Virginia Tech Baseball: Hokies Overpower West Virginia in Final Home Game

Two weeks ago, the Hokies (26-24, 12-14) were on the outside looking in of the ACC tournament, stuck searching for answers on how a once promising season had slipped away. Today, they are winners of seven straight and sit in 8th place in the ACC standings, well within the ten team cut-line for the ACC's postseason. What's changed? It's simple, really- the Hokies are playing with confidence.

"It's just a collective confidence within our dugout, in general," said Virginia Tech head coach Mason. "It's not just hitting, it's defense – we're turning double plays. We're drawing walks, getting hits, staying off pitches out of the zone, we're throwing strikes on the mound. It's just a collective confidence."

That recipe blossomed into yet another victory on Tuesday as the Hokies turned in a 13-3 thrashing of the visiting West Virginia Mountaineers (24-23, 6-12). The seven-game winning streak marks the longest such streak for the Hokies since the historic 2013 team won eight straight.

Jon Woodcock started for the Hokies and tossed seven innings of two-run baseball. Woodcock, recently ousted from his weekend starting role after a few subpar performances, earned his third win of the season and his team-leading sixth quality start. While Coach Mason realizes his lefty has struggled of late, he's keenly aware of the fact that his team needs a strong Jon Woodcock.

"He's an important arm," said Mason. "If we want to go into the ACC tournament and go deep in that tournament and get into a regional and go deep into a regional, we're going to need Jon Woodcock to pitch like he did tonight."

The Mountaineers struck first in the top of the second with an unearned run off of Woodcock, but their lead would be short-lived. Senior Erik Payne led off the second for the Hokies with a double and advanced to third on a Sean Keselica single. After gifting the Mountaineers a run in the top half of the inning, second baseman Sam Fragale made up for his error with a sacrifice fly to right that evened up the game. Following a Mountaineer error and a hit by pitch, the newly aggressive Saige Jenco stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and smoked a ball off the right field fence that brought all three Hokies around to score. Rahiem Cooper and Alex Perez both went down weakly to end the inning, but the Hokies damage had been done as they took an early 4-1 lead.

Payne continued to feast on the West Virginia pitching in the third as he blasted a two-run shot high into the Blacksburg sky that also scored fellow senior Brendon Hayden.

Woodcock continued to cruise through the middle innings with the help of solid defensive play behind him highlighted by two 5-4-3 double plays started by third baseman Ryan Tufts. Knowing that his offense was producing regardless of who West Virginia threw at them, Woodcock knew he needed to focus on working quickly and pounding the zone.

"The offense was super hot, I was just trying to go in there and throw fastballs for strikes and get ahead of hitters to get our offense back to the plate," said Woodcock.

His gameplan worked as the Hokies extended their lead to seven in the fourth with RBI singles from Brendon Hayden and Sean Keselica.

Not to be outdone by his senior classmates, Alex Perez joined the hit parade in the fifth with an RBI single of his own that put the Hokies ahead 10-2.

Tech scored for the fifth consecutive inning in the sixth when Saige Jenco notched his fifth RBI of the evening with a hard ground ball through the right side just beyond the reach of a diving Tucker Cascadden at second base.

The Mountaineers threatened in the seventh off of Woodcock, but Kyle Wernicki made a nice 2-out catch on the right field warning track to keep West Virginia off the scoreboard.

The teams traded runs in the eighth as Saige Jenco recorded his career-high sixth RBI with his second triple of the evening. Jenco's triple also tied the Virginia Tech and ACC record for most triples in a single game. As he did last weekend, Jenco attributed his recent success to his focus on driving the baseball to his "pull side" when pitchers try to get him out with fastballs in.

"I got chances to drive inside pitches and it just felt good," said Jenco. "I got in good hitting counts and I was able to drive the ball."

With the Hokies holding a 10-run lead entering the ninth, Coach Mason was able to honor his seniors one last time in their final game at English Field. As Aaron McGarity finished his warm-up pitches, Mason replaced all four of his seniors left in the field so they could receive the appreciation of the Hokies faithful. Alex Perez, Brendon Hayden, Erik Payne, and Kyle Wernicki all trotted off to a loud ovation as their teammates waited outside the dugout ready to embrace them.

"It's emotional, even for us younger guys being with them for a couple years," said Jenco. "I know they're probably emotional, but they've done a lot for this program and it's great to see them get their recognition."

The Hokies will return to the diamond on May 14 for their final ACC series with Pittsburgh. After seeing the Hokies new-found confidence over the past week and a half, it would be surprising if the Hokies couldn't replicate their success against a struggling Pittsburgh squad. If they take care of business, the ACC tournament awaits them.

"We got a lot of confidence going on, a little bit of swagger, it's about time," said Jenco. "We started off hot and hit a little rough spot, but these seniors are really driving us and really motivating us to make a deep run."