Virginia Tech baseball may find its biggest challenge of the season in just its third weekend.
The Hokies (7-1) travel to Arlington, Texas, this week for the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series, a round-robin style showcase taking place at the Texas Rangers’ stadium.
The field features Virginia Tech, Arizona State, No. 1 UCLA, No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 20 Tennessee and No. 23 Texas A&M, with the Hokies playing the latter three schools.
Calling the Tech’s path a gauntlet might be an understatement. Its weekend begins with the Aggies (8-0) on Friday at 8 p.m. ET, then it plays the Bulldogs (9-0) on Saturday at 4 p.m., and finally the Volunteers (6-2) on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Every game in the tournament will be broadcast on FloSports.
Why did the Hokies accept the invitation to play at Globe Life Field, rather than play another lower-profile home non-conference series?
First, ACC teams have been encouraged to accept invitations into notable showcases, and the Hokies chose one of the more difficult ones. They avoid the top-ranked Bruins but miss out on unranked Arizona State, instead playing three ranked opponents with two combined losses, both of which belong to Tennessee.
Second, Hokies head coach John Szefc felt like his roster was equipped for the challenge this year.
“We’re talking about some of the best in the country,” Szefc told Tech Sideline. “If that’s what we attest to be, if we attest to go deep into the NCAA Tournament, these are the kind of people you want to play against. You don’t really just want to sit at home and collect wins … from an RPI perspective.”
Tech is expected to start Brett Renfrow against Texas A&M, Griffin Stieg against Mississippi State on Saturday and Ethan Grim vs. Tennessee on Sunday morning. With it being a three-teams-in-three-days situation with slightly varying levels of competition, though, Tech could approach its pitching attack differently.
Texas A&M
The Aggies have started senior lefty Shane Sdao in their first two Friday games. He missed all of last year with an injury and had two somewhat converse starts to begin this season.
In his first foray against Tennessee Tech, he surrendered seven hits and four earned runs across 5 ⅓ innings, but in his second go against Penn, he pitched seven innings of three-hit ball with seven K’s.
However, with the Aggies having to play UCLA on Saturday, they could opt to start Saturday arm Weston Moss, a right-handed junior, against the Hokies. Moss has 14 strikeouts through two starts, one of which was an outing against Tennessee Tech where he yielded four earned runs. The week after against Penn, he picked up eight K’s while allowing just one run through six innings.
Offensively, outfielders Terrance Kiel II (1.119 OPS), Wesley Jordan (1.602) and Caden Sorell (1.431) have torn through their first six-or-so games. Sorrell’s five home runs is tied for the second most in the nation, and freshman infielder Nico Partida isn’t awfully far behind with three. Texas A&M has two other players with at least two homers, which is Tech’s team lead (Ethan Ball and Sam Grube).
The Aggies will be by far the most potent offense that the Hokies have played to this point, so if Renfrow starts, they’ll hope he can push past his early pitch count limitations for a long, punchout-heavy outing.
Mississippi State
The Hokies were 19-41 against Virginia with Brian O’Connor at the helm from 2005 onwards, and they’ll have to see the legendary coach after his departure from the Cavaliers rather quickly. O’Connor’s Bulldogs are off to a flawless start with wins over Delaware, Austin Peay, Hofstra, Alcorn State and Troy.
Mississippi State was No. 4 in the nation entering the season, and has stayed there for a reason. Its position play and offense are athletic and deep, while its pitching staff — though less proven — is uber-talented.
The Bulldogs currently have seven players with 14 or more at-bats and an OPS over 1. Top draft prospect Ace Reese’s mark is 1.575, with three homers, 15 RBI and a 1.000 slugging rate. First baseman Bevis Blake (1.500 OPS), outfielder Bryce Chance (1.020) and infielder Gehrig Frei (1.027) are also likely to give Griffin Stieg and Tech’s bullpen issues.
Don’t be surprised if Virginia transfer Aidan Teel, who’s struggled to start the year but has had great games against Tech in the past, comes alive.
Another UVa transfer, Tomas Valincius, has shouldered Saturday duties for the Bulldogs so far and is likely to do so again against Tech. He was named to the 2025 All-ACC Freshman Team last year after a 6-1 record, and has picked up 13 K’s through two starts this year — neither of which he recorded an earned run in. Senior righty Brendan Sweeney has followed Valincius in relief this season and seen similar success, allowing just three hits in 5 ⅔ innings.
Tennessee
The Hokies will see the Volunteers Sunday morning (10:30 a.m. CT), and though Tennessee lost Tony Vitello to the San Francisco Giants last year, VT will still be a major underdog.
The Volunteers have 15 homers in eight games, with Blaine Brown (1.060 OPS) leading the charge with four. Henry Ford (1.071), Jay Abernathy (1.204), Stone Lawless (1.257) and Tyler Myatt (1.382) have also slugged early this season. As has Hokies Sunday starter Ethan Grim, though, with 12 K’s in 7 ⅔ innings of work against William & Mary and Rutgers.
Tennessee is the only team Tech will play this weekend that has lost, being upset twice by Kent State in Knoxville last weekend. It hadn’t dropped a non-conference series since 2020 before that, but control issues plagued its staff all weekend.
Virginia transfer Evan Blanco — who started for the Volunteers last Sunday — had that very issue, walking four in as many innings while giving up three runs and taking the loss. He had a better debut against Nicholls, however, striking out nine over five innings.
It wouldn’t be shocking if the Hokies left the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series winless, but just one would be a significant RPI boost — just like a high-profile ACC series, which is exactly how Szefc said his team is treating the trip.
“I don’t think we go about it any differently than if we were playing an ACC series, to be honest with you,” Szefc said. “Our league is very good, and obviously, the competition this weekend will be very good. We’ll take it game-by-game.”