One Monday, the Virginia Tech baseball team had its name called for the NCAA Tournament. It wasn't a matter of if, but where. The Hokies didn't need to wait long to hear their name called.
When ESPN revealed the field, Virginia Tech had its name called in the first reveal. Surprisingly, Virginia Tech was tabbed as the second-seed in the Los Angeles Regional behind the overall No. 1 seed UCLA. The Hokeis will get third-seeded Cal Poly in the first game, while the Bruins will play fourth-seeded Saint Mary's.
After the brackets were released, head coach John Szefc met with the media, and according to Thomas Hughes of Virginia Tech OnSI, he answered the one question fans were looking for, but you can make the case he answered it with some hesitancy.
Virginia Tech baseball coach John Sezefc drops Brent Renfrow update ahead of NCAA Tournament
When the Hokies got to Charlotte for last week's ACC Tournament, fans were expecting to see ace Brent Renfrow pitch the opener against Notre Dame in the second round. Szefc appeared to hold him back, and Virginia Tech was able to outslug the Irish for a 17-10 win to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the next round, two days later against North Carolina, Renfrow didn't pitch again. Szefc said he was fine and wasn't ready to throw eight days after his last start against Clemson in Blacksburg. That opened some eyes. Asked again on Monday about Renfrow's availability in Los Angeles, and Szefc sounded like he would have him available.
"I think I'm expecting that,'' Szefc said. "We got to go back and talk with the coaching staff as far as how we're going to set this whole thing up, but yeah, we think he's going to be fine to pitch in that. Yep, that's been the plan all along.''
Ok, so here's the thing. It's a little weird that he needed a week to recover from his previous start, where he worked into the eighth inning against the Tigers. Renfrow certainly has the stuff to pitch every fifth day in the majors; however, if he can't go every fifth day in college, can he really do it at the next level?
This might be all for not, and he could very well go to the bump in Southern California this weekend. If the Hokies have a chance of being competitive, they need him for one game. Fans should be happy that it sounds like Renfrow will pitch this weekend. It's just a matter of seeing him throw a pitch this weekend.
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