Hokies baseball sweeps Boston College, extending win streak to six
On a sunny Sunday afternoon, Virginia Tech closed its final home series in grand fashion.
The Hokies playing the third and final game against Boston College, on Senior Day, looked to complete the sweep.
Two days earlier, on Friday, Virginia Tech got off to a strong start with a 5-3 opening victory.
The game began with strong pitching, before Boston College took a 1-0 lead. The Hokies quickly answered with a run the next inning, before going on to score four runs by the end of the fifth, including a solo home run by sophomore center fielder Saige Jenco.
Boston College would make things interesting, cutting their deficit to 4-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning.
However, the Hokies would add an insurance run, earning sophomore pitcher Kit Scheetz his third win of the season.
On Saturday, the Hokies kept the Eagles to three runs again, while scoring six, to take game to 6-3.
Four of those runs came in the first inning, off of a grand slam by senior left fielder Erik Payne. The remaining runs came in the eighth, as the Hokies won game two of the series.
Carrying their momentum into the final game, looking for a sweep, Virginia Tech started the game strong in the first.
Relying on another young arm on Senior Day, freshman Packy Naughton started for Virginia Tech and left the Eagles hitless and without a base-runner in the first inning.
Boston College went with a bit more experienced pitcher, junior Jesse Adams. He also started strong, keeping the Hokies to just one base runner in the first two innings.
The pitchers’ continued play continued, as a “small ball” game developed.
The second, third, fourth and fifth innings came and passed, and Naughton still had not allowed a batter on base, appearing to be on the verge of a perfect game.
Batting wise, the Hokies had fallen into a bad habit, stranding runners to end innings.
In the sixth, a hard hit ball landed for the first hit of the game for the Eagles, ending Naughton’s potential perfect outing.
The Eagles went on to score off this hit, after a ground out and a fly out advanced the runner, before another single knocked the run in.
The seventh, eighth and most of the ninth came and passed, and the score remained 1-0. After a strong outing, Packy Naughton was finally replaced, and the Hokies called sophomore Aaron McGarity from the bullpen.
After pitching eight and two-third innings, Naughton only allowed five hits and one run while striking out five Boston College batters. On most nights, that would easily earn a victory, but this one was in jeopardy.
After McGarity got the final out, the Hokies had one final chance in the bottom of the ninth. Justin Dunn was in for the save opportunity for the Eagles.
After a five-pitch walk earned by Alex Perez to start off the inning, his second walk of the evening, senior Brendon Hayden stepped up to the plate.
The first pitch was low, putting Dunn behind with ball one. Dunn again wound-up and threw. Hayden stepped into the ground, dug in and swung for the fences. The result was a high driving rocket of a shot.
The ball carried and carried, before finally hitting the scoreboard, for a home run. Virginia Tech had rallied back with a walk-off to win.
“I had been thinking about that the inning before,” Hayden said. “I wanted a runner on base, which happened with Perez getting the walk, and I wanted to hit a home run.”
“I am so pleased. It was probably worth the stress of the first eight innings,” Coach Patrick Mason said after the game. “These seniors come out and never give up. They give everything they have, helping freshmen players learn.”
Virginia Tech is now on a six-game winning streak, after this weekend’s great play.
Mason credits this to pitching.
“We have had pitching consistency since the last game of the Duke series. We are getting quality starts, great bullpen play and not running our pitchers thin like we had,” Mason said.
Virginia Tech, now 25-24 and 12-14 in the ACC, is currently scheduled to only have one more home game against West Virginia, as they strive to get into the ACC Tournament.