Virginia Tech Baseball: Hokies Fall in Gut-Wrenching Game 3

After splitting the first two games of the weekend with No. 9 Florida State (22-7, 9-3), the Hokies (15-14, 6-6) dropped the rubber match to the Seminoles in heartbreaking fashion. The game three loss dropped Tech back to .500 in ACC play.

Friday, VT @ Florida State: W, 8-3

Sean Keselica continued his tremendous season with seven more innings of beautifully pitched baseball to give the Hokies an important game one win.

Saige Jenco led off the game with a solo shot in the top of the first to give the Hokies an early 1-0 lead. Florida State's D.J. Stewart, who Coach Pat Mason called "arguably the best player in the country", evened up the game in the bottom of the first with a solo homer of his own, his ninth of the season.

The Seminoles blasted another solo home run in the second to give them a one-run advantage.

Rahiem Cooper, the star of Wednesday's triple play, went deep in the top of the third to tie the game at two. After struggling early, Keselica returned to form and allowed just one Seminole hit after the second inning.

After a relatively quiet middle of the game, Tech took the lead for good in the top of the seventh that saw ten Hokies step to the plate. Mac Caples and Andrew Mogg started the inning with consecutive singles and then advanced 90 feet on a Ryan Tufts sacrifice bunt. Mogg then scored on a wild pitch to give the Hokies a 3-2 lead. Two one-out walks issued by Florida State loaded the bases for Senior Alex Perez. In his 197th straight start for the Hokies, Perez singled through the right side to put the Hokies up by two. Brendon Hayden followed with a sacrifice fly and an Erik Payne double brought in two more Hokies.

With the Hokies holding a 7-2 lead and Keselica at 116 pitches, Coach Mason brought in closer Luke Scherzer to start off the eighth. Scherzer was unable to find his stuff as he walked D.J. Stewart and then drilled Quincy Nieporte. Chris Monaco replaced Scherzer with two men on and allowed just one inherited runner to score for the Seminoles.

The Hokies threatened to break the game wide open in the top of the ninth after loading the bases with just one out but were unable to cash in. Erik Payne walked in a run to give the Hokies an 8-3 lead, but two straight strikeouts ended the inning. Monaco stayed on to work the ninth and got D.J. Stewart to fly out to center to end the game.

Saturday, VT @ Florida State: L, 19-9

Clinging to a one-run lead in the seventh inning on Saturday, the Hokies nearly clinched their second series win over a top-ten foe on the year. It wasn't meant to be, though, as the Hokies bullpen imploded late to give the 'Noles a blow-out W.

Aaron McGarity started for the Hokies and took the loss after allowing five runs over his six innings of work. The Seminoles struck first in the bottom of the first when John Sansone scampered home on a wild pitch to give them an early 1-0 lead. The Hokies fought back in the fourth with two runs that were aided by two Seminole errors. The Hokies tacked on another run in the fifth off of a Rahiem Cooper RBI single that put the Hokies ahead 3-1. McGarity was unable to maintain the lead as the 'Noles tied up the game in the sixth with a two-RBI single from Josh Delph. Tech took the lead back in the seventh when a Saige Jenco ground ball scored Miguel Ceballos. McGarity's night ended after the first two Seminoles he faced in the bottom of the seventh reached base.

Nursing a 4-3 lead, the Hokies were just nine outs away from clinching the series win. Unfortunately for Virginia Tech, the potent Florida State offense caught fire off of a combination of Sean Kennedy and four freshman relievers. By the time the game came to a merciful close, the Hokies bullpen had surrendered 14 runs over the final three innings.

The Hokies offense heated up as well in the final third of the game, but an 11-run eighth inning for the 'Noles was just too much to overcome.

Sunday, VT @ Florida State: L, 6-5

After leading the entire afternoon, the Hokies dropped a heartbreaker to Florida State on Sunday. Junior Jon Woodcock started on the mound for the Hokies and pitched well, allowing just 3 runs over 6 1/3 innings.

Playing in his home state of Florida, Senior Alex Perez gave the Hokies an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the top of the first. Sean Keselica ripped a two-RBI single to right field in the third that put the Hokies ahead 3-0. The 'Noles cut the lead to two in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly from Dylan Busby. With two Seminoles still on base, Woodcock got Hank Truluck to fly out to second to escape the jam mostly unscatched.

The Hokies increased their lead to four in the fifth inning courtesy of a sacrifice fly from Keselica and an Andrew Mogg RBI double. The seventh inning was once again unkind to Hokies starting pitchers as Woodcock and Luke Scherzer combined to allow three Seminoles to score. Scherzer managed to get Seminoles pinch hitter Darren Miller to strike out looking which left the bases loaded in the seventh.

The Hokies threatened in the top of the ninth but strikeouts from Erik Payne and Sean Keselica left two runners in scoring position. Needing one run to send the game into extras, the 'Noles loaded the bases off of Scherzer with a walk, a single, and a HBP. With two outs and Josh Delph at the plate, Scherzer tossed a beautiful 1-2 backdoor slider that could have ended the game. Home Plate Umpire Olindo Mattia apparently saw the pitch as just outside as the 'Noles dugout collectively exhaled. Delph chopped the next offering to second baseman Alex Perez who charged in to make a play on the soft chopper. Perez fielded the ball cleanly but his throw sailed over first baseman Brendon Hayden's head to give the 'Noles a walk-off victory. The error by Perez brought the weekend to an agonizing close as the Seminoles somehow escaped with a 2-1 series win despite leading for just seven innings over the course of the weekend.

This Week (3/30 -4/5)

The Hokies will battle VMI (6-14, 2-8) on Tuesday at English Field before welcoming Georgia Tech (17-10, 5-7) to Blacksburg this weekend for a three-game series. While a midweek game with VMI may not appear to be anything out of the ordinary, Senior Alex Perez will be making his 200th consecutive start for the Hokies. For those of you at home attempting to do the math, yes, that means Perez has started every game since setting foot on campus. Look for more on the nation-leading streak on Wednesday.

After a strong start to the season, Georgia Tech has limped to a 1-5 record over the past two weekends against national powerhouses North Carolina and Louisville. After managing just five runs against the Cardinals over the course of the entire weekend, the Yellow Jackets will be faced with the tough task of figuring out how to score against Hokies ace Sean Keselica (a task that few have able to solve).

Tuesday, March 31- VMI @ VT, 5:30
Friday, April 3- GT @ VT, 5:30
Saturday, April 4- GT @ VT, 2:00
Sunday, April 5- GT @ VT, 1:00