Collegiate Times

The Virginia Tech baseball team bounced back from a difficult loss to The Citadel on Friday to beat the Bucknell Bison 16-7 Saturday afternoon.

Tech jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning before a severe weather alert delayed the game in the second inning with the Hokies at bat with two outs and a runner on.

After a 1 hour and 44 minute delay, the game resumed action and the Hokies tacked on another four runs to take a 9-0 lead into the bottom of the second.

“Bucknell threw a couple good arms at us, we were just able to keep with our approach today,” sophomore first baseman Ronnie Shaban said. “We had a good approach yesterday, it just paid off today - started dropping - and we kept at it.”

Due to nearly two hours spent waiting on the weather to clear, sophomore starting pitcher Mathew Price did not reenter the game despite only throwing 18 pitches.

“Anytime you get past 45 minutes of sitting around doing nothing, it’s danger zone,” head coach Pete Hughes said.  “Your body gets hot, and then you’re completely cooled down, and then you have to get the kid hot again. I’m always going to be on the side of caution, and, like I said, that’s someone’s kid with a great career ahead of him, and I’m not messing with it.”

Initially, the storm appeared to hinder Tech’s chances of advancing through the losers’ bracket by taking away Price’s availability for the day, and Hughes was furious that the game was delayed, but the early 9-0 lead allowed the Hokies to use their less valuable bullpen arms to pitch the eight remaining innings while saving Price for another day.

Junior Manny Martir, freshman Jake Joyce and redshirt junior Brandon Fisher combined for just six earned runs, one walk and five strikeouts through eight innings of work.

“It’s crazy how it plays out,” Hughes said. “I didn’t know we were going to score that many runs. I didn’t know our bullpen would do that good of a job. There were a lot of questions going into that.”
Tech’s primary pitchers out of the bullpen – Ben Rowen, Sean McDermott, Marc Zecchino and Joe Mantiply did not pitch in the game.

With the win, the Hokies move on to face The Citadel in yet another elimination game at 2 p.m. Sunday. If Tech defeats the Bulldogs, the Hokies will then play again at 7 p.m.

against South Carolina. Tech must defeat the Gamecocks twice to win the tournament – once on Sunday and then again on Monday.

Hughes did not know who he would choose to start Sunday afternoon against the Bulldogs. Junior Jesse Hahn and freshman Joe Mantiply have yet to throw this weekend, and Hughes will have to make a judgment call about Price tomorrow morning.

“I’m going to see how (Price) feels tomorrow,” Hughes said. “I will never run a kid out there if there is any soreness or anything, especially a kid as talented as Mat (Price) with a future ahead of him. Honestly, I wish I could tell you now, but tomorrow I’m going to wake up and err on the side of caution with a kid that talented.”