Everyone gets a vacation now and then, but most of us take actual time off. It’s been a month since my last article, so a tiny explanation is in order; new job, new routine, and new schedule. Everything is all good and arranged now, so we get back to things Hokie Sports, and two of the big things going on are baseball and spring football.

First, let’s catch up with the Hokies and see how they have fared over the last month or so. It’s the back stretch of the season, and your Virginia Tech Hokies have settled into a slight downward slide to settle in at a 19-19 .500 record. While that is a little disappointing, especially after this weekend as we faced the Wahoos; but considering last year’s record, even at a .500 pace for the remainder of the season, Tech has already reached the same number of wins.

Currently, the baseball Hokies have a 12-8 non-conference record, and own an 11-8 win/loss record at home. While the ACC record is struggling a bit at 7 wins and 11 losses, Tech does have some opportunities to gain some traction in the next 17 games.

If they play those games as hard as they played the UVA series, the season might look much better than last year’s by a long ball and a base hit bunt. I say that because the Hokies won only one game of the three against the Hoos, but the first two games of the series were each one run losses, Game 1 went into extra innings, after the Hokies had to sprint to catch Virginia. That was the batters’ battle (9-10). Then there was a serious pitchers’ duel on Friday that ended regulation in a 2-2 tie, and was only settled when Tech couldn’t answer a single run in the 10^th.

Saturday, Tech salvaged a win out of the series with a convincing 7-5 victory. So, that’s where we will pick up the regular action. Tech is 19-19, coming off a nice win over UVA and heading to Johnson City, TN for a one game Tuesday match-up with East Tennessee State. Then it’s back home to Blacksburg for a three game weekend conference matchup with Georgia Tech. We’ll see if we can catch a Sunday game, live with some pictures.

John Schneider - SB Nation

Just as a reminder, here is that box score for the last big win over the Wahoos:

Virginia Tech Hokies vs. University of Virginia Cavaliers - Saturday April 16:

Win: Joey Sullivan (1-2) Loss: Riley Wilson (0-1 ) Save: Tom Stoffel (1)

Now for something that all die-hard Hokie Football fans have been waiting for the Spring Game is upon us. Saturday April 22^nd at 2:30 PM the Virginia Tech Hokies will host the Virginia Tech Hokies for the big 2^nd Annual Orange and Maroon Defense vs. Offense Spring Game. The Spring practice has been going on practically under the radar this year. We hear dribs and drabs of trickles of information, but there will be two big public events to pull back some of the covers.

The first event will be a students-only observed practice and selfie photo session afterward. There won’t be any autographs, and only Tech students will be invited. This event occurred last season and seems to be new with Coach Fuente and staff. In prior years, Coach Beamer had opened more than a few practices and/or scrimmages to the public. It looks like this sort of event will be a permanent feature of the Fuente Era; and with his new contract extension it’s looking more and more like an "ERA" is in the offing.

Gobbler Country will be covering the Spring Game from the Press Box, again this season. We won’t have an official game thread, but that never stopped a post and comment section from appearing. We can’t do play-by-play, but we hope to give you some fresh reporting and some new observations from the vantage point above Warsham Field.

So, it’s football week for the Hokies as we prepare to get a peek at the returning talent (and a few new faces) for the 2018 season. It’s going to be fun and exciting, just before NFL Draft weekend starts the long Summer Football drought. August can’t come fast enough, can it?

GO HOKIES!!!!