Although Sundays have been a safe haven for Virginia Tech baseball this season, it fell 6-2 to No. 23 Boston College in Brighton, Mass., to finish the weekend with its third straight ACC series loss.
Much of the reason the Hokies (16-18, 7-11 ACC) entered their rubber match against the Eagles (26-12, 11-7) with a 6-2 record on Sundays was Griffin Stieg, who has started in four of their seven ACC wins.
It’s not easy to go an entire season without one major misstep, though. The redshirt junior allowed six earned runs — his season high by two — over eight hits in the first three innings at BC, putting Tech in an early 6-0 hole with the series on the line.
The Eagles tacked on three of those runs in a four-hit first inning, which came just after Sam Grube’s double-play grounder squandered a bases-loaded opportunity in the top side.
Stieg surrendered three straight one-out hits to Ty Mainolfi, Nick Wang and Jack Toomey — who capped the rally with an RBI double — to put the first run on the board. Carter Hendrickson grounded out with an RBI before Luke Gallo’s base hit plated Toomey.
Boston College’s order flipped in the second — Tech had no response in the top half outside of a stranded Owen Petrich double — with leadoff man Julio Soiler knocking an RBI single to put his team up 4-0. Toomey and Hendrickson got on base for the second time each in the third inning, coming home when Gunnar Johnson shot Stieg’s final allowed hit into right field, scoring two more.
The right-hander’s day ended after the third with a gusty eight-pitch strikeout on Danny Surowiec — in which he fouled off six straight pitches — and a Colin Larson groundout, each of which came with a man on third.
Tech scored the first of its two runs in the fourth: a Sam Gates RBI single to bring around Petrich, who reached base for the sixth time in the series. Its next and final run came one frame later as Henry Cooke rocketed a home run into left field — his third of the season.
Yet, the Hokies managed just one hit and two total baserunners across their remaining 16 batters. Eagles starter Tyler Mudd and reliever Kyle Kipp retired them in order in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings. Mudd pitched a career-long seven frames and 105 pitches.
Tech received a career day from a pitcher as well, though. Aiden Robertson continued a series of increasingly impressive outings with his best all season, striking out five over as many scoreless innings — both season highs.
The Walters State Community College (JUCO) transfer was only seriously threatened once. In the seventh inning, the Eagles strung together two singles and a double steal, putting two runners in scoring position with a pair of outs before Robertson forced a full-count fly out.
The right-hander’s outing was an encouraging sight for a Tech squad that could’ve used Sunday’s version of him all season. He tossed with the whiff-heavy mix that earned him consideration for a rotation spot at the beginning of year, as well as one of the most impressive seasons across JUCO in 2025.
But time is dwindling for the Hokies to turn their season around, even if they see more rises like Robertson and Logan Eisenreich — who pitched five two-run innings in his first start of the year on Friday — this weekend.
They’re now 1-5 in ACC series and may not get another shot at a ranked foe this regular season. Pitt, NC State — the only team with a chance to be ranked when Tech plays them — Cal and Clemson remain.
Before that, the Hokies return to Blacksburg for the second leg of their in-season home-and-home against Radford. First pitch on Tuesday is at 6 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra.
Box Score: No. 23 Boston College 6, Virginia Tech 2