Hokies Stun UNC Baseball: Just Second Loss to VT in Fox Era

On the strength of a five-run sixth inning, the Virginia Tech Hokies rallied to defeat the #23 UNC baseball team by a score of 8-3 on Friday night for a surprise upset victory in Blacksburg, Virginia at English Field.

Coming into the game, UNC head coach Mike Fox boasted a 27-1 record all-time against Virginia Tech, but on this night the Hokies’ huge inning gave them their elusive second victory against Fox. Their last win over Carolina came in 2007.

The Tar Heels fall below .500 in the ACC with the loss, dropping to 9-10 in the conference, while their overall record slips to 23-15. Virginia Tech jumps to 8-11 in the league and 19-20 in total after the big win.

Zac Gallen cruised through the first five innings, but found trouble in the sixth. (UNC Athletics)

Trailing 2-1 entering the bottom of the sixth, the Hokies struggled to string together hits against UNC starting pitcher Zac Gallen (2-3) through the first half of the proceedings–but everything changed when shortstop Alex Perez stepped to the plate to lead things off.

Perez hit a solo shot to tie the game, giving new life to the Virginia Tech dugout.

Then the floodgates opened up.

Erik Payne singled in the next at-bat, before immediately coming home on a home run by first baseman Brendon Hayden. When Sean Keselica singled to mark the fourth consecutive hit for the Hokies, Gallen’s outing was done.

Coach Fox turned to his NCAA leader in relief appearances, senior Trevor Kelley, to try and get out of the inning without any more damage, but two wild pitches by Kelley, along with an RBI single by third baseman Ryan Tufts, led to two more Hokie runs–with the Tar Heels all of a sudden finding themselves in a four-run hole.

Leading the charge for UNC on offense was junior left-fielder Landon Lassiter, who went 3-5, with an RBI triple in the top of the seventh, which scored Skye Bolt and brought Carolina back within three.

Landon Lassiter accounted for three of the Tar Heels 10 hits on Friday. (UNC Athletics)

However, that was as close as they would get the rest of the way.

A two-run double by the Hokies’ second baseman Sam Fragale off of UNC reliever Spencer Trayner in the bottom of the seventh increased the lead to five, where it would stay until the finish.

Two scoreless innings from Luke Scherzer and Aaron McGarity kept the Tar Heels from putting up a late game fight, allowing singles to Brian Miller and Skye Bolt, but nothing more–sealing the upset win for the home team.

Up Next:

Carolina gets a chance at redemption in Game Two of the series on Saturday, as they’ll send freshman phenom JB Bukauskas (3-1, 2.68 ERA) to the mound to face off with Virginia Tech left-hander Jon Woodcock (2-2, 3.66 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on WCHL’s airwaves.

Game Notes:

Tyler Ramirez doubled in the top of the third inning off of Tech starter Kit Scheetz (2-1), scoring Landon Lassiter to give the Tar Heels the first lead of the game.
Virginia Tech’s Alex Perez, who homered to begin the sixth inning rally, went 2-4 with two RBI, also driving in a run with a double in the bottom of the third.
Tar Heel pitchers struck out only two batters for the entire night (Gallen and Kelley each had one).
UNC continued to struggle with runners in scoring position, going 1-11 in that situation on Friday.

Hokies Stun UNC Baseball: Just Second Loss to VT in Fox Era

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