CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hokies head coach John Szefc said something to Ethan Gibson. They laughed.
Virginia Tech baseball’s ACC Tournament campaign had just ended with a 10-4 loss to No. 2 North Carolina. Szefc and Gibson weren’t happy about that, but for the first time since 2022, it didn’t mark the end of their season. They don’t know when that will be — and that was something to smile about.
“It means a lot to me,” Szefc said of coaching his first regional since 2022, and second since arriving in Blacksburg in the summer of 2017. “But I’m more focused on what it means to our guys. At one point, we were two games below .500.
“When you get to this stage of the season and you get knocked out of your conference tournament, you hope that you’ve done enough. I think we’ve done enough.”
Selection Monday is in three days. The NCAA Tournament begins with the regional round next Friday, May 21.
This Friday’s game was the last the No. 7 seed Hokies (30-24) will play until then. They played No. 2 seed North Carolina (44-10-1) close for the first 7 ½ innings but struggled to produce against ACC Freshman of the Year Caden Glauber in relief, even after pouncing on Tar Heels starter and All-ACC First Team right-hander Jason DeCaro for one of his shortest starts all year.
As Glauber — who gave up an Ethan Ball home run to start the fifth inning but just two hits the rest of the game — mowed through Tech’s lineup, the Tar Heels took a small lead that ballooned against poor relief pitching in the eighth inning.
“It’s difficult going from a guy like DeCaro to Glauber,” Szefc said. “I don’t think we’re going to face better arms than that — not from the right side. And we faced them both.”
On the other side, Tech’s Ethan Grim posted a 3 ⅔-inning comeback outing after giving up four runs without an out on Wednesday. He finished with four strikeouts and just one earned run allowed.
DeCaro and Glauber, who surrendered just eight home runs through 99 ⅓ ACC innings this regular season, gave up three to Henry Cooke, Ethan Gibson and Ball in the third through fifth innings. DeCaro pitched 3 ⅓ frames — his third-shortest start all year and worst by ERA (8.10).
“Early, off the starter, there was a plan to go in there and pick a pitch to sell out too,” Gibson said. “It worked.”
Those bombs gave Tech its first and only lead of the game at 3-2. It played the Tar Heels close until a 6-4 deficit turned into 10-4 in the eighth frame.
Ball’s third home run of the ACC Tournament cut North Carolina’s lead to 5-4 in the fifth, but that’s as close as the Hokies came from that point on.
It may be encouraging that they were competitive without ace Brett Renfrow, but that’s concerning in its own way. Szefc went with Stieg, who entered off five days of rest compared to Renfrow’s seven. Six is standard, though he pitched 15 ⅓ innings in 14 days across his last three starts.
Szefc said postgame that Renfrow is not injured, but hasn’t recovered since his last start and is not ready to throw. “It just wasn’t his day to pitch,” Szefc said.
Still, the Hokies are the only team in the ACC Tournament that did not, or has not, used their ace.
A Renfrow start may have produced a different result Friday. Stieg improved from a 17.65 ERA over his last three starts, but gave up five walks, three of which crossed home plate.
“I don’t think he had as good of an ability to locate,” Szefc said. “And he’d probably tell you that if he was sitting here.”
There were positives for the right-hander, though, like stranding two runners in scoring position to escape a 31-pitch first inning, and leaving one on third the following frame.
Tar Heels third baseman Jake Schaffner produced the game’s first two runs with a second-inning double to left-center, which seemed to hang high enough in the left-center gap to be caught, but left fielder Nick Locurto dove and missed it.
Tech’s bats, which were retired in 11 pitches in the second inning and had yet to hit, jumped on DeCaro in the third.
Owen Petrich’s leadoff single was brought home by a 400-foot bomb to left-center by Gibson. Henry Cooke matched him with a 413-foot homer three pitches later. The Hokies were abruptly ahead 3-2 and hit twice more the rest of the inning, but the bases were loaded when it ended.
Gates’ inning-ending fly out looked poised for a grand slam but dropped just short; a recurring theme for both teams with limp Charlotte winds. A bases-clearing double was also in play, but right fielder Carter French made an over-the-shoulder catch — the kind of clutch defensive play that would’ve benefitted the Hokies at multiple points.
“We can talk about pitchers and making pitches and not making pitches, but [French’s play] is what you need to talk about,” Szefc said. “That guy changed the whole game for them, and rarely will you see an outfielder have an opportunity to do that, but he certainly did.”
Stieg carried Tech’s newfound energy into the third inning, though, putting the Tar Heels down in order in his last full frame. Glauber entered the game in the top of the fourth, delivering back-to-back strikeouts before his offense took advantage of Stieg in the bottom half.
Third baseman Cooper Nicholson and French walked around a Colin Hynek single to load the bases with one out. Stieg hit Schaffner for the tying run, then Grim entered and allowed the last of the redshirt junior’s five earned runs on an Owen Hull two-run single. However, inheriting loaded bases and one out, the freshman right-hander limited damage.
Ball made it 5-4 before Grim finished his eight-out relief outing with just two hits allowed and four strikeouts. Second baseman Gavin Gallaher’s RBI single in the sixth inning was one of those knocks, and it put North Carolina ahead 6-4.
The Tar Heels broke the game open in the eighth frame. Schaffner ripped an RBI triple off Brendan Yagesh before designated hitter Macon Winslow two-run homered off Preston Crowl and Hull poked a one-run single through the right side of the infield. It was the last of a plethora of ground-ball singles for the Tar Heels on Friday, who did well to hit into holes and aim against Tech’s shift.
Glauber stonewalled Tech before a ninth-inning double from Gibson, allowing just three hits and one earned run over 5 ⅔ innings. He notched six strikeouts en route to his ninth winning decision of the year (9-0). Stieg fell to 2-5.
Virginia Tech’s time is up at the ACC Tournament, but for the first time in four years, it will prepare for the NCAAs. The 64-team field will be revealed on Monday at noon on ESPN2. Tech is currently projected into the Morgantown Regional as a No. 3 seed by D1Baseball. Losing to North Carolina does not hurt its case for a bid.
“Playing in a regional is definitely a tremendous opportunity,” Gibson said. “I’ve dreamed of it since I was three years old in the yard. We’re gonna try to win 10 minutes at a time.”
Box Score: No. 2 North Carolina 10, Virginia Tech 4