Virginia Tech baseball didn’t find many timely swings across its opening-weekend sweep over William & Mary, but it found enough. Most notably, Sam Grube’s two-RBI walk-off knock in the first game of Saturday’s home doubleheader, which the Hokies won 8-7 before cruising to an 8-2 win in the series finale.
The Hokies (3-0) surrendered a three-spot to the Tribe (0-3) in the ninth inning of Game 1, turning a 6-4 lead into a 7-6 deficit with three outs to erase it. Grube rose to the occasion, fouling off three straight pitches before dropping a single just inside the left-field line to score Anderson French and Ethan Gibson.
“Just get the job done,” Grube said of his approach. “Get the guy in. I was hoping it got deep enough, and then when I saw it up there I’m like, sit, sit, sit. And so, it got sat.”
Grube was 4-for-11 across Tech’s opening series with five RBI, three walks and a walk-off hit. He was also stout at both first base and right field.
“Grube’s been all that and more for us,” Hokies head coach John Szefc said.
Before his clutch hit, however, the game looked like an early-season disaster.
Tech entered the ninth inning of Game 1 with a 6-4 lead, which quickly evaporated as sophomore righty Logan Eisenreich — after pitching 1 ⅓ scoreless innings — surrendered a double and home run to the Tribe’s Jamie Laskofski and Trey Christman, respectively, to tie the game at six. Senior Brendan Yagesh replaced Eisenreich and found two outs after yielding a 3-2 walk to Louie Bartletti, who advanced to second base.
The Hokies turned to returning senior Luke Craytor in high leverage, but he was singled off by Connor Chavez to plate Bartletti and put the Tribe up 7-6.
However, William & Mary closer Tom Bourque couldn't keep Tech away in the final side. French walked before advancing to third via Gibson single — the junior infielder’s third hit of the game.
The Tribe was in a difficult spot. With two runners in scoring position, it opted to intentionally walk Treyson Hughes to set up a double play, but by doing so, it brought up Grube, who mashed three doubles on Friday. He burned W&M again.
“It was funny. We were joking about that when they walked Hughes,” Szefc said. “I understand why they did it, but I wouldn’t want to pitch to either of them. Grube’s pretty hot right now, so we felt good.”
It’s easy to see an 8-7 final in Game 1 and assume Tech’s pitching was problematic — and it was in spots — but its offense wasn’t exactly potent. Before Grube’s hit, the Hokies were just 5-for-30 with runners in scoring position in the series, which kept it close at numerous points. They finished 6-for-43 despite the Tribe yielding 25 walks in two games on Saturday and 34 all weekend.
“It wasn’t good,” Szefc said of Tech’s situational hitting. “ I think what you saw was a team that — from a hitting perspective — hasn’t been outside a whole lot over the last three weeks [because of bad weather]. Guys are getting blown up by 88-mile-an-hour fastballs. If you watch us three weeks from now, it probably won’t happen. Guys are still getting their eyes adjusted.”
Hudson Lutterman’s three-RBI double in the seventh and Ethan Ball’s RBI single in the fifth were exceptions. However, all but one of the runners they brought in initially walked. Ball’s hit, combined with an Owen Petrich sacrifice fly and Gibson run — off a wild pitch by Tribe arm Daniel Lingle — tied Game 1 at three.
On the other side, the Hokies employed a five-pitcher mix that each gave up at least one earned run, besides Craytor, who recorded his second pitching win at Tech by getting the final out of the game. The run on his watch was attributed to Yagesh.
Griffin Stieg started Game 1 — his first outing since May 17, 2024 — and found success forcing contact outs. He held the Tribe scoreless through four innings with just two strikeouts, though his day ended in the fifth inning after allowing a single and a walk. Stieg notched two more strikeouts in the fifth for four total over 71 pitches.
“It was definitely nerve-racking, but it’s always good to be back out there competing against not your own team,” Stieg said. “Just being able to provide for your team and competing … [is] the best part of all this.”
JUCO transfer Aiden Robertson (Walters State) relieved Stieg in the fifth and promptly gave up a three-run home run to Laskofski, who was 4-of-7 on Saturday. The right-handed junior threw 25 times in his Division I debut and allowed two hits while walking one. Kansas State transfer Brody Roe (two hits, one ER) and Eisenreich (three hits, two ER) pitched around an inning each in their season debuts while Yagesh (one ER) and Craytor accounted for the last three outs.
Ultimately, the Hokies were down three separate times in Saturday’s first game — 3-0, 4-3 and 7-6 — and still managed to win. The series closer was smoother, with the Tribe having exhausted most of its arms.
William & Mary threw just 95 of its 184 pitches in the finale for strikes, rendering another poor game for Tech with runners in scoring position (1-for-13) less meaningful than in the first two games.
Hokies freshman starter Ethan Grim allowed a first-inning RBI double to Bartletti, but settled in for 3 ⅔ scoreless innings with six strikeouts after that.
“You guys will laugh at me, but I saw Grim and [Brett] Renfrow at the same stage of their high school careers in playoff action,” Szefc said. “And Renfrow wouldn’t want to hear me say this, but Grim was more advanced. You wouldn’t believe it, but I’m telling you right now, Grim is gonna be real, real good.”
Xavier transfer Ben Weber followed Grim with three scoreless innings to earn his first win at Tech, and Texas A&M transfer Peyton Smith finished the game with three straight ninth-inning strikeouts. Returning lefty Josh Berzonski allowed one earned run over one inning— a Bartletti RBI single — between them.
The Hokies’ offense, on the other hand, took advantage of enough opportunities to keep the Tribe away after its fast start. Henry Cooke tied the game in the first inning with a sacrifice fly, scoring Hughes after a leadoff walk. Petrich cracked Tech’s first home run of the year, 357 feet to the opposite side, plating himself and Grube — who reached on an error — to go up 3-1.
Cooke had a hand in Tech’s next run, too, reaching on a fielder’s choice bump to second base that ushered Pete Daniel home, making it 4-1. Daniel worked a full-count walk before taking third off a Hughes single.
The remainder of the Hokies’ runs came in the sixth inning, when Tribe pitchers Dylan McCarthy and Chad Yates combined to walk four straight batters, three of whom forced runs home. Cooke, Petrich, Ball and Lutterman all scored, with Petrich (2-for-4, two RBI in series finale) recording the only hit of the frame — and Tech’s last of the series.
The Hokies return to action on Tuesday for their first midweek game when they host ETSU at 4 p.m. ET. Tech will hope it’s prettier than its opening series, but a win will do just fine.
“Bats are gonna get better, but 3-0, what can you say?” Grube said. “We have the talent and we’re gonna really get it going here. I think it’s just my first weekend jitters maybe. But that shouldn’t be a problem going forward.”
Game 1 Box Score: Virginia Tech 8, William & Mary 7
Game 2 Box Score: Virginia Tech 8, William & Mary 2