2022 Raider Baseball Season
Jun 2, 2022 15:01:03 GMT -5
Post by bballraider on Jun 2, 2022 15:01:03 GMT -5
Good Write up of the Blacksburg Regional at VT.
virginiatech.sportswar.com/article/2022/06/02/no-4-virginia-tech-baseball-hosts-ncaa-regional-in-blacksburg/
No. 4 Virginia Tech Baseball Hosts NCAA Regional In Blacksburg
...Wright State (30-25, 20-9 Horizon League)
The No. 4 seed in the regional, Wright State has some recent history with Virginia Tech. The Raiders traveled to Blacksburg in early March and ran away with the Friday game in an 11-5 win in which Griffin Green yielded six runs in two innings. But Virginia Tech stormed back with wins on Saturday (9-3) and Sunday (17-1) to take the series.
Ryan Okuda, who has since been moved out of the weekend rotation, gave Tech five innings of two-run (one earned) ball in game two. Drue Hackenberg’s first true test came on Sunday and he lived up to the task, and he set up his success to run away with the ACC’s regular season ERA title (2.44). He shoved for seven innings, allowing five hits and a run in his final inning. The freshman struck out six en route to the 16-run victory.
“We got beat by them bad that Friday,” Szefc said on Monday. “They’ve seen us before; we’ve seen them, too. They’ve also been here, which is going to be helpful for them. You got to go out there and play well. When you get to this stage in the postseason, you got to play well. Got to pitch, got defend well, got to do everything well.”
Wright State left Blacksburg with a 1-8 record but was 29-17 the rest of the way. The Raiders only had to deal with an attendance of, at the most, 712 during their weekend in Blacksburg – which will be a much, much different environment from the 4,000 to 5,000 fans Virginia Tech expects to show up for on Friday.
Though VT and Gavin Cross lost the Friday game in March vs. Wright St., they bounced back with two wins.
Aaron Ernst, who yielded four runs in the Friday game of the March series, has since been moved out of the rotation. The same can’t be said for Jake Shirk and Sebastian Gongora, who both took the losses on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Shirk allowed five runs in five innings but settled down the rest of the way and finished the year with a 5.20 ERA in 83 innings. Meanwhile, Gongora was a few ticks behind Shirk with a 5.54 ERA in 78 innings.
The offense is led by Alec Sayre, who’s hitting .361 with 10 homers and 52 RBIs. He went 3-for-12 (.250) with a walk against Tech back in March. Gehrig Anglin powers the Raiders’ offense with 16 homers and a team-high .597 slugging percentage. He hit a two-run homer in the Friday win and went 3-for-3 with a solo home run in the Sunday loss.
“It’s a little bit of a blessing — having played them before and having established how good they are in front of us guys on this field,” Szefc said. “So there won’t be any surprises in that game — on either side. It should be a pretty good game, I think.”
Wright State gave Tennessee a scare in the Knoxville Regional last season when the Raiders took a 8-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth, only to lose on a walk-off grand slam in the opening round. They were eventually bounced by Duke in their next game, but the Raiders have some recent history in the NCAA Tournament, which can be valuable in the postseason....
virginiatech.sportswar.com/article/2022/06/02/no-4-virginia-tech-baseball-hosts-ncaa-regional-in-blacksburg/
No. 4 Virginia Tech Baseball Hosts NCAA Regional In Blacksburg
...Wright State (30-25, 20-9 Horizon League)
The No. 4 seed in the regional, Wright State has some recent history with Virginia Tech. The Raiders traveled to Blacksburg in early March and ran away with the Friday game in an 11-5 win in which Griffin Green yielded six runs in two innings. But Virginia Tech stormed back with wins on Saturday (9-3) and Sunday (17-1) to take the series.
Ryan Okuda, who has since been moved out of the weekend rotation, gave Tech five innings of two-run (one earned) ball in game two. Drue Hackenberg’s first true test came on Sunday and he lived up to the task, and he set up his success to run away with the ACC’s regular season ERA title (2.44). He shoved for seven innings, allowing five hits and a run in his final inning. The freshman struck out six en route to the 16-run victory.
“We got beat by them bad that Friday,” Szefc said on Monday. “They’ve seen us before; we’ve seen them, too. They’ve also been here, which is going to be helpful for them. You got to go out there and play well. When you get to this stage in the postseason, you got to play well. Got to pitch, got defend well, got to do everything well.”
Wright State left Blacksburg with a 1-8 record but was 29-17 the rest of the way. The Raiders only had to deal with an attendance of, at the most, 712 during their weekend in Blacksburg – which will be a much, much different environment from the 4,000 to 5,000 fans Virginia Tech expects to show up for on Friday.
Though VT and Gavin Cross lost the Friday game in March vs. Wright St., they bounced back with two wins.
Aaron Ernst, who yielded four runs in the Friday game of the March series, has since been moved out of the rotation. The same can’t be said for Jake Shirk and Sebastian Gongora, who both took the losses on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Shirk allowed five runs in five innings but settled down the rest of the way and finished the year with a 5.20 ERA in 83 innings. Meanwhile, Gongora was a few ticks behind Shirk with a 5.54 ERA in 78 innings.
The offense is led by Alec Sayre, who’s hitting .361 with 10 homers and 52 RBIs. He went 3-for-12 (.250) with a walk against Tech back in March. Gehrig Anglin powers the Raiders’ offense with 16 homers and a team-high .597 slugging percentage. He hit a two-run homer in the Friday win and went 3-for-3 with a solo home run in the Sunday loss.
“It’s a little bit of a blessing — having played them before and having established how good they are in front of us guys on this field,” Szefc said. “So there won’t be any surprises in that game — on either side. It should be a pretty good game, I think.”
Wright State gave Tennessee a scare in the Knoxville Regional last season when the Raiders took a 8-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth, only to lose on a walk-off grand slam in the opening round. They were eventually bounced by Duke in their next game, but the Raiders have some recent history in the NCAA Tournament, which can be valuable in the postseason....