Virginia Tech baseball rolled out a three-headed monster on the Globe Life Field mound to close its weekend at the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series on Sunday.
But so did No. 20 Tennessee, and its arms rendered the Hokies’ bats inert in a 3-1 victory that capped an 0-3 weekend for Tech in Arlington, Texas.
Hokies (7-4) starter Ethan Grim’s five-inning, two-run start was followed by three innings with one total run allowed between Chase Swift and Logan Eisenreich. The trio held the Volunteers (8-3) to 4-for-29 hitting with just three walks.
Other than Nick Locurto and Owen Petrich, though, no Tech batters could hit off of Tennessee starter Evan Blanco or relievers Mark Hindy and Brayden Krenzel. Locurto cracked his second career home run off Blanco 366 feet to left field to lead off the fourth inning and singled his next time up. However, he and Petrich’s base hits were eventually stranded at second, painting the situational hitting difference that separated the Hokies and Volunteers on Sunday.
Tennessee hit a 3-for-6 clip with runners in scoring position while Tech batted 0-for-4. The Hokies are just 26-for-119 (.218) all year with RISP. Freshman Ethan Ball — whose 10-game hitting streak came to an end Sunday — Sam Grube and Petrich are the only Tech players with 20 or more at-bats hitting above .250 this season.
Sunday’s game-deciding runs came in the bottom of the six, just after Grim delivered a full-count walk to end his day. Swift surrendered consecutive RBI doubles to left fielder Blaine Brown and catcher Levi Clark before striking out his next two batters, which were also his last.
Before that, Grim’s start began with eight straight outs and four K’s, including those against star hitters Brown (.318) and center fielder Jay Abernathy (.306). Grim didn’t even put a third ball onto the count until Abernathy’s second at-bat in the third inning.
That was when the Volunteers struck first, though, with Ford’s single to plate second baseman Ariel Antigua from second, who was forced there with Aberntahy’s walk. Grim retired every single Tennessee batter for the rest of his outing until the last one he saw — also an Abernathy walk.
Logan Eisenreich pitched the last two innings for the Hokies and didn’t surrender a single hit, or even a credited baserunner outside of a Brown walk. His two strikeouts put nine on the board for Tech all game.
On the other side, the Hokies’ final seven batters went down in order. Blanco finished with two hits allowed and six strikeouts across 5 ⅓ innings while giving up just one earned run. Hindy was credited with the win — and Grim with the loss — after spot-relieving and expelling a two-on scenario in the sixth. Blanco shoved three innings of one-hit, four-K ball after him, and only needed 39 pitches to do so.
The Hokies left the Amegy Bank College Baseball series winless, and next weekend doesn’t project to be easier for them. They’ll head to Atlanta, Ga., for a series against No. 5 Georgia Tech then, but before that, they’ll host Marshall at English Field on Tuesday at 4 p.m. (ET, ACCNX).
Box Score: No. 20 Tennessee 3, Virginia Tech 1