The drama around Virginia Tech baseball’s 10-6 win over No. 12 North Carolina — its first ACC victory since April 6 — didn’t come in the game’s six combined home runs or series-tying finish.
No, it came as an all-out verbal brawl in the eighth inning following a boisterous home run by Hokies (25-14, 10-10 ACC) second baseman Jared Davis and a subsequent Tar Heels (30-9, 12-8) pitch thrown suspiciously close to first baseman Anderson French.
Both dugouts had been biding anger all day, and after a number of words were exchanged by players, coaches and even some of the 2,581 fans at English Field — the stadium's largest crowd since 2023 — it all released.
“This game’s played with emotion,” said Hokies associate head coach Kurt Elbin, who took over as head coach following John Szefc’s ejection. “You got two teams that are trying hard. [Davis] hit the homer and right after the benches were warned, then they throw JD out. And then you have [Anderson French], I think he felt like [UNC pitcher Folger Boaz] was throwing at him. These are 18 to 22-year-olds playing with emotions.”
To say the bad blood between the two teams started in the first inning on Saturday, when Tech’s Sam Tackett launched a 461-foot homer, admired it, flipped his bat and then exchanged choice words with North Carolina catcher Luke Stevenson, would be inaccurate. Tensions built in the Hokies’ 2-1 series loss against the Tar Heels last season, but the rivalry certainly didn’t start then.
It began in 2023 when they last met in Blacksburg. That weekend boiled over when then-sophomore Carson DeMartini blasted a solo home run to right field in the first inning of that series’ rubber match. He chirped at the opposing dugout on his way around the bases, and when he made his way back to home plate, catcher Tomas Frick had fiery words for him.
DeMartini chirped back as the two walked towards the home dugout, meeting a furious Szefc, who was soon met by a just-as-heated North Carolina coach Scott Forbes, charging his way towards Szefc. A verbal brawl between the two ensued, paying no mind to the umpires desperately attempting to usher them back to their respective dugouts.
Two years later, 10 days before the exact date of April 29, Szefc and Forbes again engaged in a yelling match. Szefc, in a state Ben Watson described as “probably the most animated I’ve ever seen him,” barreled his way towards the visiting dugout, employing swim moves on umpires in an attempt to get close to Forbes, who wanted to see Szefc just as desperately.
Tech’s skipper believed North Carolina pitcher Folger Boaz intentionally threw at French, and was presumably upset that no action was taken against Boaz. Forbes disagreed, and by the end, both coaches were thrown out along with Davis and French.
“Szefc can go 0-100,” Elbin said. “It’s a good thing. You’ve got to pick your spots as a skipper. I think he ignites people, he ignites a crowd, and then he felt like he was just trying to defend his guys. He’s as loyal a guy as you’ll ever see, and that’s what he was doing right there. He’s defending our guy.”
Oh, right. There was an entire high-stakes baseball game surrounding the squabble — one that the Hokies won backed by five home runs, four of which came in the first two innings. All but one was off a pitch thrown by Tar Heels pitcher Aidan Haugh, who entered with an ACC-topping 1.86 ERA but left with it swelled to a 3.06 mark.
French doubled to set up Henry Cooke’s two-run shot in the first, which was followed by three more consecutive hits — the latter being two homers — by Watson, Tackett and David McCann.
Watson delivered a two-run blast next inning that combined with Cooke’s walk for an early 7-3 lead. The side before that, Hokies starter Jake Marciano surrendered a bases-clearing double to Kane Kepley.
The freshman lefty allowed the game’s fifth homer to Stevenson in the fifth to put the Tar Heels within three. He finished with six strikeouts and four earned runs before coming out for Grant Manning, who tallied four strikeouts and surrendered a single earned run over 4 ⅓ innings for his fourth save of the year.
North Carolina pulled within 7-5 with Manning on the mound, thanks to Jackson Van De Brake’s sacrifice fly in the seventh. But the Tar Heels quickly gave that run back when Tackett recorded his third hit of the day with an RBI single in the bottom half.
Tackett (3-for-4, three RBI) and Watson (3-for-4, two RBI) have gone on some of the most impressive tears in the country this year, but up until Saturday, they hadn’t done it simultaneously. Watson slumped early this season while Tackett has struggled over the past month — but he’s snapped out of it this series, batting 5-for-9 thus far.
“It’s big for us to [both play well],” Watson said. “Especially going back-to-back in the order like we usually are. We knew, because we were kind of hot there at different times, once we were both matched up together, that’s when we were gonna see good results.”
“If those two are going good, we’re gonna be tough to beat. I know that,” Elbin said. “It’s extremely important [for them to align]. It just changes the complexion of your lineup.”
Right behind Watson and Tackett in the order is Cooke (2-for-3), who now has two homers in his last three games.
Against the Tar Heels, Cooke moved from the five-hole to the three spot, while Watson and Tackett moved to fourth and fifth in the lineup. It was a new look that featured Radford transfer Cam Pittman at leadoff and French, who’s been at the bottom of the order, batting second.
David Lewis, who’s been in and out of the lineup, started at third on Saturday while Hudson Lutterman migrated to second base. McCann was the designated hitter behind Tackett. It was a major shakeup, but it resulted in a 12-hit day for Tech and helped it move to 7-5 against ranked opponents this season.
“We just wanted to get Watson and Tackett into some RBI situations,” Elbin said of the changes. “Cooke has had really good at-bats as of late. … We were trying to slide guys in front of Watson and Tackett that would get on base. And that’s what happened.”
Davis, a lineup mainstay, didn’t start for the first time since Feb. 18. But when he eventually came in, he roped a line-drive homer over the left-field wall, sealing the game for the Hokies while triggering the late-game theatrics.
There was a sense of finality when the dust cleared and Virginia Tech walked away with the series-tying win. But the series rubber match has yet to be played. That game, sure to be packed with tension, begins on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 10, No. 12 North Carolina 6