HARRISONBURG — To begin the eighth inning of Virginia Tech baseball’s game against James Madison on Tuesday, Ethan Gibson trotted out to first base — his first appearance at the position this year. 

The junior typically plays middle infield, but Tech (7-1) head coach John Szefc has lauded his defensive versatility, which Gibson showcased on the final play of the game. 

With two outs and as many runners in scoring position, down a run, Dukes (3-4) first baseman Keegan Haesler smacked a grounder to first against Tech’s shift. Gibson twice dove for the out — once to field the ball and once to tap first base at the end of a footrace between him and Kaesler. Gibson won by a hair, as did the Hokies, 5-4. 

“That was sick,” said Tech’s Pete Daniel, who hit the game-winning solo home run in the sixth inning. “I saw it from shortstop — I didn’t know if he was gonna make the play. But when I saw his glove on it I knew he was gonna beat him to the bag. Just got excited.”

Gibson has struggled offensively throughout his career at Tech, but he’s a plug-and-play defender who’s played every infield position through eight games. 

“He [fields] it. We win,” Tech head coach John Szefc said. “Pretty simple. He’s one of our best defensive players. He can play probably any position on the field, and we’re just lucky the ball got hit to him.”

One inning before, with his team holding on to that same 5-4 lead, Sam Gates made a highlight defensive play of his own. Usually Tech’s everyday right fielder, Gates played center Tuesday because Treyson Hughes was sick — but it looked like Gates’ natural position. 

The Dukes hit a leadoff double that frame, meaning that if Gates let Ben Barrow’s deep right-center strike fall, it was a tie game. The George Washington transfer raced into the gap and made a diving catch, however, and the runner on second never made it home.

“That’s Gates showing everybody, ‘I can play center field too,’” Szefc said. “We already kind of knew that, but that’s a game-saving play, too. It just doesn’t come across the same way as Gibson’s.”

Gates and Gibson’s highlight plays were the cruxes of a trend that persisted all game: Tech surrendered myriad baserunners, but managed to keep most off home plate with timely defensive plays. 

Five of the last six innings ended with at least one JMU runner on third, and four of those finished with two runners in scoring position. However, the Dukes were 3-for-14 with RISP, often playing well against the Hokies’ bullpen until the 11th hour of an inning. 

“Just good pitching, man,” Daniel said when asked how Tech kept skating by. “Just guys that trust their stuff, and [pitching coach Doug Willey] has good plans. It’s just good team baseball, everyone doing their part. … Defensively, just a bunch of dogs on this team. Feels like anybody can play anywhere. Just a bunch of athletes.”

In the fourth inning, with Tech up 4-2, left-handed pitcher Brody Roe entered the game after starter Ben Weber pitched the bases loaded with no outs. Roe forced two short lineouts and a strikeout around a wild pitch, which allowed a run, but the Kansas State transfer ultimately limited damage. 

As did Aiden Robertson two innings later with the Hokies ahead 5-2. After Roe surrendered two walks and a single to load the bases again, Robertson — a Walter State (JUCO) transfer who hasn’t quite lived up to expectations through four Division-I appearances — punched out two straight batters. 

Robertson wasn’t as successful in the seventh inning, allowing three base hits to Ryan Gocio, Kyle Langley and Josiah Seguin to put the Dukes within a run at 5-4. 

Logan Eisenreich relieved Robertson that inning with one out and a man on first — Ike Schmidly, who advanced to third on a steal and wild pitch. Schmidly initially reached base via a fielder’s choice, however, so the sophomore righty needed one more out. 

He found it with his fastball — a 3-2 strike to end the inning. With the help of Gates’ highlight catch at center for the eighth inning’s second out, Eisenreich stranded a runner on third in that inning, too. 

On the other side, the Hokies had just three hits in the last five innings of Tuesday’s win, with the only meaningful one being Daniel’s sixth-inning solo homer — his first in a Tech uniform. 

“I’ve been missing fastballs the last two weekends, so I was just making sure I was on time and early and caught it out in front,” Daniel said. “Got lucky, the wind kind of pushed out there, but I tried to put a good swing on it.”

Tech’s first three batters hit to start the game — Sam Grube (2-for-4), who doubled, Owen Petrich (2-for-5) and Ethan Ball (2-for-4) — which gave it an early 2-0 lead. 

The margin doubled in the third inning when Grube and Ball hit for the second time, combining with a Henry Cooke fielder’s choice sacrifice bunt to make it 4-0. Cooke bunted to the pitcher, who couldn’t get the ball home in time to keep Grube from crossing home plate. 

The Dukes, after two shutdown innings from Weber, struck in the third inning when Cameron Aycock knocked a leadoff double and came home with two sacrifice plays. Langley (2-for-5), Schmidly (2-for-5) and Reece Moody (2-for-3) were effective against Weber and Tech’s five-man bullpen, while Dukes reliever Tyler Lutz (two hits, six K’s in four innings) shut down the Hokies’ offense in the third through seventh innings. Jaden Kinsler followed him with 1 ⅔ hitless innings.

Sitting at 7-1, its best start since 2022, Virginia Tech heads to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, next for the gauntlet Amegy Bank College Baseball series. 

Its three-game weekend starts with a game against No. 23 Texas A&M on Friday (8 p.m. ET) before playing No. 4 Mississippi State on Saturday (4 p.m. ET) and No. 20 Tennessee on Sunday (11:30 a.m. ET). All games will be televised on FloSports.

Box Score: Virginia Tech 5, James Madison 4