Late comeback falls short for the Hokies

Joe Freiday hits his first home run of the season in 10-6 loss

March 18, 2018

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
George Mason (17-21)	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	8	0
Virginia Tech (26-12)	9	0	4	0	4	4	3	0	X	24	26	0
EF at AUBP - 1,109 Box Score

ATLANTA – In the rubber match of an ACC weekend series at Russ Chandler Stadium Sunday afternoon, Virginia Tech took a one-run lead over Georgia Tech in the top half of the first, but the Yellow Jackets scored 10 unanswered and then held on for a 10-6 victory and the series win.

The Hokies (9-10, 3-3 ACC) loaded the bases in the first with no outs on a walk to Jack Owens and back-to-back singles by Tom Stoffel and Luke Horanski. After Owens was forced out at the plate on a grounder, JD Mundy hit a ball to left field and Stoffel was ruled to be doubled off at third.

However, the Hokies used a coach’s challenge, and after video review (ironically the third of the weekend that involved a Mundy at-bat), it was ruled that Stoffel did not leave early from third and Virginia Tech took a 1-0 lead.

Georgia Tech (11-8, 2-4 ACC) responded by sending nine men to the plate in both the first and second innings scoring three and four runs respectively, which included two-run home runs by both Joey Bart and Kyle McCann. The third produced two runs for the home team and the Yellow Jackets added an unearned run in the fourth to take the 10-1 advantage.

In a reverse of yesterday’s game, this time it was the Hokies who mounted a late comeback, scoring five runs in the seventh highlighted by Joe Freiday, Jr.’s three-run home run and had the bases loaded with one out in the frame.

However, GT’s Jared Dotac came in from the bullpen and shut down the threat and retired the last eight Hokies in order to pick up his second save of the year.

Inside the Box

• Freiday – home run, first of the year, 12th of his career; three RBI, third multi-RBI game of the season, 12th of his career.
• Stevie Mangrum – double, second of the season, 12th of his career.
• Nick Menken – two hits, third multi-hit game of season/career.
• Mundy – extended his career-long, and a team-long for the season, hitting streak to eight games.
• Owens – extended his team-leading reached base streak to 14 straight.
• Stoffel – two runs, third multi-run scoring game of the season, 19th of his career.

Additional Notes

• For just the sixth time in 14 seasons in the conference, the Hokies are at least .500 after six games. The best mark is 4-2 (2013 and 2015), while in 2007, 2014 and 2017 the team was also 3-3.
• The Hokies all-time series against Georgia Tech now stands at 33-17 in favor of the Yellow Jackets and includes GT holding a 21-9 mark in Atlanta.
• On this date, Tech is now 19-15, which includes a 5-10 mark on the road and a 3-5 record against ACC opponents.

Up Next

• The Hokies will take a few days off from competition before returning to the field to face Marshall on Wednesday, March 21 at English Field at Union Park. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.

For updates on Virginia Tech baseball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @HokiesBaseball