Virginia Tech made a statement in Richmond on Tuesday, using a barrage of doubles to survive a scare and knock off VCU 8-6 at The Diamond and sweep the season series against the Rams (22-18, 11-7 A-10).
It was the kind of win the Hokies (20-19, 9-12 ACC) needed. The offense looked loose and dangerous from the jump, with the first three spots in the lineup — Sam Grube, Ethan Gibson, and Ethan Ball — combining to score seven of the team's eight runs. Ball finished with two doubles, while Gibson continued what has become one of the more quietly impressive stretches of the season, extending his hitting streak to 10 games with his fourth home run of the year in the second inning.
That homer from Gibson was one of the defining swings of the afternoon. VCU's Jacob Lee had tied the game at one with a solo shot in the bottom of the first, and rather than let the momentum shift, Gibson walked to the plate in the next half-inning and sent one to left field to reclaim the lead.
The game stayed tense through the middle innings. VCU battled back to tie things at three in the third, helped along by an unearned run after a throwing error opened the door. Starter Madden Clement departed shortly after, and the game became a chess match heading into the sixth.
That's when Virginia Tech took control for good. Sam Gates got things started with a double down the right field line, and Grube immediately followed with a two-bagger to the same spot, scoring the go-ahead run. Henry Cooke then delivered an RBI single with the bases loaded, and Hudson Lutterman capped the rally with a sacrifice fly — a three-run sixth that turned a close game into a 6-3 Tech advantage.
Aiden Robertson was the backbone of the pitching effort, working four and one-third innings out of the bullpen and striking out six batters, a season high. He ran into trouble when Teige Lethert connected on a two-run homer to trim the deficit back to one, and a hit batsman had the tying run on base before Cooke erased him with a caught stealing. It was the second time on the afternoon that the senior gunned down a VCU baserunner at a critical moment — perhaps the most underrated contribution of the day.
Ball and Cooke then put the game on ice in the eighth with back-to-back RBI doubles, and Brody Roe navigated a nervous ninth — VCU put the tying run at the plate with two outs — before getting Lee to pop up in foul territory and end it. Roe earned his first save as a Hokie, Robertson picked up his first win in a Hokie uniform, and Virginia Tech walked out of Richmond having taken both games in the season series.
Cooke led the offense with three RBIs in a 2-for-5 showing. Six different Hokies drove in a run. Seven recorded a hit.
The Hokies are back above .500 for the first time since late March and have won four of their last five.
Virginia Tech will now return home to face NC State in a three-game conference series at English Field. First pitch Friday is set for 6 p.m ET.
