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Tuesdays are nearly always interesting, one-off opponents. Maybe some team that was on the road and stopped through Blacksburg, or someone close enough for a day bus ride. East Carolina is the latter sort of arrangement, and it’s been since February 2006 since we played them. The series is close, which seems to parallel some football seasons before the big breakup there. ECU is a good program with the ability to put some quality players on the field. This wasn’t going to be an easy game by any stretch of the imagination.
Hokies vs. Pirates - March 8
| Team/Inning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team/Inning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| East Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| >>Virginia Tech | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | X | 7 | 13 | 0 |
Tuesday games are usually “Pitch by Committe” contests since the starters are saved for the weekend series contests. Usually, the pile of relievers don’t go for more than a couple of innings. Rarely do you see more than three. Ryan Kennedy was assigned the start for the Hokies, and managed an excellent 3 inning shutout effort. As the third inning got rolling he got in a bit of a jam but managed to work his way out of it. Henry Weycher was credited with the win because the Hokies got ahead of the Pirates during his tour on the mound, but ran into some issues and Graham Firoved was brought in to clear the last out. The remainder of the staff managed goose eggs, and that bode well for the bull pen in later series.
Hokies Pitching for the ECU Game
| Player | Innings | Hits | Runs | Earned | Walks | Kos | Wild Stuff | Plonks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Innings | Hits | Runs | Earned | Walks | Kos | Wild Stuff | Plonks |
| Player | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | WP | HBP |
| Ryan Kennedy | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Henry Weycker (W, 2-0) | 2.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Graham Firoved | 0.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sean Fisher | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Jonah Hurney (S, 1) | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 1 |
The interesting aspect of the game wasn’t the pitching, it was the offense. There wasn’t much of it on either side until the 3rd inning, and the Hokies had to work hard to get those first three runs. The ice was broken with a flurry of singles from the top of the order. The Hokies never had to look back after that, or maybe they did.
There was a touch of insurance added to make the score 4-0 in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Jack Hurley (2 RBI on the day, BTW). That gave Tech some breathing room, but not much. ECU got Weycher in trouble in the top of the 6th with two runs crossing the plate. Their scoring ended there, however.
The Hokies wrapped the game up with a manufactured insurance run in the bottom of the 6th, and then a two run dinger in the 8th by Carson DeMartini pretty much salted the game away.
Hokies Box Score for Tuesday March 8th
| Position | Player | At Bats | Runs | Hits | RBI | Walks | KOs | Stranded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | At Bats | Runs | Hits | RBI | Walks | KOs | Stranded |
| 1B/RF | Nick Biddison | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| CF | Gavin Cross | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| SS | Tanner Schobel | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 2B | Eduardo Malinowski | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| LF | Jack Hurley | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| C | Cade Hunter | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| RF | Conor Hartigan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| #PH | Christian Martin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| #1B | Nick Holesa | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3B | Carson DeMartini | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| DH | Sam Tackett | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| PH | Cade Swisher | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 36 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 8 |
At the Plate
Homers: Carson DeMartini (1)
Sacs: Jack Hurley (1)
On the Bags
Swiped Bags: Gavin Cross (1); Tanner Schobel (1); Cade Hunter (1)
Plonked: Eduardo Malinowski (1)
The nice weather and pre-Spring breezes of Blacksburg probably helped everything a bit. It was never really cold and nearly perfect weather for a Spring game.
The Hokies get on the road to head to Atlanta to face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets for their ACC series opener. This will be a real test of the Hammerin’ Hokies. They haven’t been on the road, and now they are facing an ACC baseball team. This weekend will be a challenge.