Hokies take ACC series from Pittsburgh after splitting doubleheader Saturday

Tech's 3-1 win in the first game was the 400th of head coach John Szefc's career

March 10, 2018

BLACKSBURG – For only the third time in program history and the first time since 2010, the Virginia Tech baseball team opened an ACC season with a series win, after splitting its doubleheader with Pittsburgh on Saturday at English Field at Union Park. The 3-1 victory in the Game 1 coupled with Friday night’s 4-1 win clinched the series for the Hokies – and their first ever 2-0 start in ACC play.

The Saturday win was also the 400th victory in John Szefc’s head coaching career. The Hokies’ head coach, who is Tech’s 25th head coach in program history and is in his first season leading the team, had previously won 180 games in five seasons at Maryland (2013-17) and 212 games in seven years at Marist (1996-2002).

Tech (8-8, 2-1 ACC) fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first of the first game, but starter Ian Seymour shut down the Panther offense over the next six frames striking out a season-high 10 batters and walking just two.

Luke Horanski hit his second home run in a Tech uniform in the sixth frame to break a 1-1 tie and Jack Owens’ sacrifice fly two batters later scored Darion Jacoby to give the Hokies a 3-1 lead.

Andrew McDonald picked up his fourth save of the year after tossing the final two innings scoreless with two strikeouts as Seymour improved to 2-1 on the season.

Pittsburgh (11-4, 1-2 ACC) trailed the second game 2-0 after three, but outscored Tech 12-7 over the middle frames and cruised to a 15-10 victory in the second game.

Tom Stoffel highlighted the Tech attack in Game 2 with a four-hit, four RBI game that included a pair of triples, that tied a school record shared by 14 other Hokies. The last Tech player with two triples in a game was Saige Jenco (May 5, 2015 vs. West Virginia).

Inside the Box – Game 1

• Horanski – home run, second of the season; two hits, third multi-hit game of the year.
• Cam Irvine – stolen base, 2-for-2 this season;
• Jacoby – two stolen bases, 3-for-4 this season;
• McDonald – two scoreless innings, has now posted a career-long 13.0 consecutive scoreless innings and 15 scoreless innings this season overall; is also a perfect 9-for-9 on retiring the first batter he’s faced out of the bullpen.
• Seymour – season/career-high 10 strikeouts, third time this season with at least eight strikeouts in a game; struck out the side in the third, fourth time this season; has thrown 19 scoreless innings this season, including 10 perfect; second quality start of the year.
• Stoffel – double, fifth of the season 42nd of his career; two hits, team-leading seventh multi-hit game of the season, 45th of his career.

Inside the Box – Game 2

• Freiday, Jr. – triple, second of the season, third of his career; two hits, second multi-hit game of the season, 20th of his career; two runs, first multi-run scoring game of the year, eighth of his career.
• Irvine – two RBI, second multi-RBI game of the season.
• JD Mundy – home run, third of the season, eighth of his career.
• J. Owens – hit by a pitch, his team-high ninth of the year.
• Nick Owens – three runs, second game this season with three runs scored.
• Stoffel – two triples, first two of the season, four in his career; season-high four hits, eighth multi-hit game of the year, 46th of his career and fifth career game with at least four hits; season-high four hits, third multi-RBI game of the year, 29th of his career and fourth career game with at least four RBI.

Additional Notes

• Only two times in their history have the Hokies won their ACC series opener – at No. 21 Georgia Tech in 2007 and versus Maryland in 2010.
• Before this season, Tech won its ACC opener five times, but lost the second game, never starting 2-0 in ACC play.
• Also with the Game 1 win, Tech extended its winning streak to five games, its longest streak since opening the 2017 season with five straight victories (Feb. 17-24).
• Tech recorded its 13th and 14th double plays of the season during the day.
• The Hokies are now 2-8-13 overall in ACC doubleheaders, including a 2-3-7 mark at home.
• The Hokies all-time series against Pittsburgh now stands at 19-15-1 in favor of the Panthers. However, that includes a 7-8 mark at English Field at Union Park.

Up Next

• Tech takes a few days off from competition before returning to the field to face Bryant on Wednesday, March 14 at English Field at Union Park. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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