In a matchup much unlike its 2024 rendition, Virginia Tech strung together stellar relief appearances and better-late-than-never batting to surmount a second-inning James Madison surge.
The Dukes (4-4) took advantage of a shaky start from Hokies (6-2) freshman Parker Sweeney, knocking a two-RBI double to claim a 2-1 lead in the second. Head coach John Szefc called freshman Marcel Kulik to the mound thereafter, and JMU was stonewalled from there as the Hokies won 7-2 at English Field.
Wednesday’s contest moved Tech to 29-35 all-time against its in-state foe and 10-8 since 2005. JMU won last year’s meeting 8-7 in Harrisonburg.
With a season-high tying 16 strikeouts, hits from every Hokies starter and Sam Tackett’s go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning, Tech won its fifth straight home clash with the Dukes.
“We just pitched really well,” Szefc said. “Four different guys out of the bullpen, we struck out 16 guys. That’s where that whole thing rests. We gave up a two-spot there in the second, and [JMU] throws up seven zeros after that. That’s a big deal. … Our pitchers threw strikes when they had to throw strikes.”
Led by Kulik’s hitless, five-strikeout outing across three innings, Tech’s pitching staff thrived — doing so in bend-don’t-break-fashion.
Between Sweeney, Kulik, Mathieu Curtis (two hits, five Ks), Preston Crowl (no hits, three Ks) and Luke Jackman (no hits, two Ks), there were 15 three-ball counts, yet the Dukes walked just five times. In seven at-bats with runners in scoring position, JMU hit once. And after Sweeney’s early misstep, it had a single hit.
None of those came in Kulik’s three innings. After inheriting Sweeney’s one-out, man-on-second scenario in the second, Kulik forced a full-count foul out. Tech opted to intentionally walk Ryan Dooley, who became the first runner caught stealing for the Hokies this season after catcher Henry Cooke lasered a pinpoint ball to Jared Davis at second base.
Cooke made his first start against the Dukes after easing back from a knee injury. His 2-for-4, four RBI afternoon included the first home run — a three RBI left-field blast in the seventh inning — in a Hokies-Dukes matchup at English Field since 2006, spanning nine contests. It wasn’t perfect — Cooke grounded into a two-on double play in the second inning then struck out in three pitches his next at-bat — but Tech is ecstatic to have D1Baseball’s 12th-ranked preseason catcher back.
“I’m really happy for him, he’s really a guy to root for,” Szefc said. “If we’re gonna really be good, Cooke has got to be right in the middle of it. He knows that. We all know that. … I had Jonathan Lucroy at [Louisiana-Lafayette], he was a third-round pick and played 10 years in the major leagues. Cooke is a better defender and thrower than he was at that time.”
“It was awesome,” Cooke said of his return as a starter. “I mean, just getting back out here and hitting the ball, I got my confidence up again.”
Cooke gloved each of Kulik’s five consecutive strikeouts beginning in the third inning. The Eastchester, New York, native nearly struck out two straight sides, but Eli Steadman chopped a full-count ground out to second base to end the fourth. He forced another 3-2 groundout to the fifth inning’s leadoff batter, who was also Kulik’s last.
Curtis picked up where he left off, striking out five of eleven batters before passing the baton to Crowl who punched out three of five. Jackman rounded things out by clearing the ninth inning in four batters, two of which he struck out. Tech’s only other game this year with as many strikeouts came in its season-opening 19-0 win over Bucknell.
Another Tech pitcher, sophomore Madden Clement, who suffered a strained flexor tendon on Feb. 14, against Bucknell, is hoping to make a late-March return, according to Szefc after the game.
The Hokies’ bats were as cold as JMU’s until the sixth inning, when Garrett Michel (1-for-5) singled to set up Tackett’s (3-for-4) RBI knock. The .500-hitting redshirt senior stole second base during a Cooke at-bat, then got home off the junior’s single.
“I think that through this short season so far, that was my favorite thing that I've done,” Tackett said. “Just being able to go back side, take it with that pitch, and get a big RBI for the game.”
David Lewis led off the seventh inning with a double, and then Jackson Cherry walked on two batters later but Cam Pittman entered to pinch run for him. Tackett reached first on a fielder’s choice bunt, which JMU pitcher Brode Susce corralled to save a run. The lineup wrapped back around to Cooke with runners on the corners, and he hit his first home run of the season to manufacture the game’s final 7-2 score.
After eight games at home, the Hokies are on the road for the first time on Friday, Feb. 28, against Indiana State (5-3) at the Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, North Carolina (12 p.m. ET). They’ll play Kent State on Saturday (12 p.m. ET) and then East Carolina (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+) on Sunday. The Pirates made the NCAA Tournament last season.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 7, James Madison 2