Another season and another late-swoon was in full effect for the Virginia Tech baseball team. Last weekend, they were swept at Pittsburgh in a disappointing weekend, then they dropped a mid-week non-conference contest at Liberty, 7-4, after falling behind 7-0 early in the game.
This weekend, the Hokies were off from their ACC schedule before hosting Virginia next weekend in their conference series before the ACC Tournament begins. The Hokies have a pair of non-conference games this weekend against Mercer, looking to right the ship before a huge final week of the regular season begins. Needing a win, Virginia Tech got a strong pitching performance from its staff and a timely hit to pick up the much-needed victory.
Virginia Tech gets a full team effort in shutout of Bears
If there was a game where the Hokies needed their arms to carry them on the mound, get a timely hit, and play error-free baseball, it was Saturday afternoon at English Field against the Bears. Mercer is not a slouch of a program as they entered the weekend at 31-20 overall, but the Hokies were able to improve to 28-22 with the win.
Brent Renfrow, Virginia Tech's Friday night starter this year, pitched the first two innings, retiring all six batters he faced, then Preston Crowl, Cameron LeJune, and Grant Manning combined to scatter four hits and strike out five to lead the way on the bump.
Jared Davis gave the Hokies the only swing they would need all afternoon long in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run home run for the only runs of the game. From there, the Hokies' defense combined for a perfect day with the pitchers to pick up a win that was a must.
Game 2 will be Sunday afternoon at 1 o'clock before Marshall visits on Tuesday night, ahead of Virginia coming to Blacksburg.