Virginia Tech baseball vaults into Top 25 amid hot start to 2024
The Hokies come in at No. 19 in the latest D1Baseball rankings.
By Scott Roche
Coming into the season, there were a lot of questions as to just how good the Virginia Tech baseball team was going to be. It’s been just one month, but the early returns have been very good and on Monday, they were rewarded for their strong start.
D1Baseball ranked the Hokies for the first time this season and they jumped into the poll at No. 19 after taking two out of three games on the road over the weekend at Louisville. Virginia Tech has won six of seven games and is 14-4 overall and 5-1 in the ACC through the first two weekends of conference play.
Virginia Tech is powered by offense and pitching
One early bright spot this season for Virginia Tech has been their offense. In 18 games, they have scored double digits 11 times and they have been hitting the long ball like crazy. As a team, they have 51 home runs with Carson DeMartini leading the way with 12. Eddie Micheletti has nine and Chris Cannizzaro has five. All three are tied for the team lead in RBIs with 23. As a team, the Hokies have clubbed 44 doubles and nine triples to go with their 51 homers.
𝙎𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣-𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠 🔨👑
— Virginia Tech Baseball (@HokiesBaseball) March 18, 2024
» @CarsonDemartini #Hokies 🦃⚾️ pic.twitter.com/PTunVguKeL
On the mound, the pitching staff has been just as good as the offense. Starters Hunter Renfrow (4-1, 2.28 ERA, 31 strikeouts), Griffin Stieg (3-1, 2.84 ERA, 21 strikeouts), and Wyatt Parliament (2-0, 4.43 ERA and 26 strikeouts) have combined to go 9-2. As a staff, the Hokies are sporting a 3.91 team ERA.
Just how good is this Virginia Tech team and how good can they be in the loaded ACC? They are currently in second place in the Coastal Division behind Georgia Tech and still have a series remaining with Wake Forest, North Carolina, Miami, Virginia, and Duke. Fare well in those series and you could be looking at an NCAA Tournament team come June. First things first however as the Hokies will host East Tennessee State on Tuesday before heading to Boston College for a weekend series against the Eagles. It’s nice to have some excitement on the baseball diamond this spring in Blacksburg and it certainly is a surprise.
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