Let's Check In With Some Hokie Baseball!

We here at Gobbler Country like to give you as much of a full perspective on the Virginia Tech athletics department as possible. So while the bulk of our coverage will continue to be football related - it is what we do best, after all - we’re going to endeavor to give you a weekly look at the current state of the other programs on campus as well as some updates about Hokies that have gone on to ply their trade professionally.

For our first installment, let’s take a visit to English Field and check in with Hokie baseball. After sweeping Boston College in a three game series this past weekend to secure their 10th place position in the ACC, the Hokies faced West Virginia Tuesday in a one-off non-conference game. It was there last such game of the regular season and the last game played in Blacksburg.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jenco, Freiday, Jr., career nights push Tech past West Virginia: Hokies defeat Mountaineers 13-3 to extend win .. <a href="http://t.co/yt4sRuiYYP">http://t.co/yt4sRuiYYP</a></p>&mdash; VT Baseball (@VT_Baseball) <a href="https://twitter.com/VT_Baseball/status/595771785267785729">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>

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Pitcher Jon Woodcock earned his fifth start of the season and threw a strong game. He pitched seven innings with one earned run from a solo home run in the 4th inning. An error in the 2nd saw an unearned run score.

Woodcock’s impressive stuff was well rewarded by his teammates in the batter’s box. The Hokies scored 13 runs from as many hits. The barrage was led by three hit nights from both Saige Jenco and Joe Freiday, Jr. Jenco’s school-record tying two triples scored six runs, a career high for the sophomore. Their standout performances shouldn’t overshadow the rest of the team, though. In all, each starter either scored or earned at least a RBI.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mason: &quot;If we want to go into the ACCT and go deep into that tournament … we’re going to need Jon Woodcock to pitch like he did tonight.&quot;</p>&mdash; Jacob Emert (@JacobEmert) <a href="https://twitter.com/JacobEmert/status/595759051977453570">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>

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The 13-3 victory felt like a statement win ahead of Tech’s visit to Pittsburgh, their final ACC series of the regular season. The game is the Hokies’ seventh consecutive victory, highlighted by the three game sweep against Boston College over the weekend. The hot streak ties them for fifth in current streaks nationwide. It also took them over .500, improving their overall record to 26-24. Their in-conference record is what counts most though. Currently sitting at 12-14, it’s enough to put the Hokies in 10th in the ACC, the last spot available for the postseason conference tournament that begins May 19th.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hokies?src=hash">#Hokies</a> defeat West Virginia, 13-3, for seventh straight win - tied for the third-longest active streak in NCAA.</p>&mdash; VT Baseball (@VT_Baseball) <a href="https://twitter.com/VT_Baseball/status/595747010717822978">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>

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The current run of form is a marked improvement from their conference-worst performance of 2014. This is coach Pat Mason’s second year in charge of the Hokies and he seems to finally be finding how to get the most out of some promising players. In a conference that has featured some intimidatingly good performances by Louisville, Florida State and Miami this season, he’ll need to hope the kind of maturity the team showed in Tuesday’s win will stick around for the probable postseason.

The Hokies will need to get through the three game series against last placed Pittsburgh before they can be guaranteed a spot in the tournament though. If you feel like rooting for the team from the comfort of your living room, you can stream all three games via ESPN3. First pitch for Thursday and Friday is set at 6pm, while the season’s concluding game will kick off at 1pm Saturday

Go Hokies!