Virginia Tech stepped onto the field at the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field for the 2026 Amegy Bank College Baseball Series knowing the challenge in front of it. Three games on a big league stage against three of the nation’s best programs. By the end of the weekend, the Hokies were still searching for a breakthrough, finishing 0-3 against top-25 competition and falling to 7-4 on the season.
Game One: No. 23 Texas A&M 10, Virginia Tech 0 (Seven innings)
For most of Friday night, Virginia Tech went toe-to-toe with an unbeaten SEC club. Right-handed starter Brett Renfrow delivered his best outing of the season, working five innings with seven strikeouts and allowing only two runs. Texas A&M’s (9-1) first run came on Chris Hacopian’s two-out solo homer in the opening inning. The second crossed on Terrence Kiel II’s RBI single in the fourth.
The Hokies had opportunities to respond. Ethan Ball continued his red-hot start to his career, ripping a first-inning double and finishing 2-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to nine games. Nick Locurto also went 2-for-3, and Treyson Hughes added a hit as Tech collected just five total base knocks.
Tech’s biggest chance came in the fourth inning when the Hokies put two runners in scoring position via a walk and a single, threatening to flip the momentum. They could not deliver the two-out hit they needed, however, going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position on the night.
The game flipped in the sixth. Trailing 2-0 and still very much within striking distance, Tech went to right-hander Preston Crowl out of the bullpen, and the Aggies wasted no time creating separation. Texas A&M sent 12 runners to the plate, stringing together five hits and capitalizing on four free passes to produce an eight-run inning that broke the game open. What had been a tight, competitive matchup instantly turned into a run-rule scenario.
Crowl and Brody Roe were each tagged for four earned runs as the inning unraveled. Consecutive run-scoring doubles pushed the lead to double-digits, and the momentum that Renfrow had carried through five frames disappeared within minutes.
The final score suggests a lopsided mismatch, but for much of the night, the Hokies had matched one of the SEC’s top teams pitch-for-pitch. The difference was execution in key moments. The Aggies delivered the decisive inning. Virginia Tech did not.
Game Two: No. 4 Mississippi State 15, Virginia Tech 8
Saturday turned into a back-and-forth power display, but one decisive inning from Mississippi State (11-1) ultimately created too wide a gap to close.
Mississippi State wasted little time applying pressure. Right-hander Griffin Stieg got the start for the Hokies, and he ran into early trouble as the Bulldogs pieced together quality at-bats in the first two innings. In the first frame, Aidan Teel singled and later came around to score on Reed Stallman’s RBI double to right.
An inning later, Teel drove in Bryce Chance with an RBI single before Ace Reese launched a 399-foot homer to right center, pushing the lead to 4-0. Steig’s line reflected the early struggles: five hits, four runs and three walks over two innings in the loss.
Virginia Tech answered in the third. Hudson Lutterman hit his first career triple to right field and scored on an Ethan Gibson sacrifice fly, trimming the deficit to 4-1. Brendan Yagesh entered in relief and delivered a stabilizing outing, throwing four innings and allowing just one run.
The Hokies clawed back in the sixth. Ball crushed a 448-foot solo shot to center – his third of the season – to make it 5-2. Hughes worked a walk and moved to third on an Owen Petrich single and a throwing error. Petrich was caught stealing later in the inning to end the threat. The missed opportunity proved pivotal for Tech.
Mississippi State responded with its biggest punch in the seventh. Gehrig Frei doubled, Andrew Raymond walked and Ryder Woodson dropped down a bunt single to load the bases. James Nunnallee was hit by a pitch to force in a run, Bryce Chance followed with an RBI single, and Teel delivered a two-run single through the right side. Reese added a sacrifice fly as the Bulldogs plated five runs in the frame to stretch the margin to 10-2.
A three-run homer from Jacob Parker in the eighth extended Mississippi State’s lead to 13-2, and they eventually finished with 15 runs on 15 hits, going 8-for-16 with runners in scoring position.
To their credit, the Hokies never stopped swinging. In the eighth, freshman CJ Oxendine delivered his first collegiate hit with a single, and Aimon Chandler followed with a 412-foot three-run long ball to left-center for his first career hit, cutting the deficit to 13-5. Then in the ninth, Anderson French (385 feet), Lutterman (390 feet) and Sam Gates went back-to-back-to-back to open the inning.
Virginia Tech finished with 11 hits and five home runs, with Lutterman tallying two hits and two runs and Ball, Chandler, French and Gates each leaving the yard.
Even with the late fireworks, the middle innings were the separator. However, the Hokies showed real fight. The three straight homers in the ninth brought life back into the dugout and reminded everyone how dangerous the lineup can be. But against a club as deep as Mississippi State, falling behind by eight in the late innings leaves almost no room for error.
Saturday proved that Tech can generate power against elite pitching. It also showed how thin the margin is when facing a top-five lineup that doesn’t give extra outs away.
Game Three: No. 20 Tennessee 3, Virginia Tech 1
After two high-scoring games to open the weekend, the finale turned into a tight, controlled matchup built around pitching and defense.
Freshman starter Ethan Grim delivered his longest outing of the season and looked comfortable on the big-league mound from the jump, going five innings and allowing just two runs on two hits while striking out five. The right-hander was efficient early, retiring eight of the first nine hitters he faced and keeping Tennessee (8-3) off balance with a steady mix of fly balls and weak contact.
The Volunteers broke through in the third. Ariel Antigua singled and Jay Abernathy worked a walk before Henry Ford lined a two-out RBI single up the middle to give Tennessee a 1-0 lead. It was one of just four total hits that Tennessee would record all afternoon.
Virginia Tech answered immediately in the fourth. Nick Locurto led off the inning by driving a 366-foot homer to left field — his first of the season — to even the score at 1-1. Locurto finished 2-for-4 and accounted for two of the Hokies’ three hits.
The decisive inning came in the sixth. Abernathy drew a leadoff walk, ending Grim’s day. Chase Swift entered in relief, and Tennessee immediately capitalized. Blaine Brown hit an RBI double up the middle that ricocheted off the second base bag to plate the go-ahead run, and Levi Clark followed with another RBI double down the left-field line to stretch the lead to 3-1.
From there, Tennessee’s bullpen shut the door. University of Virginia transfer starter Evan Blanco went 5.1 innings, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out six. Mark Hindy recorded two quick outs in relief before Brayden Krenzel handled the final three innings to earn the save, striking out four and allowing just one hit.
The Hokies finished with only three hits and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Owen Petrich singled in the seventh and Pete Daniel drew a walk to create a brief opportunity, but a 4-6-3 double play erased the threat.
Tennessee managed just four hits of its own, but two well-timed doubles in the sixth proved to be the difference. In a weekend defined by slim margins, Sunday’s game came down to one inning — and again, the Volunteers were the ones who made it count.
Virginia Tech leaves Arlington without a win, but not without something to take from it. Across three games against ranked opponents, the Hokies showed they can compete against nationally recognized programs — matching arms early, flashing real power and getting quality innings from young pitchers. The difference all weekend was one inning here, one stretch there. Against top-25 teams, that margin is thin. Tech found out just how thin it is.
Next up, Virginia Tech will host Marshall at English Field on Tuesday, March 3. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET. Coverage will be on the ACC Network.
