Tech welcomes Top 10 NC State to Blacksburg for ACC Series

Tickets are required for fans attending this weekend's games

March 28, 2018

Virginia Tech vs. No. 6 NC State
March 29-31, 2018 - English Field at Union Park - Blacksburg, Virginia

Gameday Information
Stats: Link
Audio: Link
Video: Game 1; Game 2; Game 3
Tickets: Will be required for all fans. The cost of an individual game ticket for adults is $10, while a youth ticket costs $5. For this ACC series, Tech will only be able to take cash payments at the ticket windows at the home plate entrance. Virginia Tech students with a valid ID and children 2 and under are free.

Thursday, March 29 - 4 p.m.
VT: Sr. RHP Connor Coward (1-2, 3.66 ERA)
NCSt: So. RHP Michael Bienlien (2-1, 2.57 ERA)

Friday, March 30 - 4 p.m.
VT: Sr. RHP Luke Scherzer (1-1, 3.60 ERA)
NCSt: Gr. RHP Johnny Piedmonte (3-0, 3.42 ERA)

Saturday, March 31 - 1 p.m.
VT: Fr. LHP Ian Seymour (2-1, 3.79 ERA)
NCSt: Sr. LHP Brian Brown (4-0, 0.48 ERA)

QUICK HITTERS
Tech returns home for four of next six ACC series: Tech opened the season with 18-of-22 games on the road but, starting with Tuesday's game versus Liberty, began a five-game home stand which is part of a string of 18 home games of its next 29 which also includes four of their next six ACC series being contested at English Field at Union Park. The stretch starts Thursday against No. 6 NC State.

Hokies versus the Wolfpack (see more Page 5 of game notes): Entering the weekend, Tech and NC State have faced off a total of 66 times with the Wolfpack holding a 43-21-2 edge in the all-time series. However, just 26 of those games have been played in Blacksburg, where the Hokies have a slight lead at 13-12-1, but they are just 4-8 in contests at English Field at Union Park.
The series started back in 1907, but has ramped up since Tech joined the ACC. The two teams have played 27 times as ACC foes with the Wolfpack winners in 20 of those. The Wolfpack come in with a three-game winning streak and despite Tech never winning a series against NC State, the Hokies have won at least one game in seven of the nine series.

Coach Szefc against NC State: As the head coach at Maryland, current Virginia Tech head coach John Szefc has faced the Wolfpack a total of seven times - twice in three-game ACC weekend series and once last year - and owns a 5-2 mark against them. In 2013, his Maryland team lost the ACC series in Raleigh, North Carolina, ironically, March 29-31, two games to one. The teams split the first two games both with final scores of 3-2 before NC State won the rubber match, 9-4.
​However, the following season in College Park, Maryland, the Terps swept the then No. 11 Wolfpack in a three-game series March 21-23, 2014 by scores of 10-0, 7-4 and 5-2. On March 4, 2017 at the USA Baseball-Irish Classic in Cary, N.C., Maryland beat the then No. 6 Wolfpack, 9-2.

Winning on the road: Just three weeks into the ACC schedule, the Hokies have already won two games on the road in the conference - one at Georgia Tech (March 17) and the other at Boston College (March 24). The two victories are already more than last year's win total - the team went 1-14 - and matches the win total for 2016 (2-13). Since 2013, when the team tied the program's best mark with an 8-7 road league record, Tech had won at most four games - in 2015 - the last time they made the ACC Tournament.

Speaking of 2015: During the 2015 season, the Hokies posted an 11-9 record during the month of March, which marks the last time the team posted a winning record in any month of more than 10 games played. The most wins since then in a single month (with at least 10 games played) was seven during March 2017 when Tech went 7-12, a win mark the Hokies have already matched.

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