February 20, 2016
Tech loses one-run game to The Citadel
Max Ponzurick has two hits and scores twice in the 5-4 defeat
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Virginia Tech (0-2) 0110000204103
The Citadel (2-0) 01000040X563
  • Joe Riley Park - 575

CHARLESTON, S.C. – A couple seventh-inning errors by the Virginia Tech baseball team led to The Citadel pushing four runs across the plate and turning a 2-1 deficit into a three-run advantage. The Hokies tried to turn the tables on the Bulldogs, scoring two runs in the eighth and loading the bases in the ninth, but could not get home the equalizer as they lost 5-4 to the Bulldogs Saturday evening at Riley Park.

Tech had loaded the bases with one out on a single and back-to-back errors by the hosts, but Bulldog closer Zach Lavery got the final two outs by strikeout to preserve the home team’s win.

The Citadel’s Jacob Watcher picked up the win on the mound in a relief effort, while Jon Woodcock, who also came out of the bullpen, was saddled with the loss. Lavery earned his second straight save for The Citadel.

How the runs were scored

  • Tech (0-2) used a Max Ponzurick single, Phil Sciretta double and a Joe Freiday, Jr. RBI grounder to plate the game’s first run in the second.
  • The Citadel (2-0) tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly by William Kinney that scored Steven Hansen, who walked to open the frame and moved to third on a single by Bret Hines.
  • Saige Jenco put Tech up 2-1 when he scored on a passed ball in the third. Grant Maiorana and Tom Stoffel set it up by moving Jenco, who drew a one-out walk, to third on back-to-back singles.
  • The Bulldogs used a four-run seventh (two unearned runs) to take a 5-2 lead highlighted by a two-run double by Philip Watcher.
  • The Hokies cut their deficit to one in the eighth when Stoffel (single) and Ponzurick (double) scored off the bats of Sciretta and Sam Fragale, respectively.

Inside the Box

  • Maiorana and Nic Enright made their first collegiate starts for the Hokies.
  • Jenco extended his reached-base streak to 22 straight games and had a pair of singles, his 38th multi-hit game at Tech.
  • Maiorana notched his first collegiate hit with a single in the third.
  • Sciretta had two hits, including a double, to register his 20th career multi-hit game for the Hokies, his second this season.
  • Stoffel had a pair of singles to record his seventh career multi-hit game.
  • Ponzurick had two hits, including a double, and also scored twice for his second career multi-hit and multi-run scoring games.
  • Aaron McGarity struck out the side in the seventh, the second time he’s done that in his Tech career.

Additional Notes

  • Tech starting pitcher Enright became the first true freshman to start on the mound by the second game of the season since 1999 when Jason Bush won his Feb. 26 start at High Point.
  • In fact, Bush was the third freshman in a five-year span to do it, as Denny Wagner won a game two start in 1995 (March 1, vs. NC A&T) and Pat Pinkman earned a no-decision in a game two start in 1998 (Feb. 21, vs. Georgia Southern, ironically in Charleston, S.C.).
  • Jenco has appeared in 101 games for the Hokies and has reached base via a hit (132), a walk (64) or a hit-by-pitch (6) a combined 202 times, an average of two times a game.
  • Sciretta and Fragale have now both knocked in a run in each of the first two games of the season.

Up next

Tech concludes its three-game series with The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. with Kit Scheetz taking the mound for the Hokies and the Bulldogs’ starter is to be determined.

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