and onto the outfield grass. By the time Jenco got the ball into the infield, Lassiter had raced all the way to third. Skye Bolt then delivered a sacrifice fly, and just like that, the game was tied at 1. Adam Pate followed Bolt with a double down the left field line that put another Tar Heel in scoring position. After Scheetz struck out Korey Dunbar, North Carolina strung together three consecutive two-out singles which gave them a 3-1 lead.

"Saige is one of the best defensive players I've ever had the luxury of coaching," said Mason of Jenco, normally the Hokies' best outfielder. "I think he got a good jump on that ball, put himself in position to catch it and he lost it the last second with that sun."

Now pitching with the lead, Gallen cruised through the fifth and sixth innings with a low 90's fastball that he consistently spotted in the bottom half of the zone.

Luke Scherzer replaced Scheetz in the fifth and was greeted by an Alex Raburn line drive to left that Erik Payne misplayed. As the ball scooted past Payne and into the Blue Monster, Raburn advanced to second standing up. Raburn moved to third on a wild pitch from Scherzer that flew well beyond the reach of catcher Andrew Mogg. Skye Bolt, hitless on the afternoon, recorded his second RBI of the game with a ground ball to second that plated Raburn.

The Hokies chased Gallen from the game in the top of the seventh with a two-out rally courtesy of Saige Jenco and Alex Perez. Jenco started things off with a line drive to left field that he somehow turned into a double and Perez followed with a single to right that scored the speedy Jenco without a throw. The Tar Heels then summoned reliever Trevor Kelley into the game to face Erik Payne, and after working the count to 3-2, Payne went down swinging on a devastating slider from Kelley.

After a 40 minute rain delay prolonged the seventh inning stretch, North Carolina quickly loaded the bases with just one out in the bottom of the seventh off of Scherzer. With Scherzer clearly laboring, Pat Mason went to his bullpen once again, this time calling for closer Aaron McGarity. McGarity needed just two pitches to induce a tailor-made double play ball that Alex Perez easily handled to end the inning.

"That was huge. We went out to the mound to talk to our infielders, we just said this is a good ground ball, especially left side, inside out swing, looking to get a ground ball to Alex," said Mason. "It's not often you draw it up and execute it to perfection, but we needed it at that time. And I thought it was huge for our momentum."

Max Ponzurick reached on an error to start the eighth inning for the Hokies and then advanced to second on a Mac Caples single. North Carolina third baseman Alex Raburn then made his second error of the inning on a Ryan Tufts ground ball which allowed Ponzurick to score. With the Hokies now trailing just 4-3 and the Tar Heels reeling on defense, it seemed that the momentum was shifting in Durham. Unfortunately for the Hokies, Trevor Kelley had different plans. Kelley, making his nation-leading 40th appearance, bore down and struck out both Andrew Mogg and Phil Sciretta with two runners on base to preserve the Carolina lead.

The Tar Heels scored their first earned run of the game in the bottom of the eighth with a perfectly executed safety squeeze from Elijah Sutherland that put them ahead 5-3.

North Carolina head coach Mike Fox opted to stay with Trevor Kelley for the ninth instead of going to his closer Trent Thornton. Kelley struck out Saige Jenco to start the inning but then surrendered a one-out single to Alex Perez. Erik Payne stepped to the plate representing the potential tying run, but he struck out for the second time against Kelley. With the Hokies down to their final out, Brendon Hayden worked a 3-2 count but ultimately grounded out to second to end the game.

With a 27-27 record and an RPI hovering in the mid-60's, there will be no NCAA at-large bid coming for the Hokies. But that shouldn't discount what this group of seniors did for the Virginia Tech baseball program over the past four years.

Alex Perez started every game since he set foot on campus four years ago, 224 in all. Brendon Hayden hit 24 home runs in a Hokies uniform, perhaps none more satisfying than his walk-off shot against Boston College on Senior Day. Kyle Wernicki went from being a walk-on from New Jersey to the starting centerfielder for the No. 16 ranked team in the country. Erik Payne only played one season in Blacksburg, but his bat played a key role in nearly all 27 of the Hokies victories this season. And Sean Keselica established himself as one of the premier two-way players in the ACC, leading the Hokies both on the mound and at the plate. Perhaps even more importantly, this group of seniors, along with Ryan Burns, played an essential part in bringing an NCAA Regional to Blacksburg for the first time in program history.

It should go without saying that the 2016 Hokies have some big shoes to fill, especially in the middle of the order. But Pat Mason knows that if his returning players can follow in the path that his seniors forged, there will be brighter days ahead for Virginia Tech baseball.

"These seniors certainly are going to be a big loss to our program, because of how productive they were, and how great of leaders and people they are," said Mason. "We have some of those young guys who can look at an Alex and see that if you stick to that process, keep believing, keep fighting, that development will come. I like where we're at talent-wise, and toughness-wise, so I feel good about where we're going."

While some of the departing seniors will begin their professional careers in the coming months, you can be sure that they'll always keep a watchful eye on their old teammates in Blacksburg.

"Hopefully this is just a step in the right direction for our program," said Perez. "Hopefully we keep going up, up and up."