On Tuesday, the Hokies traveled a couple miles down 81 to take on the Highlanders of Radford in the New River Rivalry for the first of two games. The Hokies scratched out a 6-1 victory headlined by phenomenal pitching throughout the game.
Starting on the mound for the Hokies was Chase Swift.
Swift, in his third career start, had his best start to date. He threw four scoreless innings and struck out five batters before giving the ball to Mathieu Curtis. Curtis, a guy who has also been heavily relied on in the midweek outings, threw just an inning but struck out two batters on his way to a scoreless outing.
Josh Berzonski was the next arm out of the bullpen. He has been a strong swing arm for the Hokies, having the ability to pitch 2+ innings while also showcasing the ability to go out for a quick and efficient outing. In this one, Berzonski pitched 2.2 innings and gave up only one run while striking out five batters. His strikeouts per nine innings number is now at 10.8 on the year. Preston Crowl was the last arm out of the pen. Crowl had a tough outing over the weekend, where he threw 25 pitches across two outings and failed to record an out while giving up two runs. In this one, he did his job, earning a four-out save. That outing should help out with a confidence boost.
At the plate for the Hokies, the headline was Cam Pittman, who had his homecoming performance in the New River City, where he went 0-2 with a walk and scored a run. When he was asked about his return to Radford, he had this to say.
“It felt pretty weird and bittersweet. I played three years and started my career here. This place turned me from a boy to a man. Those guys are still my brothers, this place got me to where I am now. I’m always grateful for it,” Pittman said.
David McCann went 2-2 with a double, home run, and two RBIs. McCann has had a lot of trouble in ACC play, but this performance should help get him back in the right place to start heating up as the Hokies get into the teeth of their schedule. Jared Davis and Garrett Michel also both had two-hit days.
Getting the start for Radford was Ben Keefe, who did a great job at keeping Radford in the game early. He pitched three innings and when he exited the game, the Highlanders were down by just a run without scoring. Relieving him was Matthrew Lefevers, who likewise did a great job at keeping the Hokies’ hitters at bay, pitching two innings and giving up just one run.
Noah Arnett was the next arm out of the pen, and he was the first to face trouble against the Hokies. He threw nine pitches and just one strike. Clay Clatterbaugh did his best to clean up the mess, but the two walked batters by Arnett did score. Clatterbaugh still found a way to pitch two scoreless innings before giving the ball to Breckin Nace, who was also scoreless in his single inning performance. Lastly, Will Rice was tasked with trying to give the Highlanders a chance going into the bottom of the final inning and did not find success, giving up a two-run home run to David McCann that felt like the ultimate dagger in this one.
At the plate for Radford, they had a lot of trouble getting anything going. The only multi-hit performance for Radford was from third baseman Hunter Keen, who went 2-4. The Highlanders also failed to scratch across a run until the 8th inning, which will never be a winning formula in a midweek against a power conference opponent.
My overall takeaways from this game surround the performance of Chase Swift. The Hokies have given him three midweek starts now, where he has thrown a total of 8.1 innings and given up just one home run. For the Hokies to be able to continuously rely on him and stretch him out against midweek opponents will be huge for their pitching and weekend success going forward through the rest of the season.
This weekend, the Hokies will travel to Winston-Salem to take on the 16th ranked Demon Deacons of Wake Forest for its fourth ACC series. The Hokies will look for back-to-back series wins for the first time since they won three in a row against #18 UNC, #21 Nc State, and #2 Miami during their impressive 2022 season.
