Following a week in which he launched five baseballs out of the park, Virginia Tech outfielder Jack Hurley was named both ACC Player of the Week, and D1Baseball’s National Player of the Week.
The junior from Boalsburg, Pennsylvania brought a scorching hot bat to the dish as the calendar turned from March to April, pacing the Hokies in both home runs and runs batted in (11) this past week.
Hurley also hit the ball at a .550 clip while posting an OPS of 1.950.
Virginia Tech (17-10, 4-8 ACC) went 3-1 over the stretch, defeating VMI on the road last Tuesday, before claiming theur first conference series of the year over previously No. 5 Virginia this past weekend. UVA came into the Commonwealth Clash with just two losses in their first 25 games.
Against one of the nation's powerhouses, Hurley was dominant.
Between the Saturday and Sunday games (both of which Tech won), Hurley went deep three times, driving in eight runs to help power the Hokies to a much needed series win.
His second home run of the series was huge. As VT trailed by one run in the sixth inning, with a runner on base, Hurley launched a pitch from UVA’s Jake Berry over the right field wall to score what would be the Hokies' winning run.
Hurley, a 2022 All-American, and a 2023 Golden Spikes Preseason watchlist member, now slashes .349/.430/.774 on the year, to go along with 11 home runs and 33 RBI’s. As most can likely tell, Hurley is starting to feel more comfortable at the plate after a slow start to the season.
“I think I’m just starting to finally feel comfortable,” said the MLB Draft prospect after Sunday’s win. “Three weeks ago I changed a couple things…since then, I just feel really comfortable up there.”
Hurley is the second Hokie to win ACC Player of the Week this season as his roommate and partner in the outfield Chris Cannizzaro received the honor during his tear in early March.
The Hokies, led by Hurley, will look to take the momentum last week brought, and build upon it this weekend in Durham, where they’ll face off against the Duke Blue Devils (19-10, 6-6 ACC).
First pitch is set for 8 pm on Friday.
