After Tuesday’s 14-0 run-rule win over Radford, eight Virginia Tech baseball players gathered in English Field’s outfield for a photo.
Pitchers Madden Clement, Ethan Grim, Brody Roe, Josh Berzonski and Danny Lazaro made history, along with catchers Henry Cooke, Anderson French and CJ Oxendine. They smiled for the camera, celebrating the program’s sixth-ever no-hitter and first since an 8-0 victory over La Salle in 2000. Tech head coach John Szefc joined them and shared a few words.
“I said, ‘That’s a special thing because you hardly see that ever,’” Szefc said. “So don’t take it for granted, because you may never see it again. Just to be a part of it is a really cool thing.”
None of Szefc’s Hokies (17-18) teams have put together a no-hitter. Cooke thought his 12U travel ball team may have gotten one, while Grim once pitched part of a Little League no-hitter.
“It’s a lot harder to do it in college,” Grim said. “Everyone is good. 90 [mph pitching] is easy to hit now. But it’s huge. It gets the team going, happy and gets the guys connected.”
It was particularly special for Clement, who made his second straight midweek start after a partial UCL tear that had kept him out since February 14, 2025. He started the historic night with a 1-2-3 first inning before starting the second with a pair of full-count strikeouts. Still easing back into live game pitching, his final batter was Radford (16-17) second baseman Noah Toole, who grounded out to end the frame.
After giving up three walks and a hit in ⅓ of an inning in his season debut last week, he felt like he was back.
“I just needed to get one out of the way,” Clement said. “I felt 100 percent more comfortable than last week. I had it in my head that it was my first outing, just had to get the jitters out and everything. Once I got through that, I was good to go.”
Grim followed Clement by striking out the side in the third. The freshman saw just three batters in the fourth, too, but his first, Junho Son, walked for the Highlanders’ only baserunner of the game. Son was caught stealing on the same pitch Grim used to notch his fourth strikeout, then Eli Hudgins flied out to center to finish the righty’s contribution to the no-hit bid.
However, like Clement, the no-hitter meant a bit more to Grim. He started the season in Tech’s rotation — arguably as its best arm. But a nagging injury and struggles adapting to ACC batters reduced his Friday starter role into short-term relief as he recovered.
He allowed three earned runs through one out in his last appearance at Boston College, but he wasn’t 100 percent then. In fact, he said Tuesday was the first time he felt that way in a while.
“I tried to pitch through the injury. Didn’t go so well,” Grim said. “I was down on myself when I was a little injured because I haven’t really been injured in my career. I didn’t know how to handle myself. Just thinking positive got me through, and I’m feeling 100 percent.”
When Grim’s outing against Radford ended, pitching coach Doug Willey gave him a proud smile, patted him on the chest and simply said, “There he is.”
The Hokies’ next three arms pitched an inning each, since the game ended after seven due to the 10-run rule. Brody Roe — who exited with a warmup injury suffered before the sixth — Josh Berzonski and Danny Lazaro retired the Highlanders in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh frames, respectively. Each of them had comeback outings of their own, contributing to the no-hitter and Tech’s first shutout of the year.
Roe was blown up by Liberty — allowing four earned runs through just one out — in his last midweek appearance. Berzonski pitched for the first time since March 18 due to injury. Lazaro tossed a clean ninth inning against the Flames (when that 11-4 loss was out of hand) but hasn’t been used in ACC play after surrendering four earned runs without an out in his last two conference outings.
So, he was nervous entering the seventh inning of Tuesday’s game, especially with the no-hitter on the line.
“I was talking to Danny at the end,” Grim said, laughing. “He was like, ‘I thought I was gonna sell it.’”
Instead, Lazaro got Son to ground out before striking out Keen and Richardson, who lost an eight-pitch battle against the junior lefty. Lazaro celebrated off the mound before hugging Oxendine — Cooke caught the first five innings before French and Oxendine took the last two — just seconds before the rest of the team joined them.
“It’s special,” Cooke said. “You dream about being in a game like that when you’re a little kid.”
The thing about no-hitters is that they make a game go by fast. As a result, most of the game’s runtime was taken up by Tech’s offense and its season-high 14 runs and six doubles, even if those weren’t Tuesday’s top storylines.
The Hokies received heavy contributions across their lineup, most notably from Sam Grube, who batted 3-for-3 with a walk and two RBI, and Nick Locurto, who was 2-for-4 with a monster fifth-inning two-run homer. Hudson Lutterman hit 2-for-4 with four RBI.
Ethan Ball was 1-for-2 with three RBI before leaving the game with an injury in the middle of his fifth-inning at-bat. The star freshman re-aggravated what Szefc called a “lat-slash-rotator cuff” injury he first suffered playing quarterback in high school and that has bothered him on and off since. Szefc said that Ball could’ve played the rest of the game, but was removed considering the score.
The Hokies entered the fifth ahead 7-0 and left up 12-0. Locurto homered, Daniel registered an RBI on a groundout, Lutterman knocked a sacrifice fly and Petrich and Grube finished with consecutive RBI doubles (Grube’s scored two).
Lutterman cracked a two-run double to put the Hokies’ 13th and 14th runs on the board in the sixth, and he also plated their first run with an RBI single in the first. The remainder of Tech’s runs came with a 3-2 bases-loaded walk by Daniel in the second, followed by a bases-clearing double by Ball to the left-center wall.
Feeling rejuvenated after making program history, Tech continues the early portion of a crucial homestand this weekend against Pitt. The Panthers (22-12, 6-9 ACC) have lost five of their last six conference games.
Game 1 begins Friday at 6 p.m. ET, as does Game 2 on Saturday. The series wraps up on Sunday at 1 p.m., with the whole series being televised on ACC Network Extra.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 14, Radford 0 (7 innings)