A nine-run sixth inning by Rider University doomed the Virginia Tech baseball team, as the Broncs defeated the Hokies 10-6, yesterday at English Field.
With the loss, the Hokies fall to 13-5 and split the two-game series with Rider. Tech beat the Broncs on Tuesday, 11-8.
“I don’t think flat is the right word,” junior Austin Wates said, “but it didn’t feel like we were that eager to score runs and get motivated to score runs, but I think we’ll be all right in the future.”
Junior pitcher Manny Martir, making his first start and second appearance for Tech, was actually in the midst of a perfect game through five innings, before Rider ended that bid in the sixth inning.
“I was down in the zone and my slider was on,” Martir said. “Other than that it was just filling up the zone. I had great defense behind me. They played great today. I just stuck to my gameplan.”
But things fell apart in the sixth inning. The Broncs tabbed Martir for eight earned runs and scored one more in the inning off freshman Jake Joyce.
“I just stepped in some quicksand,” Martir said. “One runner got on, then dink hit after dink hit just started happening. I wasn’t tired. The ball started elevating in the zone and he squeezed me a little bit. The flood gates just opened up — nothing really to say.”
Tech’s offense responded well in the next half of the inning. With the top of the lineup starting things off, the Hokies scored three runs to bring the score to 9-6.
Wates led Tech’s offensive attack going 2-4 and scoring two runs. The game capped off a successful three games this week for Wates. Against Columbia University and in two games against Rider, Wates finished 8-13 with nine runs, seven runs batted in and two walks.
What makes his performance more remarkable is the fact that Wates is recovering from a strained ligament in his hand.
“I had a recent hand injury,” Wates said, “and when you have an injury, you just have to learn to play through it. The thing about the hand injury is it just made me think more about getting to the ball instead of anything else. It’s seeing pretty good results, so I’m going to stick with it.”
Tech not only lost the game but two of its critical players as well. Redshirt junior shortstop Tim Smalling injured his shoulder after a dive into second base, and redshirt senior outfielder Mike Kaminski hurt his ankle while running the bases.
“Smalls kind of reached back and put his shoulder in a compromising position and slightly separated it,” said head coach Pete Hughes. “The shoulder went back in and right when it went back in, he felt good so he’ll be sore, but he won’t be lost. I think Friday will be a game-time decision with him.”
“Kaminski rolled his ankle a little bit, not too bad,” Hughes said. “Again, I think he’s going to be OK with some treatment here before Friday. We got lucky with those two injuries, especially Smalls cause he’s the middle of our defense and middle of our offense.”
Smalling currently leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in hits with 34 and ranks seventh in batting average with .434.
Kaminski has started 17 games and is batting .238 with two home runs.
The Hokies head down to Clemson this weekend for a three-game series against the No. 7 Tigers (13-2 overall, 3-0 ACC). Tech is 2-1 in the ACC, and a series win could give the Hokies some top-25 votes. First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m.