Hokies pitcher Jake Marciano suffered a triceps injury this preseason, limiting his time on the mound during fall ball. In a crucial growth period where rookie pitchers adjust from high school to Division I baseball, Marciano was often sidelined.
So why did Virginia Tech give him the second pitching appearance of the season, and now a start in Game 2 of a series it was trailing in?
“We just knew he had it in him,” Tech third baseman David Lewis said. “He didn’t throw a lot in the fall, just from injuries. But we knew. We trust in him and we believe in him.”
All it took to convince Lewis and other teammates was minimal offseason work and some confidence in Perfect Game’s second-ranked left-handed high school pitcher in New Jersey in 2024. That faith was well-placed — Marciano delivered seven strikeouts and allowed a single hit across five innings in Virginia Tech’s 6-2 win over UNC Greensboro on Saturday at home.
The last Hokies freshman to have a starting debut with that many Ks? Brett Renfrow in last season’s opener against Charlotte.
Similarities between the two initially showed in Tech’s 19-0 win against Bucknell on Feb. 14. The freshman relieved Renfrow after he struck out six batters out and allowed a single hit across four frames. Upon Marciano’s removal three innings later, he had identical stats, barring three fewer walks.
“I try to not compare those two guys, but they could be comparable, though,” Tech head coach John Szefc said. “[Marciano] pitched a handful of times in the preseason, but the thing he does, he throws a lot of strikes. You can talk about ‘stuff’ and velocity and everything else — he throws a lot of strikes, and he’s an easy arm so his 90 [mph pitch] probably looks like it’s about 94 because it’s so easy. You could kind of tell by the [UNCG] swings that were coming out of that.”
The Spartans (4-2) were stumped by Marciano in the first inning, going down in order and striking out twice. Marciano struck out the side in the second inning, then retired UNCG in four batters in the third. Since the Spartans’ only baserunner to that point was hit by a pitch, Marciano had a no-hit bid on his hands.
“I just used my fastball to my advantage,” Marciano said after Tech improved to 4-2. “The first couple innings I think I had like, five Ks. I just used that pitch. They weren’t really hitting it well, so I was super excited to use my like strengths to my abilities. I just overpowered them with that pitch.”
He continued that trend in a three up, three down fourth inning with another strikeout. Marciano allowed a leadoff walk in the fifth inning, followed by a single through the left side of the infield to dash his no-hitter. With his freshman finally beginning to falter, Szefc met Marciano at the mound. The Spartans went down in order after that, and Marciano’s stellar day was done.
“For a first collegiate start, I mean, like, he’s good,” Szefc said. “I’m not really overly surprised, to be honest with you. … You need to have someone who can get you off to a good start on a day like today, when you need to win to even things up. And in order to do that, he’s got to throw a lot of strikes. He only got in two three-ball counts the whole day in five innings. That’s a big part of it.”
Marciano’s relief, sophomore Preston Crowl (four Ks, no hits and two ER), picked up right where the freshman left off, forcing Tech’s fourth 1-2-3 side in the sixth inning and striking out all but one batter — Brantley Truitt, who doubled — in the seventh.
Crowl was removed in the eighth inning after allowing a walk and a double, putting UNCG’s fifth and sixth base runners of the game in scoring position. Closer Mathieu Curtis allowed an RBI groundout and a single to plate both, but Tech’s winning run had been aboard since the third inning.
With three outs to go, Curtis threw two strikeouts and forced a Jacob Budzik flyout. It was the sixth time the Hokies’ defense saw four or less batters in an inning.
More importantly, Tech walked just two batters — Marciano and Crowl had one apiece — compared to the seven in Game 1. To Szefc, a coach who abhors the idea of free bases, that was the difference between Saturday’s 6-2 loss and Sunday’s win by the same score.
“[Less walks] are definitely one thing that Coach Szefc said was the biggest part of the [win] today,” Marciano said. “That’s why they didn't score as many runs, because of those free bases. I think that's one of the most important parts of the game.”
Tech’s bats weren’t particularly hot — it went down in four or fewer batters in five innings — but it found two three-run frames to cement its win. The first came in the third inning as Sam Tackett’s seven-pitch leadoff walk resulted in the game’s first run after Treyson Hughes knocked a double sharply down the right-field line. David Lewis (3-for-4) plated him with a triple, then scored himself on Anderson French’s RBI groundout.
Lewis struck again in the sixth inning, singling to score Hughes and advance Garrett Michel, who scored off a French double to plate Tech’s sixth and final run.
Lewis, the North Greenville transfer, came into the series leading the Hokies with seven strikeouts while no other hitter had more than two. Since then, the senior is 4-for-5 with two RBI and was a homer shy of the cycle on Sunday.
“It was just [a matter of] getting out of my head,” Lewis said. “I was making things too complicated to start and not competing. But the coaching staff and my teammates really just believed in me and instilled good energy.”
Tech’s second rubber match in two series will come on Monday at 1 p.m. ET (ACC Network Extra). Freshman Logan Eisenreich (1–0, 0 ER, one hit in his lone appearance) is likely to start for the Hokies.
In the Spartans’ 17-1 loss to Creighton last Sunday, they started Rob Ready, who pitched for 2 ⅓ innings against Tech on Sunday. Thus, UNC Greensboro is likely to lean on Noah Chapman and Danny Thompson Jr., who combined for a two-hit shutout against No. 13 Wake Forest on Tuesday.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 6, UNC Greensboro 2