After four straight losses with combined scores of 41-13, Virginia Tech baseball’s schedule isn’t getting much easier.
The Hokies (7-5) open ACC play this weekend with a three-game set against No. 5 Georgia Tech in Atlanta. They may not play a higher-ranked team for the rest of the season — and they almost certainly won’t play a better offense.
Through their non-conference slate, the Yellow Jackets (12-1) have been the sort of team that’s best reflected by their monstrous numbers. They slash a behemoth .410/.542/.679 as a team with 25 home runs — sixth in the nation — and their entire starting lineup is hitting between .341 and .500.
Their 43 doubles pace the ACC by nine, and they’ve done all of this while taking the most walks (106) in the nation by 10. Catcher Vahn Lackey (1.340 OPS), first baseman Alex Hernandez (1.294), third baseman Ryan Zuckerman (1.474) and right fielder Will Baker (1.217) have been some of college baseball’s best hitters.
All the while, star first baseman Kent Schmidt has been injured, and the team’s top-10 projected MLB Draft prospect, Drew Burress (.373/.522.,647), has yet to separate himself from the rest of the team’s lineup offensively — though he’s still been exceptional. You'd be hard-pressed to find a single hitter in GT’s lineup that wouldn’t be the Hokies’ chief producer from the plate this year.
VT is bottom four in the ACC in batting average (.261), slugging (.448) and on-base percentage (.385). Georgia Tech’s 192 hits is more than double the Hokies’ last-in-the-ACC mark (91). They’re also last in total runs (60) and RBI (57).
Granted, the Hokies have played a considerably tougher schedule than the Yellow Jackets. It’s why the two teams’ RPI rankings are not awfully distant, with GT at No. 44 and VT at No. 69.
Georgia Tech has wins against Bowling Green, Stony Brook, Northwestern, Georgia State and Georgia Southern — who it split a two-game midweek series with — while the Hokies have a Power 4 series win against Rutgers (No. 74 RPI) and a weekend full of ranked SEC matchups, as fruitless as it was.
The Hokies will be banking on their status as the Yellow Jackets’ first ACC or SEC opponent this weekend, along with their pitching and a somewhat unproven Georgia Tech rotation (compared to its offense — the Yellow Jackets’ staff is still flush with talent).
Brett Renfrow made a return to form last weekend against No. 22 Texas A&M, holding the Aggies to two runs in five innings before Virginia Tech’s bullpen blew the game behind him. Even Texas A&M’s offense may not compare to the Yellow Jackets’, but Renfrow shoving has helped Tech win unlikely series with big Friday performances in the past.
Griffin Stieg and freshman Ethan Grim will likely start on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, as they’ve done so far this year. Grim was superb last Sunday against No. 19 Tennessee, pitching five innings of two-run ball against what’s likely the best offense he’s ever seen.
The Yellow Jackets’ rotation has been no less competitive than Tech’s, but it enters ACC play somewhat uncertain. Seven different arms have made starts with performances varying.
The most impressive of them has been Tennessee transfer and lefty Dylan Loy, who made his first weekend start last Saturday against Northwestern. Now through two starts, Loy has surrendered three earned runs over 14 innings while striking out 18 and walking just two.
Friday starter Tate McKee has a 4.05 ERA across three starts, the worst of them coming last weekend against the Wildcats, where he allowed three earned runs and six hits through 4 ⅓ innings. RPI-wise, Northwestern (No. 86) is a comparable opponent to what Rutgers was for Tech.
Georgia Tech’s Sundays have been anchored by freshman lefty Cooper Underwood, who was steady before last weekend, when he allowed four runs to Northwestern before finding the second out of the first inning. He was removed at that point, and the outing ballooned his ERA to 6.75.
The Hokies’ rotation could by all means prove itself the better of the two teams’ next weekend — though it’s dealing with a more potent offense — but their bullpen may have more trouble. Yellow Jackets right-handed relievers Jackson Blakely and Jake Lankie have combined for 13 scoreless innings. And though he hasn’t quite been himself through two appearances this year, righty Mason Patel was one of the best arms in the country last year — in and out of the bullpen.
The first game of Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech’s series begins Friday at 6 p.m. ET, followed by 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. starts on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The entire series will be available on ACC Network Extra.