Collegiate Times

The Virginia Tech baseball team finished off their season in disappointing fashion last weekend, dropping two of three games to visiting Georgia Tech.

On Friday evening, the Hokies, (30-25, 11-19 ACC) led the No. 12-ranked Yellow Jackets 3-2 heading into the top of the seventh, until what had been a solid outing from sophomore Joe Mantiply fell apart.

Jacob Esch homered with one out to tie the game, and Mantiply (5-8) left the game four batters later. Georgia Tech (39-17, 22-8 ACC) would add three more runs in the inning, all unearned, before tacking on five more in the eighth, giving them an 11-4 victory.

Bright spots for Tech included Andrew Rash’s team-leading eighteenth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom half of the third, and junior Ronnie Shaban’s two-hundredth career hit, an RBI double in the ninth.

On Saturday, the Hokies notched their one victory in the series, a 7-5 contest in which starting pitcher Marc Zecchino nearly went the distance.

Tech pounced on Yellow Jacket starter Jed Bradley early on, forcing him out of the game in the fourth, after scoring all seven of their runs on 10 hits. Johnny Morales homered in the third, his first in a Virginia Tech uniform. Tim Smalling drove in two runs on two hits. Zecchino (6-5) pitched into the ninth, but, after giving up two runs on three hits – all of them doubles – and a walk, he left with two outs and the tying run on second base.

Shaban then came on to finish it off. After walking the first batter he faced to load the bases, he struck out Esch to end the game and earn his third save of the season.

In Sunday’s rubber match, the Hokies battled, and got an impressive showing from a bullpen that has struggled all season. However, it was not enough, as Georgia Tech won the game 5-3, giving them the series victory.

Joe Parsons, the starting pitcher on his senior day, gave up five runs and nine hits in four plus innings. Fellow senior Brandon Fisher came on with runners on the corners and no outs in the fifth, but worked his way out of the jam on three pitches.

That set the tone for what would total five scoreless innings by Tech’s bullpen. Unfortunately, the Hokies’ offense just couldn’t get anything going, and dropped their season finale.
Tech finished the season in ninth place in the ACC, one slot away from an ACC tournament berth, which only invites the top eight teams from the conference.

While the season could certainly be considered a disappointment after the huge amount of success the team saw last year, this year’s squad showed signs throughout the year that their multitude of young talent should be more than capable of competing in the ACC for years to come.

A version of this article appeared in the May 26 issue of the Collegiate Times.