In the opening game of a must-win series against Pitt on Friday, Virginia Tech employed poor situational hitting and pitching to fall 9-4 in the Steel City.
The Hokies (27-19, 11-14 ACC) hit a feeble 3-for-19 with runners on base and 2-for-11 with them in scoring position. The Panthers (22-21, 7-15) were 8-for-18 and 5-for-13 in such scenarios. Tech didn’t make big plays when it mattered, sinking it to 4-9 in its last 13 and toeing itself another inch towards regional truancy.
After falling behind 5-2 in the fifth, the Hokies belted two sixth-inning homers, courtesy of David Lewis and David McCann, to put them within arm’s reach. Pitt broke open the 5-4 ballgame with a one-hit, three-run bottom of the seventh before icing it courtesy of Ryan Zuckerman’s home run in the bottom of the eighth.
Due to a stormy evening in Pittsburgh, Hokies starter Brett Renfrow waited through two-and-a-half hours of weather delays before offering his fourth straight start with three or more earned runs. Like in those other outings, he didn’t perform badly — he struck out eight over four innings — just at a rate unbecoming of Tech’s ace. Unlike in those outings, though, he wasn’t playing a top team in the nation.
The Panthers are second-to-last in the ACC behind only Cal and won just their second Friday game in conference play against the Hokies. The victory gives them two chances at taking their first conference series. That result would be detrimental for Tech beyond the optics — its path to an NCAA Tournament berth would narrow drastically.
That reality seems far more likely after another convincing loss on Friday, one in which the Hokies actually struck first.
McCann reached on an error in the second, plating Jared Davis, who struck a one-out triple that caromed off the top of the left-center wall and took a fortunate bounce. In the third, Lewis walked in a run to put Tech up 2-0 while retaining loaded bases. One of its two hits with runners in scoring position didn’t come then, though.
Instead, Davis skied a shallow flyout, convincing Watson, who walked, to tag up at third and run home. He wasn’t particularly close to beating out the throw from the outfield, resulting in an inning-ending double play that effectively stranded three runners. Despite the walk to Lewis, Pitt starter Patrick Gardner displayed good situational pitching then and across his six-hit start, in which he allowed three earned runs over 5 ⅔ innings.
The Panthers launched a two-out rally in the bottom of the third after a pair of Renfrow strikeouts, throwing him off with a David Pedanou single that led to 10 straight balls and a passed ball — initially ruled a wild pitch — that cut the lead to 2-1.
There was no response from Tech in the fourth or fifth. Its next seven batters after Lewis’ walk-in RBI were retired. On the other hand, Pitt took its first lead in the fourth by plating two runs after Renfrow yielded a walk and three singles.
After another walk to start the fifth inning, it was clear that Renfrow had lost what he barraged the Panthers with in the first-through-third innings — he struck out the opening side and ended the second in three batters — so Cameron LeJeune relieved him. The righty didn’t have his best stuff on Friday either, allowing four consecutive hits (three singles and an AJ Nessler double) to put the Hokies behind 5-2 before being removed.
Preston Crowl kept Pitt scoreless between the end of the fifth and sixth innings, opening a window for Tech’s two solo shots in the sixth from Lewis and McCann. However, the Franklin County, Va., native was singled off by Nessler and issued a walk to Lorenzo Carrier to begin the seventh, ending his day at 42 pitches and four strikeouts. The next bullpen arm up was Jacob Exum, who surrendered a Julian Irizarry single to tack Crowl with his only earned run.
Irizarry’s knock loaded the bases since Jayden Melendez got on earlier with a Lewis error at third — his eight of the year. Exum hit Pedanou to make it 7-4, keeping the bases loaded so that Caden Dulin could fly out in sacrifice.
Pitt’s ninth and final run came courtesy of Zuckerman’s blast in the eighth off reliever Luke Jackman to make it 9-4. Trying to keep pitch counts low for arm preservation, Jackman, Mathieu Curtis and Brendan Yagesh combined to get the last four outs of the game.
A Tech comeback was far-fetched in the ninth, but Clay Grady doubled to start the frame and eventually came around with Watson’s two-out single and the subsequent drive-in knock from Henry Cooke. He chopped a grounder that only didn’t retire him because Cantwell, Pitt’s first baseman, committed an error on the catch. Lewis grounded out in two pitches to end Game 1 there.
Tech returns to Charles L. Cost Field to try and tie the series on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra. A win wouldn’t just save the Hokies’ NCAA Tournament profile, but also affirm that signs of life remain after a spiraling last three weeks.
Box Score: Pitt 9, Virginia Tech 5