Virginia Tech baseball left the top of Friday’s first inning at Mark Light Field up 1-0. Ethan Ball laced an RBI triple down the right-field line, manufacturing the kind of start that typically leads to a competitive baseball game.
It did not. Miami scored the next 19 runs of the night to win in six-and-a-half innings. The 19-1 margin of defeat is Tech’s worst since its 19-0 loss to Georgia Tech on April 13, 2024.
The Hokies (14-14, 5-8 ACC) have now suffered three blowout losses on Fridays this season, including 16-1 drubbings by Rutgers and Georgia Tech and a 10-0 defeat to Texas A&M.
Fourteen of the Hurricanes’ runs were scored between the second and third innings, with Tech starter Brendan Yagesh (L, 2-2) allowing 10 earned. The rest of the game was a formality.
Miami (23-7, 5-5) was retired in order by Yagesh in the first frame but seemed to figure him out after. Right fielder Derek Williams homered off the lefty’s first pitch of the second to tie the game, though he grabbed two outs soon after. The game still seemed competitive.
However, designated hitter Alonzo Alvarez singled to put two runners on for nine-hole hitter Fabio Peralta, who tripled in remarkably similar fashion to Ball, scoring two runs. Yagesh’s next toss was tattooed to deep left by second baseman Jake Ogden. The 1-1 ballgame became 5-1 in two pitches.
Yagesh continued to labor in the third inning. Williams completed half of the cycle with a two-strike leadoff double, which was followed by a hit by pitch and RBI single by shortstop Vance Sheahan.
Two outs and two walks later — including Ogden’s to force a run in and make it 7-1 — Yagesh’s day was done, though three of his earned runners were still on base. Each of them came through when St. Johns River State College (JUCO) transfer Danny Lazaro entered the game.
Left fielder Dylan Dubovik scored via wild pitch before Ogden and Peralta scored runs nine and 10 with catcher Alex Sosa’s two-RBI single. Lazaro, still yet to grab the final out of the inning, was removed for Aiden Robertson with the bases loaded.
Miami first baseman Brylan West quickly went down 0-2, but fouled off every strike Robertson sent him until he shot a grand slam over left field, putting his team up 14-1.
Robertson’s night ended with the Hokies down 16-1 after an Alvarez solo home run and third baseman Daniel Cuvet’s RBI double in the fourth inning.
He finished with two strikeouts, three earned runs and four hits allowed through three outs. Lazaro gave up three earned runs, two walks and a hit without getting an out, while Yagesh surrendered seven hits and three walks across 19 batters in 2 ⅔ innings.
Right-hander Jacob Exum, along with freshmen righties Tyler Stone and Jake Wise, pitched the last 2 ⅓ innings, with Wise accounting for the final five outs. He managed to get through his batters — mostly Miami substitutes — cleanly, while Stone gave up a Dubovik RBI single and two more earned runs off wild pitches.
Offensively, Hudson Lutterman (2-for-2), Ball (1-for-3, RBI), Nick Locurto (1-for-3) and Owen Petrich (1-for-2) were Tech’s only producers outside of Pete Daniel and Willie Hurt — who substituted at third base — walking once.
With the wide margin, substitutes Anderson French, CJ Oxendine, Treyson Hughes and Aimon Chandler also received opportunities, but they combined for 0-for-7 batting.
Miami starter Rob Evans more than settled in after allowing Ball’s triple. He stranded the freshman there with three straight outs before allowing just three more hits across his five-inning outing. He racked up seven strikeouts and walked no batters after sending Daniel a four-pitch free pass to start the game.
Right-handers Brixton Lofgren and Erick Peralta finished the final two innings for the Hurricanes and gave up just one hit, though the gap was well out of hand by the time they entered.
With starters Brett Renfrow and Griffin Stieg still in tow, Tech looks to even the series on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra.
Box Score: Miami 19, Virginia Tech 1 (7 innings)