Collegiate Times

On Wednesday night, the Virginia Tech baseball team continued its recent dominance of in-state, out-of-conference opponents.

With a third inning outburst, the Hokies (10-18) beat the Longwood Lancers 8-7, at English Field.

Tech relief pitcher Rhett Ballard put an end to Longwood's ninth inning comeback.  After the Lancers scored three times and had the potential tying run on first base, Ballard got Longwood first baseman Casey Havers to fly out to Hokies center fielder Sean Ryan.  

That out gave Tech their second straight victory, one day after beating Radford.

"Our program, at this stage, needs two wins," head coach Pete Hughes said.  "Now our guys feel good going into the weekend."

The win was mostly due to their third inning rally, which all started with two outs and Austin Wates on second base.

With Longwood (17-11) up 3-0, Hokies first baseman Sean O'Brien's opposite-field base hit scored Wates.  Then, catcher Anthony Sosnoskie hit a line drive to left field that should have been caught on the fly by Lancer left fielder David Smiy, Jr.  Instead, the ball caromed off Smiy's glove and fell to the ground.  

If Smiy had caught the ball, the inning would have ended with only one run on the scoreboard; however, the Hokies were granted new life and they made the most of their opportunity.  

Right fielder Klint Reed singled up the middle to drive in O'Brien and Sosnokie, tying the game.  After Reed quickly stole second base on the next pitch, designated hitter Matt Blow got an RBI single of his own to give the Hokies their first lead.  

The inning would continue, as left fielder Steve Bumbry got a two-RBI double.  Freshman Tony Balisteri, starting for the injured Ty Hohman, drove in another pair of runs on a single.

Fellow freshman Wates -- batting for the second time in the inning -- hit a shot into the right-center field gap.  His third triple of the season gave Tech a five-run edge.

In all, the Hokies sent ten batters to the plate in the eight-run, seven-hit inning.  Seven of the eight runs came were unearned and came with two outs.

"It's deceiving because it says seven unearned runs, but we worked for those runs," Hughes said.  "We got a bunch of two-out, two-strike hits.   I always preach to our team to be a good two-out team and to do a great job with two strikes.  We did a really good job that inning."  

Tech starting pitcher Sean McDermott struggled in the early going, giving up a pair of runs in the first inning -- both coming with two outs.  Longwood put up a run against the lefthander in the second inning, as well.

After shutting the Lancer offense down in the next two innings, McDermott was relieved by Waskiewicz, who picked up his second win of the year.  He left the game with two outs in the ninth after giving up the Longwood's first run of the frame.

Longwood started right-handed submarine pitcher Lance Harting who was tagged with the loss. Harting gave up nine hits but only one earned run in 2.2 innings.

Offensively for the Hokies, O'Brien and Sosnoskie both went 2-for-4 with a run scored.  Blow and Bumbry also finished with a pair of hits as well.

One of Bumbry's hits led to the game's most controversial moment.  With two outs and Michael Seaborn on first, Bumbry hit one over the head of center fielder Marcus Powell.  Seaborn rounded third, and tried to beat the relay throw home.  

However, the throw beat Seaborn and was caught by catcher Jon Quigley.  Instead of trying to avoid Quigley's tag, Seaborn collided with the catcher and knocked him to the ground.  Quigley held on to the ball and Seaborn was out.  

Home plate umpire Tony Carilli also ejected Seaborn, saying he used his forearm when colliding with Quigley.  

"I know there was no ill-intent to it," Hughes said.  "Mike came up to protect himself by putting his forearm up."

Seaborn was replaced by Brandon Lower, while Quigley eventually removed himself from the game in the next inning.

The Hokies continue their homestand when they take the field against the Maryland Terrapins for a three-game ACC series.  Friday's game starts at 5:30 p.m. at English Field.