Box Score

VT 9, VCU 1

 

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Four Virginia Tech pitchers combined to scatter eight hits over nine innings while walking none to lift the Hokies to a 9-1 non-conference victory over VCU on Wednesday night at English Field.

Usual reliever Justin Wright (Chesterfield, Va.) got his first collegiate start for the Hokies and left the game in the third with Tech up 4-0, so fellow freshman Jesse Hahn (Groton, Conn.) was credited with the win after pitching effectively in relief for 2.2 innings to move to 2-3 on the year. Freshman Sean McDermott (Walpole, Mass.) and redshirt sophomore Rob Waskiewicz (Manchester, Md.) each contributed two innings of scoreless work.

The one run by VCU (8-19) tied a season low for a Tech opponent this season, and it was the first game of the year that the Hokies (13-20) did not issue a single walk. In fact, the Tech pitching staff has only allowed 10 runs over its past three games, which goes down as the most effective three-game stretch of the season thus far.

Shortstop Tony Balisteri (Lexington, Va.) and right fielder Klint Reed (Chesterfield, Va.) led the charge at the plate for Tech with two hits apiece, and catcher Anthony Sosnoskie (Front Royal, Va.) registered his fourth home run of the season in the fifth inning

Sosnoskie got things started with the first run of the game after walking and scoring on a double by Reed in the first inning. Reed then scored on a single by second baseman Austin Wates (Richmond, Va.), who also touched home after a single off the bat of designated hitter Jose Cueto (Miami, Fla.).

The Hokies then made it a 4-0 lead in the second when left fielder Steve Bumbry, who laid down the winning squeeze bunt in the ninth of last night's game, came home to score on a base hit by center fielder Sean Ryan (Ashburn, Va.). Bumbry had reached first on a hit-by-pitch, second on a balk and third on a wild pitch.

VCU notched its lone run in the top of the fifth when right fielder Justin Wright drove in Michael Cheatham with an RBI single, but Sosnoskie answered for Tech in the bottom half of the frame with the home run, a towering fly ball that carried over the left field fence with first baseman Sean O'Brien (Chappaqua, N.Y.) on board.

Third baseman Michael Seaborn (Atlanta, Ga.) added an insurance run for Tech in the sixth when he scored on a Balisteri double. The Hokies' final two runs came in the eighth from Seaborn, who this time scored on a Balisteri single, and Bumbry, who raced home on an RBI groundout by pinch hitter Brandon Lower (Roanoke, Va.).

The Hokies will now visit Winston-Salem, N.C., for a three-game ACC series with Wake Forest this weekend. Friday's game is scheduled for 3 p.m., while the games on Saturday and Sunday will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday's contest will be televised by RSN (Comcast SportsNet, FOX Sports Net South, FOX Sports Florida & New England Sports Network).