Hokies open 124th baseball season in South Carolina

Three-game series at USC Upstate begins Friday at 4 p.m.

February 16, 2017

The weekend series: Tech opens its 124th season of baseball by traveling to Spartanburg, South Carolina to face USC Upstate in a three-game series starting on Friday at Cleveland S. Harley Baseball Park with first pitch slated for 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday games are both scheduled for 1 p.m.
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WEEKEND SERIES INFORMATION
Virginia Tech at USC Upstate
Feb. 17-19, 2017
Cleveland S. Harley Baseball Park
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Gameday Information
Friday, Feb. 17 - 4:00 p.m.
Audio/Video: None
Live Stats: CLICK HERE

Saturday, Feb. 18 - 1:00 p.m.
Audio/Video: None
Live Stats: CLICK HERE

Sunday, Feb. 19 - 1:00 p.m.
Audio/Video: None
Live Stats: CLICK HERE

History versus the Spartans: The Hokies are 4-0 all-time against USC Upstate as Tech won a home-and-home against the Spartans in both the 2009 and 2011 seasons. In fact, the Hokies opened the 2009 season at the Courtyard by Marriott Classic in Spartanburg and defeated the host Spartans on Sunday to complete a four-game weekend sweep. Ironically, the only two games Tech faced off against USC Upstate in Spartanburg prior to this year were played on Feb. 22 winning both by a combined 22-3 count.

Tech in season openers: The Hokies have posted a 62-59-2 record in their previous 123 season openers. The last time a Tech season opener was played at home was in 1995, and in the 21 years since, the Hokies have recorded an 11-10 mark.
In that 21-year span, Tech has opened the season in the state of South Carolina nine times. Overall, the Hokies are 16-12 in those nine trips to the Palmetto State that opened the season, which again, includes a 4-0 mark in 2009 when they opened the season in Spartanburg. They beat UNC Asheville, 21-4, swept a doubleheader at Wofford, 10-2 and 14-10, and then won at USC Upstate, 12-3.

Playing in the Palmetto State: In its program history, Tech has played 160 games in South Carolina and has compiled a 75-82-3 (.478) overall record, including a 1-2 mark last year when the team opened the 2016 season at The Citadel.
Just six of those games have been played in Spartanburg, with the Hokies holding a record of 6-1 in such contests, including a five-game winning streak. The first game was a 4-3 win at Wofford on April 24, 1923, and the team’s only loss was a 98 decision to Wofford on March 24, 1948.

Starting notes to start the season: In 2016, only two Hokies started every game for Tech - Phil Sciretta and Ryan Tufts. Sciretta graduated but is still working with the program, which leaves Tufts as the consecutive starts streak holder among Tech players - which he enters the season with 72 straight starts, after starting the last 17 of the 2015 season.
​The scheduled starter on the mound for the opener on Friday is junior Packy Naughton, which would mark the first Hokie to start back-to-back season openers since David Cross in 2006-07. Joe Mantiply is the only other Tech pitcher to start two season openers over the past dozen seasons (2011, 2013).

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