Steve Domecus rounds the bases against Miami on April 9.
In the past month, the Virginia Tech baseball team accomplished what many in the Atlantic Coast Conference felt was impossible.
The No. 18 Hokies (29-14, 11-10 ACC) faced the grind of an ACC schedule unmatched by any other in the conference and finished with a 7-5 record and three series wins. This grind, in consecutive weeks, included No. 4 Florida State, No. 16 Miami, No. 1 Virginia and No. 8 Georgia Tech.
While head coach Pete Hughes always exudes confidence in his team and the desire to accomplish more, he is nothing but happy with the way his team performed in April.
“If you told me seven-of-five, I would have signed up for it a year ago immediately without even asking questions. ... We come out seven-of-five from the team that was voted second to last in the ACC. Sign me up, man. I’m all for it, that was great.”
Tech may have navigated a difficult path in the last month, and the ACC juggernauts are gone from the schedule, but some pretty stiff competition awaits the Hokies.
The Boston College Eagles (24-17, 12-9 ACC), a program revived by Hughes before coming to coach at Tech, will take on the Hokies this weekend in a three-game series.
The Eagles did not play well early in the season, especially against ACC opponents on the road, but the team appears to be on the right track with back-to-back series wins over North Carolina State and Wake Forest in addition to a series win against Maryland.
Unlike Tech, the Eagles have not played well against the powers of the ACC, including series losses to Clemson, Miami and Virginia, but BC is riding high and Hughes is not taking them lightly despite Tech’s stellar competition as of late.
“These guys are playing good,” Hughes said. “They’re confident. They swept the last two series. There’s nothing like winning to give you confidence, so they’re going to come in here with an edge. So, they’re scary, really. They’re tough too, because they win late. We’re going to get everything we can handle by the end of this weekend. Hopefully we can win the series.”
On paper, Tech leads the Eagles in almost all offensive and pitching categories, but BC still possess some dangerous hitters in its lineup, such as senior leadoff man Robbie Anston, and front line pitching that can keep up with any team in the conference.
Boston College junior lefty Pat Dean holds a 3.50 ERA and a 5-0 record so far this season, and Hughes believes he’s as good as any pitcher in the conference. He will pitch on Friday against Tech’s own junior lefty, Justin Wright (4-3, 3.52 ERA), who has been phenomenal in the month of April despite only recording one win.
Saturday, the similarities will continue for the starting pitchers. Both teams will start sophomore right-handers with incredible talent, but each fails to hold it all together at times.
For Tech, Mathew Price (5-3, 5.50 ERA) will take the mound again after an impressive two-day outing against Georgia Tech last weekend. Price pitched lights out on Saturday and Sunday because the game was rained out in the middle of the fourth inning, and he seems to have his confidence back after pitching poorly against Miami and Virginia.
A version of this article appeared in the Apr 30 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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