Collegiate Times

Tech pitcher Manny Martir delivers a pitch against Liberty yesterday.

Behind stellar pitching and a high-powered offense, the Virginia Tech baseball team defeated Liberty University 10-0, Wednesday at English Field.

With the win, Tech (14-8) avenged two straight losses to Liberty (13-6) dating back to 2008.

“That’s a good team we beat convincingly,” said head coach Pete Hughes. “Anytime you win it’s good, anytime you beat a quality opponent it’s really good and anytime you do it going into a weekend series, it makes your team feel
better.”

The Hokies’ win ends a four-game losing streak, including last weekend’s series where they were swept at Clemson.

Redshirt sophomore left fielder Buddy Sosnoskie paced the Hokies going 3-5 with a home run, two runs scored and a career-high four runs batted in.

“I was just seeing it well,” Sosnoskie said, “trying to keep it simple and not really thinking mechanically — just track it and whack it.”

Sosnoskie has really come on this season. Last year he only hit .234 while this season he is crushing pitchers, hitting .455.

“I’m just more relaxed, taking deep breaths, just going out there and trusting what I know how to do,” Sosnoskie said. “Last year I probably pressed a little and got hurt early on, but I can’t use that as an excuse.”

“Buddy’s been real consistent lately,” Hughes said. “I was happy he hit some off-speed stuff that he struggled with last year, and I was very happy that he had a quality at-bat against a left-hander tonight, which he’s proven to do.”

Junior pitcher Manny Martir (1-1), who lost his first start last week against Rider University, gave Tech a strong outing, pitching seven innings, allowing four hits and striking out four.

“I was getting all three pitches (fastball, changeup, slider) for strikes,” Martir said, “and that helps anytime you can do that. My defense was going right for me.

I knew I had Tony Balisteri, Michael Seaborn, Austin Wates, Ronnie Shaban, everybody in the outfield, so I wasn’t scared to throw strikes and let them do their job.”

Tech put a stop to a couple of the Flames’ strong attributes. In 15 of its last 18 contests, Liberty scored first, and it is 13-2 when that happens. The Hokies struck first in the third inning with a five-run barrage.

Those five runs were important because the Flames only allow 4.5 runs a game. Liberty ended up using six pitchers against the explosive Tech offense that averages 8.3 runs a game and hits .338 as a team.

Despite the fact that Tech was without one of its best players Wednesday in redshirt junior shortstop Tim Smalling, who is still nursing a shoulder injury, the Hokies didn’t miss a beat.

After a three-day layoff, the win also comes with a bit of momentum going into another Atlantic Coast Conference series — this one with Wake Forest.

“I actually was talking to Steve (Domecus) before the game (about the layoff) — I felt refreshed and like the batteries were recharged,” Sosnoskie said. “I felt loose. It’s pretty good to have a three-day rest.”

“We’re a little beat up,” Hughes said. “We got some arms down and Smalling’s down. I just thought it was good that it worked out that way. Hopefully we can carry this over and feel good going into Wake Forest.”

The Demon Deacons (7-14 overall, 1-5 ACC) present an opportunity for Tech to make a move in the Coastal Division. The top three teams are all 5-1 and the bottom three teams, including the Hokies, are 2-4 in conference.

The series against Wake begins Friday at English Field, with the first pitch at 5:30 p.m.

A version of this article appeared in the Mar 25 issue of the Collegiate Times.