DURHAM, N.C. — A timely offensive elevation and all-around defense powered 12th-seeded Virginia Tech baseball to its first postseason win since 2022 in the opening round of the ACC Tournament on Tuesday, beating 13th-seeded Stanford 7-4. With the win, the Hokies earn the right to play fifth-seeded Clemson in the second round on Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET.
As one of eight teams who played in the first round of the bracket, the Hokies (31-24) had their backs against the wall the moment they took to Durham Bulls Athletic Park in North Carolina. That’s the nature of a single-elimination style tournament — the first in the ACC’s 52-year history.
For reliever Grant Manning, though, the game meant even more. The graduate student entered a 6-2 game in the seventh inning with two runners on, one out and a 2-0 count inherited from pitcher Cameron LeJeune. He knew it could very well be his last time taking the mound — and that largely depended on him.
Thirteen pitches later, nine of which were strikes, the Cardinal (27-25, 11-10 ACC) was preparing to get back on defense. Manning had struck out Temo Becerra — a .330 hitter — and freshman star Rintaro Sasaki, who trudged back to the dugout digesting a filthy strike-three changeup.
“You can’t just think if we’re not playing well, we’ll just get after it tomorrow,” Manning said. “Because it’s already over at that point, so you got to go out there and give it everything you can. I know that I’m in my final year of college baseball, so just have to give it my all out there. We have a lot of seniors and more experienced guys here that are fighting for the remainder of their own careers as well.”
Manning blitzed through the eighth before allowing a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth. But his work to that point rendered Jimmy Nati’s bomb too little, too late. Manning struck out his sixth batter in ten faced, once again Becerra, to close the game.
He notched his fifth save of the year on Tuesday, tying the fifth-most in the ACC. Manning’s 5.92 ERA doesn’t capture the number of tough spots he’s bailed the Hokies out of. His 12.7 K/9 rate, on the other hand, does.
“I was really happy for Grant, pitching against what I kiddingly called his hometown team,” Hokies coach John Szefc said. “[California] is where he’s from, so you give him an opportunity to go out there and do his thing against Stanford.
“I made a mistake bringing him in when the count was 2-0, it’s a tough spot. I apologized to him, but he got us out of there just the same, just like he has been lately.”
Manning backed up reliever Cameron LeJeune, who — after taking over for a struggling Preston Crowl in the sixth — retired four of his first five batters. He surrendered a Tatum Marsh single and two walks just after, though, warranting a move to Manning.
But Tech really picked up steam during LeJeune’s outing, beginning with a defensive play by second baseman Jared Davis that earned him the No. 2 spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10.
With the bases loaded in the sixth, Stanford’s Cort MacDonald knocked a threatening well-placed flair into shallow center. Davis, tracking it over from second base, hauled in the ball over his shoulder, narrowly avoiding a crashing Pittman from center field, then condensing into a roll. That wasn’t even the Florida SouthWestern transfer’s first defensive highlight.
That play came in the fourth, when, with two outs and a runner on first, he ended the inning with a sliding play on a Charlie Saum ground ball. On one knee and no time to reposition, he chucked the ball to first base just before Saum could cross it. He finished with a team-high two assists.
Defensively, Davis has struggled at times this season, namely with reads and first steps. His eight errors this year is just one behind Henry Cooke’s team high of nine. But Davis’ athleticism helped him elevate on that end of the field against Stanford.
“I just think that’s a normal play for me, nice routine play,” Davis said of his highlights. “Not [just offense], you also need to get better on defense. Coach always tells us to take runs off the board. With my speed and all the things I can do, I can make those plays look easy.”
After the Orlando, Fla., native’s tumbling play in the sixth, the Hokies’ offense carried the momentum it earned into the bottom side.
They were already up 3-2 after Hudson Lutterman, Jackson Cherry and Cam Pittman each recorded RBI knocks in the third and fourth innings. But it broke the game open in the sixth by stringing together baserunners — something it had struggled to do as of late.
Cherry worked a seven-pitch walk and made it to third off Cardinal miscues before the second at-bat of the inning even ended. That finished as a Davis walk, but he was tagged out on Pittman’s subsequent fielder’s choice that brought around Mycah Jordan, who pinch-ran for Cherry once he got to third.
Now a 4-2 game with a runner on first, Lutterman flied out to make it seem as if one run was all Tech could manage. But up came Ben Watson, who extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a single to put runners on the corners. He stole second just after, which was convenient, because Clay Grady struck a two-RBI single — that was misplayed by Stanford center fielder Charlie Bates, hindered by the sun — to make it 6-2 right after. Then, Tackett walked, but the score stagnated there.
Watson, Grady and Tackett — the first three batters in Tech’s lineup, in that order — each had two-hit games on Tuesday. Five other players hit, making for a sound offensive response from two- and one-run games against Virginia last series.
“That’s what those guys are supposed to do,” Szefc said of his one-through-three batters, who will likely need to maintain those performances if the Hokies hope to make a run this postseason.
To put a bow on Tech’s offense, Jordan recorded the first homer of his career: A solo shot crushed over the blue “monster wall” that towers over left field at the Durham Bulls’ ballpark. As a result, the game finished and began with a freshman for Tech.
First-year arm Jake Marciano made the first postseason start of his career, and it ended as one of his best — certainly his most important. He shoved 4 ⅔ innings of two-run baseball, which included five strikeouts and just four hits allowed. Two costly mistakes — a wild pitch to permit Marsh home and a hanging slider that Trevor Haskins took over the left-center wall — kept the Bayville, N.J., native from a flawless outing.
“I’ve been watching Stanford play for 24 years,” Szefc said. “Stanford is always going to be Stanford. They’re always good. So for [Marciano] to go out there and get us off to a good start was huge. We pitched really well behind him.”
With the win, the Hokies advance to the second round of the ACC Tournament and will play fifth-seeded Clemson at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday on the ACC Network. The Tigers (41-15, 18-12 ACC) finished the season ranked No. 14 by D1Baseball and earned a first-round bye in the tournament.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 7, Stanford 4