Behind a seasoned-looking ACC debut from freshman pitcher Jake Marciano and an offensive level-up, Virginia Tech evened its series against Georgia Tech with an 8-5 win on Saturday.
Sam Tackett blasted two home runs over the English Field wall, proving his tear isn’t exclusive to non-conference play, while Jackson Cherry crushed his first homer in a Hokies (11-4) uniform.
“Felt really good, man,” Cherry said of his first bomb in orange and maroon pinstripes. “It’s something I’ve dreamed about for a very long time. I would love to have been here out of high school. Knowing every day that I step to the plate, I have the chance to help this team, it’s an incredible feeling.”
Tackett (3-for-4, .500 this season) and Cherry (1-for-2, .435) were responsible for half of the Hokies’ runs against the Yellow Jackets (12-3), but offensive production was plentiful throughout the lineup. Henry Cooke (2-for-3, RBI), David McCann (1-for-3, RBI), Ben Watson (1-for-3, two runs) and Jared Davis (RBI) all aided in making Saturday’s at-bats antithetical to Friday’s four-hit letdown.
Unlike that game — where Yellow Jackets’ pitcher Mason Patel held the Hokies hitless — the offense had the best pitcher of the afternoon behind it. Marciano delivered a six-strikeout outing across 5 ⅓ innings that saw him handle high-leverage at-bats like an arm beyond his years.
"I don’t think about it as them being such a good team,” Marciano said of his ACC debut. “I think about it like I’m here for a reason, and I think that I’m better than them. That mental preparedness really helps. It’s not as much physical like we did in the offseason, but definitely that mental.”
After a defensive miscue in right field led to an Alex Hernandez triple and first-inning run for Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets were 2-for-9 with runners on base and 0-for-4 with runners on third against Marciano. Reigning D1Baseball Freshman of the Year Drew Burress hit a two-run homer in the third to tie the game at three, but that was all Georgia Tech could muster against Marciano.
The Yellow Jackets found it no easier to hit off the Bayville, N.J., native as he reached a threshold of pitches — he ended with 101 — he had yet to throw at the Division I level. Marciano retired four of his last six batters, only one of which reached — off a fielder’s choice.
“I would rather have him pitch a little less than that, but he still had good stuff,” Hokies head coach John Szefc said. “He actually got better in his last two innings because his changes got better. He started to locate his off-speed stuff a little bit better. That’s what kept him out there.”
“To be honest, I really didn’t even know I had 100 pitches,” Marciano said. “I kind of just went out there knowing I wanted to go back out. I didn’t want to get taken out and I knew I could keep going.”
Marciano’s day finally ended after he surrendered a Vahn Lackey single that advanced to second via Caleb Daniel’s groundout in the sixth inning. Jacob Exum entered the game and retained the Hokies’ 6-3 lead, which ballooned to 8-3 after Cherry’s two-RBI homer in the bottom side.
The Yellow Jackets responded with their second home run of the game to make it 8-5, which significantly shortened Exum’s leash. He was replaced by McNeese State transfer Cameron LeJeune during the subsequent Burress at-bat, who walked. That was one of just two baserunners LeJeune earned across the 11 batters he faced before the final out.
LeJeune, who’s been nursing an injury, made his first full appearance of the season against Georgia Tech after a one-inning test run against ECU last Sunday. His three-inning, one-hit outing was a promising sign for a Hokies team perpetually plagued by bullpen woes
“[LeJeune had] 43 pitches and 28 strikes, strikes win,” Szefc said. “Write it down. That’s true. The game is based off throwing strikes and playing defense. I’ve been saying it for 30 years. It’s the same freaking thing. I’ll be dead and I’ll be saying it for 130 more years. If you throw strikes and play defense, you have a chance to win every single day.”
Watson, who was dead last in the ACC across every major hitting category entering league play, flashed a second encouraging day against the Yellow Jackets. He doubled and reached base in two of four at-bats on both Friday and Saturday. He came around twice in the win, once after Davis’ fielder’s choice groundout in the second inning — that was a step away from a double play — and again after a Cooke RBI single plated Watson’s double in the third.
That frame saw Tackett hit his first home run: A 370-foot loft that sweeping Blacksburg winds carried out of the park. Feeling the kind of contact that comes with routine flyouts, the redshirt senior shook his head as the ball left his bat.
“I was selling out to the fastball and I missed it,” Tackett said. “But I’m thankful for the wind. It just kept going. I hit it good enough.”
His second solo shot came as the Hokies’ sixth run to seal the game in the fifth inning. A no-doubter this time, Tackett reacted with his classic bat flip.
“I knew it right off the bat,” Tackett said. “That was one of my better swings on a changeup, stayed through the middle. I was proud of that one.”
Tackett’s slashing line sits at an astonishing .500/.561/.917 heading into Sunday’s rubber match against Georgia Tech (1 p.m., ACCNX). Hokies pitchers Grant Manning (7.94 ERA) and Logan Eisenreich (2.08 ERA) are in the mix to start across from the Yellow Jackets’ Riley Stanford (3.75 ERA).
Box Score: Virginia Tech 8, Georgia Tech 5