Virginia Tech Baseball Stays Alive in ACC Tournament With 7-4 Win Over Stanford

On Tuesday, with their backs to the wall, the Hokies played Stanford as the favorite in the 12/13 matchup in the ACC Tournament on day one.

They were able to walk away with a 7-4 victory, succeeding with a mix of both pitching, offense, and luck.

Despite what was expected, Jake Marciano got the ball on the mound for his first post season action. He was solid, giving the Hokies 4.1 innings of work where he surrendered just two runs.

Following Marciano out was Preston Crowl, who did not have his stuff today. Crowl faced just three batters, issuing free passes to two of them before he was pulled.

Next out of the pen was Cameron LeJeune, who was less than impressive, but he was able to do his job and throw 1.1 scoreless innings before leaving the bases loaded with one out to Grant Manning

Manning entered the tough situation and thrived as per usual, striking out the next two batters to get out of the inning. He finished his day with 2.2 innings where he allowed two earned runs and struck out six. He recorded his fifth career save.

Offensively, the Hokies were able to put up 7 runs on 11 hits, but two of those runs on one of those hits was some bad luck for Stanford.

In the sixth, Clay Grady 'singled' and brought in two runners with two outs.

The truth, he hit a routine fly out to center that dropped after the Stanford center fielder lost it in the sun. Those two runs proved to be crucial in a three-run victory.

Sam Tackett had a good day, going 2-4 with a walk and a run scored.

Ben Watson and Clay Grady both went 2-5. Watson extended his hit streak to 20 games, a career long.

Mycah Jordan hit a crucial homer in the seventh that felt like a dagger, that was the first homer of his career.

Stanford gave the ball to Joey Volchko, who struggled, throwing five innings and giving up five earned runs on seven hits and four walks.

Following Volchko was Aiden Keenan, who equally struggled, giving up two runs in as many innings of work.

Ty Uber was the last out of the Stanford bullpen, throwing a scoreless inning with a strikeout.

A few players stood out for Stanford offensively. Their lead-off batter, Trevor Haskins, hit a homer in the fifth that cut the Hokies lead to one at the time.

Tatum Marsh also had a good game, going 2-4, the only Stanford batter with multiple hits.

Takeaways

The Hokies desperately needed a win today. They likely have already relinquished their at-large bid opportunity, but if they want to have a reason to even watch the selection show, they need to win at least one more.

They will play tomorrow against Clemson at 1. The winner will then play NC State.

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