Box Score

VT 9, Radford 5

 

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech used a season-high three home runs and a dominating performance by freshman relief pitcher Justin Wright to defeat Radford 9-5 on Tuesday night in non-conference baseball action at English Field.

Third baseman Michael Seaborn (Atlanta, Ga.), second baseman Austin Wates (Richmond, Va.) and left fielder Jose Cueto (Miami, Fla.) each went yard for Tech, while Wates added three singles to record the Hokies' fourth four-hit game of the year.

Wright (Chesterfield, Va.) was just as important as the power outburst for Tech (9-18), as the lefty took the mound in the middle of the sixth inning with the game tied 5-5 and two runners on. He struck out the first two batters he faced to get out of the jam, and went on to fan five more Highlanders for a total of seven while earning his first collegiate win (1-0) in 3.2 innings of work.

Cassidy McDaniel (1-2) took the loss for Radford (15-11), which was held to seven hits by the Tech pitching staff after coming into the game hitting .323 as a team.

The Highlanders jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning. Leadoff hitter Reggie Keen drew a walk and moved to second on a sac bunt before advancing to third on a wild pitch. After Alex Gregory walked, Keen scored a Nate Toth groundout to first. Raphael Turner singled home Gregory, and Jonathan Spears followed with an RBI triple to finish the scoring.

Tech did Radford one better in the second inning, plating four runs to take a one-run lead. The first two came on solo home runs, marking the first multi-home run inning of the season for the Hokies. Seaborn led off with his team-leading fourth of the year to straightaway center, and two batters later, Wates lasered his first collegiate round tripper to left field. Shortstop Ty Hohman (Tomball, Texas) then got hit by a pitch that removed him from the game, but pinch runner Tony Balisteri (Lexington, Va.) came around to score on first baseman Sean O'Brien's 11^th double of the season, which ranks third in the ACC. Catcher Anthony Sosnoskie (Front Royal, Va.) drove in O'Brien (Chappaqua, N.Y) with an RBI single to cap the frame.

The Hokies tacked on another run in the third on a single by DH Matt Blow (Richmond, Va.) that plated Cueto, but Radford knotted the game at five in the fifth thanks to a two-run homer by Toth.

Tech took the lead back in the sixth when Sosnoskie delivered another run-scoring single, this one plating both Wates - who had reached with his fourth hit of the day - and O'Brien - who had walked for the 30^th time of the season.

Tech gave itself a little breathing room in the seventh when, with right fielder Klint Reed (Chesterfield, Va) on first after a single, Cueto lifted his third dinger of the year to left-center field to make it 9-4.

The Hokies will have another non-conference home game on Wednesday against Longwood at 5:30 p.m.