Virginia Tech's starting pitcher Evan Frederickson struggled mightily in the first inning against Richmond. Before one hit was allowed, he had already given up two runs. However, the Hokies recorded seven stolen bases to grab the win from the Spiders 12-9 at English Field.
Frederickson was more than erratic. In the second inning, he struck out the side before allowing four more runs in the third inning, forcing Tech head coach Pete Hughes to pull the plug.
"His reaction was frustration and disappointment," Hughes said. "We would really worry about him if he wasn't frustrated and disappointed after that outing. I told him that he needs to just get better."
After getting swept by Clemson over the weekend, Tech got back to what they do best by stealing bases. Richmond backup catcher Evan Stehle had only caught one base stealer all season, which made for easy pickin's for Tech speedster Nate Parks. His first inning steal set the tone on the day, especially after scoring later in the inning.
"We knew that they were pretty slow to the plate," Parks said. "If you can be a leadoff guy and get on and steal a base, that gives you three opportunities to get that guy in."
But the stealing didn't stop there. Amidst the struggles from Frederickson on the mound, the Hokies continued to produce runs with quickness on the bases. Richmond third baseman Austin Reilly tried to throw out Tech right fielder Sean Ryan on a bunt play, but launched the ball beyond the first baseman, allowing Steve Bumbry and Luke Padgett to score.
The offense continued to take advantage of the Richmond mistakes, but the Spiders held their own, leading 9-7 after five innings.
In the sixth inning, Tech picked up the intensity as Matt Hacker and Parks worked the double steal, leading to Warren Schaeffer's sacrifice fly to score Hacker from third. Parks then darted home on a wild pitch, tying the game at nine.
After a Sean O'Brien walk and a hit from Adam Redd, Luke Padgett stepped to the plate. One pitch into the at-bat, Spider head coach Ron Atkins collaborated with his team, allowing Padgett to talk his at-bat over with Hughes.
"Coach was just like, 'Try to drive the ball up the middle and get something up the middle hard,'" Padgett said. "He hung a slider and I tried to hit the ball up the middle, but I turned on it."
Turning on it led to a three-run moonshot over the left field foul pole. Padgett put the Hokies up for good.
"Our whole team has been waiting for three-run home runs all year," Hughes said. "It makes things so much easier when you can get a three-run home run, when you don't have to manufacture so much to get runs."
It was Padgett's third homer of the year.
"He's a strong kid," Hughes said about the third baseman from Lynchburg. "He's the one legitimate deep threat we have in our lineup. That's why we played him, and it worked out."
Even with the help of the long-ball, the Hokies kept the pressure on Richmond's pitchers all game. Seven steals in a game would be sufficient for any coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but not Pete Hughes.
"We would have had two more stolen bases if we bunted behind it," Hughes said. "That's all according to who we're playing and what the pitcher gives us. Some weekends in the ACC, we can't control the running game and sit still. That is our game. If we can get guys moving and put them in scoring position, that helps out a lot."
Tech will have to assemble more runs today for the Price's Fork Road rumble against Radford. This marks the first time in a month the Hokies play back-to-back weekday games. During the second week in March, the Hokies beat Liberty and Marist in consecutive weekday contests.
"The last time we had that happen we survived it. They're hard," Hughes said. "They're hard when you have a pitching staff that isn't deep. It won't have too much affect on us because we won't run our guys into the ground arm-wise."
Using five pitchers against Richmond will not help the cause for the Hokies. Freshman Rob Whitley will take the mound today, but he is expected to have a long day against the Highlanders.
"We need to get some length out of Rob," Hughes said. "We're going to have to piece it together and hold our strike throwers for last, because if you don't save one strike-thrower at the end of the game, it could be all over."
The Hokies and the Highlanders battle it out a mere 15 miles from campus today at 3 p.m.