Box Score

VT 13, WF 4

 

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Three home runs and 16 hits lifted the Virginia Tech baseball team to an emphatic 13-4 win over Wake Forest at Hooks Stadium on Saturday afternoon in the second contest of a three-game ACC series.

It was the third three-home run game in the past nine for Tech, which has now won four in a row and seven of its past nine. The 13 runs tied for the most the Hokies (15-20, 3-14 ACC) have ever scored in an ACC game (they also tallied 13 against Maryland in 2005) and the four-game winning streak is the second longest of the season after a six-game stretch from February 27^th through March 5^th.

Second baseman Austin Wates (Richmond, Va.) and shortstop Tony Balisteri (Lexington, Va.) were just two of the many offensive stars in what proved to be Tech's largest margin of victory ever in an ACC game. Balisteri had a career-high three hits to go with two runs and two RBI - including his first collegiate home run - and was just a triple shy of the cycle. Wates, however, did record a triple as part of his three-hit, three-RBI performance.

Catcher Anthony Sosnoskie (Front Royal, Va.) and third baseman Michael Seaborn (Atlanta, Ga.) also hit home runs for Tech, and left fielder Travis Willson recorded his first hit as a Hokie - a pinch-hit single in the top of the ninth.

Freshman Justin Wright (2-0) earned the victory for Tech after 4.1 innings of two-hit, scoreless relief, while starter Charlie Mellies (0-4) took the loss for Wake (12-21, 5-11 ACC).

Wake Forest jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. After Willy Fox led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ben Terry, designated hitter Weldon Woodall singled him home for the game's first run. First baseman Allan Dykstra then doubled to the left-field corner to plate Woodall.

The Hokies used the long ball to get on the scoreboard and take a two-run lead in the top of the third. Seaborn led off with a single to set the table for Balisteri, who took a 1-0 pitch to the opposite field over the 370-foot marker in right-center for his first collegiate home run. First baseman Sean O'Brien (Chappaqua, N.Y.) followed with a single of his own, and two batters later, Sosnoskie launched his second round-tripper in as many days just to the left of the scoreboard in left-center field. It was the second multi-home run inning of the year for the Hokies, as they also hit two in one inning against Radford on April 1^st.

Wright got the Hokies out of a jam in bottom half of the third. After starter Andrew Wells loaded the bases with two outs, the freshman lefty came in and got Dustin Hood to fly out to left field and end the threat.

Tech extended its lead to 6-2 in the seventh on a two-run single by O'Brien. It was the final of three consecutive hits to lead off the inning for the Hokies, as left fielder Steve Bumbry (Cockeysville, Md.) reached on a single and Balisteri delivered a double.

The Hokies plated seven runs in the eighth to put away the ball game. After Wates led off with a single and sped around to score on a double by designated hitter Jose Cueto (Miami, Fla.), Seaborn followed with his fifth home run of the season to make it 9-2. Bumbry then walked and touched home on center fielder Sean Ryan's double. After Sosnoskie and right fielder Klint Reed (Chesterfield, Va.) also walked to load the bases, Wates collected his second hit of the inning with a three-run triple - his team-leading fourth three-bagger of the season.

Wake Forest added two runs in the ninth to set the final tally.

The Hokies will look to sweep the three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m.