Eighth-year head coach John Szefc netted his 200th win with the Hokies in their 7-2 victory over Kent State on Saturday. Virginia Tech moved to 2-0 in East Carolina’s Keith LeClair Classic while picking up its fifth straight win of the season.
Opponents are averaging 2.2 runs across the team’s recent hot streak, and Tech (8-2) has won each game by four or more runs. A theme of balance between the arms and bats has pervaded throughout the stretch, and Saturday’s win against the Golden Flashes (2-6) in Greenville, N.C., was no exception.
Jake Marciano’s (six Ks, two ER) second start and win of the year marked Tech’s — again — fifth consecutive game with 10 or more team strikeouts. The offense had its lowest hit mark of the stretch (nine) but its most homers after Henry Cooke (2-for-4) and David Lewis (2-for-4) each went yard.
And as is common across the last week of Hokies baseball, they didn’t always have the lead.
Lewis’ RBI groundout to plate Jared Davis, then Cooke’s subsequent right-field solo shot, gave the Hokies a 2-0 cushion after the first, which was cut in half in the second as Marciano issued consecutive walks before surrendering an RBI single to his third batter.
The freshman’s early control issues gradually faded. He settled in to render Kent State scoreless across the next three innings, walking them twice more to store the majority of his season-high five walks in the first two frames.
Marciano retired seven straight batters between the third and fifth innings before Jacob Exum inherited his no-outs walk (Hayden Jatczak) in the sixth. Jatczak settled into scoring position after Brody Williams’ groundout, then Exum surrendered the Golden Flashes’ second hit of the game to tie things at two.
But momentum promptly swung back towards the Hokies. Exum punched out consecutive batters to unleash a two-run bottom of the sixth for his offense. Lewis reached on an error, then advanced to second after Garrett Michel’s one-out groundout. Sam Tackett (2-for-3) singled off Benny Roebuck — soon to be the losing pitcher — to plate Lewis, then stole second to ensure Jackson Cherry’s (2-for-3) double brought him around.
That frame was all Tech needed to win, but it unraveled another Golden Flashes arm in the bottom of the eighth. Eric Chalus — who had started in Kent State’s last two Saturday contests — retired the Hokies in order in the seventh but allowed a leadoff home run to Lewis in the eighth, shattering his rhythm.
He put Henry Cooke away after a seven-pitch standoff, then boarded Michel, Tackett and Cherry, all of whom advanced after reliever Brody Krzysiak balked. Clay Grady skied one to bring Tackett home, and the Hokies’ lead ballooned to 7-2 with three outs to win.
Tech’s Preston Crowl (two hits, two Ks in 2 ⅔ IP) outed the first two batters of the frame, then surrendered a three-pitch single to Luke Matthews, ending the sophomore’s day and handing Mathieu Curtis the final out. The USC Upstate transfer balked to advance Matthews, then forced a 2-1 flyout to put Kent State away.
The Hokies, the last unbeaten team in the round-robin LeClair Classic, are one win away from securing the tournament’s title. Their final hurdle is a Sunday matchup with East Carolina (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+). A victory would mark Tech’s first weekend sweep of the season.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 7, Kent State 2