Routine midweek opponents Virginia Tech and ETSU had played a number of close games in recent meetings, but the Hokies had always come out on top until Tuesday, when they fell 9-5 in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Tech (12-11) was stymied at the plate while resting key weekend bats and arms, and the Buccaneers (17-6) poured in all the runs they needed in their two-home run fifth inning.
It was the Hokies’ first loss to ETSU in the John Szefc era after entering 6-0. They run-ruled the Buccaneers in the first three of those meetings, then won 8-6 and 11-4 last year, with a 7-5 victory earlier this season.
Lineup mainstays Ethan Ball, Treyson Hughes and Henry Cooke — the latter two of which have struggled this season — played in the final two innings but did not start on Tuesday. Ethan Gibson started at second base in place of Ball, while Anderson French caught for Cooke and freshman Willie Hurt made his first-ever start at designated hitter.
Hurt was an encouraging 2-for-4 in his debut, with his first hit setting up a double steal that plated Hudson Lutterman in the second inning to give the Hokies a 1-0 lead. However, Hurt accounted for half of Tech’s hits all day.
The other two were doubles by Pete Daniel and Ethan Gibson, with Gibson’s being the Hokies’ only hit of the game with runners in scoring position. They finished 1-for-10 in those situations.
And yet, opportunities kept coming. The Buccaneers' six-arm pitching effort — all right-handers outside of starter Derek McCarley — sent the Hokies seven walks and four hit by pitches, resulting in ample scoring chances. ETSU even walked the bases loaded in the third and seventh innings, but Tech finished 0-for-4 with a sacrifice fly and an RBI on a fielder’s choice in those scenarios.
The top sides of the second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth innings ended with at least one runner in scoring position for Tech, and all but two of those concluded with multiple.
Hokies lefty Danny Lazaro made his first Division I start after transferring from St. Johns River State College (JUCO) last offseason. Gibson’s one-man double play got Lazaro out of a first-inning rut, and he pitched a clean second, but he was removed after a pair of third-inning walks.
Senior Jacob Exum relieved him, but by his fifth pitch, he had already surrendered a two-run double to shortstop Henry Ferguson and an RBI single to first baseman Tristan Curless.
The next time Curless came up in the fifth inning — with ETSU up 3-2 — he cracked a three-RBI homer off freshman Tech pitcher Jake Wise. The freshman had walked two batters in 10 pitches before that. His third career appearance soon ended after third baseman Luke Matlock added a solo homer to put the Buccaneers up 7-2.
Gibson’s double got Tech a run back in the sixth, and Lutterman’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly did the same in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough — even though Hokies right-hander Aiden Robertson kept the door open for his offense across the last 3 ⅓ innings.
He didn’t allow any more ETSU runs until the eighth frame, when he yielded a single, a walk and then RBI hits to right fielder Nate Conner and Ferguson for the 9-4 final. Robertson eventually stranded the bases loaded, though, ending his night with four strikeouts and as many hits allowed around two earned runs.
Next, Tech returns to English Field this weekend for a three-game series against Stanford. The Cardinal (11-12) is 1-5 in ACC play with series losses to Pitt (16-6, 3-3) and Wake Forest (18-7, 4-5). It didn’t face conference competition this past weekend, though, instead sweeping a four-game set against Utah Valley.
Box Score: ETSU 9, Virginia Tech 4