CONWAY, S.C. - The pitching of sophomore transfer Josh Wymer and a four-run sixth inning sparked the Virginia Tech baseball team to an opening day 7-3 victory over Pittsburgh in the IMICHotels.com INN-vitational at Coastal Carolina's Vrooman Field.

Wymer, a 6-3 right-hander from Fort Worth, Texas, is one of 21 newcomers on the Tech roster and one of five to see action in Saturday's opening game. After a shaky start that saw Pitt touch him for two quick runs, Wymer settled down and pitched six straight scoreless innings. During that stretch, he allowed just four base runners and three hits. For the game, he allowed two runs on five hits, struck out two batters and issued just one walk.

Pitt used a pair of doubles and a walk to grab their 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Left fielder Sean Conley doubled on Wymer's first pitch of the game. Following a two-out walk to Pitt second baseman Dan Williams, Panthers' third baseman Joe Leonard laced a double to right center scoring both runners.

The Hokies (1-0) evened things up at 2-2 in the third when designated hitter Michael Seaborn (Atlanta, Ga.), another newcomer, singled to center field and came home on a towering homer to right field by sophomore right fielder Steve Bumbry (Cockeysville, Md.).

In the decisive sixth inning, Tech's first seven batters reached base. The Hokies used a walk to first baseman Sean O'Brien (Chappaqua, N.Y.) and back-to-back singles by junior center fielder Sean Ryan (Ashburn, Va.) and senior left fielder Jose Cueto (Miami, Fla.) to load the bases. Sophomore catcher Anthony Sosnoskie (Front Royal, Va.) knocked in O'Brien with a bloop-single to right, and Ryan came home on the play thanks to an errant throw to second base by Pitt's right fielder. Tech's next batter, junior transfer Ty Hohman (Tomball, Texas), reached base on a fielder's choice that brought in Cueto with the third run. Panthers' starting pitcher Nate Reed was able to pick Hohman off first for the second out, but then gave up a solo homer to senior second baseman Matt Hacker (Richmond, Va.) that put the Hokies on top 6-2.

Freshman shortstop Tony Balisteri (Lexington, Va.) led off the Tech seventh with his first collegiate hit, a single. He advanced to second base on a wild pitch, took third on a ground out by O'Brien and scored the Hokies' last run on a sacrifice fly to center field by Ryan.

Pitt (0-1) added an unearned run off freshman reliever Ben Cornwell (Atlanta, Ga.) in the eighth inning on an RBI-double by Williams. Junior Rhett Ballard (High Point, N.C.) took the mound for Tech in the bottom of the ninth and struck out the side to end the game.

Tech is scheduled to play two games on Sunday, taking on Pitt again at 10 a.m., and then facing host Coastal Carolina a 5 p.m.