Big Weekend Looms for Hokie Baseball and Softball

With just a couple weekends remaining in their respective seasons, the Tech baseball and softball squads face what is probably the most pivotal weekend of the season if either teams wants to continue on into postseason play. So let's take a look at where both teams stand and what lies ahead:

Baseball vs Maryland: Friday 5:30, Saturday 2, Sunday 1
Tech has had a roller coaster season featuring extreme highs and stunning lows. But with 4 weeks to go in the regular season, the Hokies are in contention for a spot in the ACC Tournament, a feat that could punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The Hokies (28-15, 8-13 ACC) have dominated out-of-conference play, winning the last 15 games against non-conference foes en route to a 20-2 record outside of the ACC. Tech has had incredible resiliency all season. Of the 28 wins, 21 have been come-from-behind victories, which is absolutely absurd to think about. Even more astounding, 16 of those 21 have been after the 5th inning and the Hokies have won 4 times when they've entered the 9th inning trailing. This team doesn't go down easily and they'll need to keep that mentality heading down the homestretch.

Tech got a great start to the season with a 12-2 record, including a win over UVA. However, the Hokies would falter in the next two meetings with the ‘Hoos and lose 10 of the next 11 games ACC games to see their conference record plummet to 2-10. Included in that stretch was sweeps at Florida State (a top 5 team) and at home against last place Duke, which could be considered the nadir of the season.

As they say with baseball, it's a marathon, not a sprint, and as the calendar turned to April, the Hokies found their second wind. Tech started the month by picking up a much-needed sweep over Boston College and appeared to turn the corner by taking 2 of 3 against #6 Miami at home with both wins coming on walk-offs. Tech surged itself back into the ACC Tournament picture (only 8 of 12 teams make it) and went into last weekend's series at Wake Forest in a four-way tie for 7th in the conference. Unfortunately, the Deacs would win the series two games to one and now the Hokies are on the outside looking in.

At 8-13 in the conference, the Hokies are a game out of the tournament behind 9-12 Georgia Tech and Wake Forest, who are tied for 7th. The problem though is that both of those teams have the tiebreakers against Tech with both winning series against the Hokies this year. So, in the final nine conference games of the season, the Hokies have to win two more games than GT or WF while also worrying about teams chasing Tech from behind. That starts this weekend with Maryland (27-17), who enters play a game behind the Hokies at 7-14 in the conference and also battling for an NCAA at-large bid. The Terps have lost 4 straight conference games, accented by being swept at home against Clemson last weekend. This Maryland squad has series victories over UCLA and NC State, but that's been offset by series losses to Wake Forest and Boston College. Much like Tech, they're fighting for their postseason lives, which should make for a fun weekend in Blacksburg.

The Hokies, have had trouble finding a reliable weekend starters outside of junior Joe Mantiply (4-4, 3.86). Recently, the trend has been redshirt senior Marc Zecchino (2-4, 4.47) on Saturday and redshirt senior Andrew Aizenstadt (2-2, 4.96) on Sunday. Aizenstadt threw an 8-inning gem against Miami, but was not as effective this past weekend at Wake. Tech has battled injuries all season long with 1B/P Ronnie Shaban missing 19 games with a hamstring injury. He’s batting .356 in 12 games since coming back in early April. OF/P Jake Atwell missed 15 games this year with a wrist injury but returned to action Tuesday against Davidson. He’s batting .393 in 25 games this year. For a full look at team stats, click here.

Looking ahead, this weekend is huge for Tech. The Hokies really need to win the series, if not sweep the Terps out of Blacksburg. Why? Because their final two opponents, NC State (home) and UNC (road), have a combined 26-16 conference record and are both in line to host a first round NCAA Tournament regional. Currently, Tech is listed as the 5th team out this week by Kendall Rogers, the “Joe Lunardi of College Baseball.” The 4th team out? Maryland.

To keep track of this weekend’s games, listen live on SuperSports 101.7 in the NRV or on Hokies All-Access. You should also follow @VT_Baseball on Twitter.

Softball at Georgia Tech: Saturday (DH) 1, Sunday 1
As for the Hokie Yellowballers, the situation is much more simple. Tech has just one weekend of conference play remaining with a trip to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech this weekend. After that, the Hokies host Liberty on Tuesday for a doubleheader before taking nine days off for exams prior to the ACC Tournament (May 10-12 at UNC).

The Hokies have been hitting their stride as of late, winning 17 of their last 21 games, a stretch that includes 10 consecutive victories from March 20-April 6. The Hokies own wins against then-#15 Oklahoma State, and nationally ranked ACC opponents Florida State and North Carolina. Add in an exhibition victory over the Dutch National Team and its been a very good season for Scot Thomas’ young squad. How young? The team has just two seniors and starts 3-4 freshmen per game. And the freshmen are producing: Kelsey Mericka (team-leading 8 HR, 38 RBI), Lauren Gaskill (team-leading 12 2B and 19 SB), and Kylie McGoldrick (3rd in runs scored) are numbers 2-3-4 in batting average for the Hokies this season, respectively.

Tech also has great leadership from junior 1B Courtney Liddle and junior pitcher Jasmin Harrell (pronounced huh-RELL). Liddle leads the team with a .303 batting average and is tops on the team with a .515 slugging percentage and a .483 on-base percentage hitting out of the number 3 hole. Harrell, Tech’s ace, is 9th in the nation with 24 wins. The California native has a sparkling 1.84 ERA and has struck out 174 in 217 innings this season. For a full look at the stats, click here.

After last weekend’s series win against a gritty UVA squad, Tech finds itself alone in 3rd place in the conference at 11-6, a game up on 10-7 Georgia Tech. To maintain that 3rd place standing, the Hokies need to take 2 in Atlanta, a feat that would almost assure Tech of a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Hokies sit at 32nd in the RPI entering this weekend, while the Jackets enter at 29th. Tech has no chance to catch 2nd place (3 games behind UNC, who has the tie breaker) and can’t fall below 4th unless something drastic happened (i.e. Tech gets swept and 5th place Maryland wins out). Georgia Tech was the preseason favorite in the conference, but struggled out of the gate, getting swept by UVA. Recently, the Jackets have lost 4 straight conference games to front-runners FSU and UNC, this coming after a 12-game winning streak surged the Jackets back towards the top of the ACC.

It is critical for Tech to pick up the bonus points with a top 50 RPI win (Tech is 4-9 against Top 50 schools, 17-12 against Top 100) and also maintain the #3 spot in the ACC. Why? Last year, only three ACC teams made the tournament and only three teams ranked 40 or below in the RPI made the NCAA Tournament, while several were left out, including North Carolina.

Tech is looking to make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008, when All-American ace Angela Tincher led the Hokies all the way to the College World Series. That was also the last year that Tech won the ACC Tournament.

To keep track of this weekend’s games, watch the live stats on hokiesports.com or follow @VT_Softball on Twitter.

Both these teams have been incredibly fun to follow and watch this year. Those on the outside saw neither as a threat in the conference prior to the season, but both have been resilient in proving people wrong all year. Let’s just hope it continues for the next couple of weeks.