Hokies Score 24 Runs vs George Mason (4-23-24)
By: Joey Raymond
All Photo Credit: Katie Lovell-LMS Network
Blacksburg, VA –In beautiful Blacksburg, Virginia the Virginia Tech Hokies welcomed in the George Mason Patriots. After a tough weekend against the #2 ranked Duke Blue Devils, the Hokies needed to get this game started on the right foot. It wouldn’t take long for the Hokies offense to get going either. The Patriots would get the first runs in the game in the top of the first inning. After starting the game with a 10-pitch at bat and 2 fly outs, a comebacker base hit from Jordan Smith that’s fielded poorly by pitcher Madden Clement would follow. The next batter, Ben Jones would take the 2nd pitch of the at-bat and launch it to left field, sending it over the bullpen and giving the Patriots a 2-0 lead. The last batter of the inning would strike out but the damage had already been done.
After a quick out to start the bottom of the inning, a Ben Watson single and a Chris Cannazaro double would get the Hokies started in the bottom of the first. An Eddie Micheletti 2-run single would follow, tying the game up at 2 a piece. After the double, the ‘Hammerin’ Hokies’ would make an appearance. A Carson DiMartini 2-run homer would start a streak of back to back to back home runs. Gerhig Ebel and David McCann would hit solo shots, giving the Hokies their first lead of the game, 6-2. The Hokies wouldn’t be done there though. After a walk and a steal, Nick Locurto would find himself at second and then scored on a Christian Martin single after a flyout. Watson would then smack a double putting runners on 2nd and 3rd. They’d be brought in after a Cannizzaro single, bringing the score to 9-2 before the inning would come to a close.
After no runs come across for either side in the second, George Mason would start crawling back into it in the third. After a hit by pitch puts South Trimble on base for the Patriots, Carsen Pracht would rocket a double into left-center field. Trimble would score on the double, bringing the score to 9-3. Pracht would move to third on a steal, and would eventually score on a pass ball. The Hokies wouldn’t take very long to formulate a response. In the bottom of the third inning, after singles from Grady and Martin to put runners on the corners, Watson would slice a single, bringing in a run for the Hokies. An error from the Patriots would give the Hokies runners on the corners again, which would set up Martin scoring on a wild pitch. After the wild pitch, the Hokies would have an 11-4 lead. Carson DiMartini would hit a massive 2-run home run only a batter later, stretching the Hokies lead to 13-4.
After a quiet fourth and top of the fifth, the Hokies would continue their offensive onslaught in the bottom of the fifth. After a single and 2 walks, the Hokies would load up the bases for Gehrig Ebel. He’d slide a ball down the line fair, bringing in 2 runs, and stretching the Hokies lead to 15-4. Virginia Tech would get their 16th run on the next batter, on a ground out from David McCann. The Hokies wouldn’t be done in the fifth either. Clay Grady would come up and hit a single into right, allowing Ebel to score and giving Tech a 17-4 lead. The scoring would continue in the bottom of the sixth. After a double to start the inning, Virginia Tech would bring the runner around to give them an 18-4 lead. Only 3 batters later the Hokies would find themselves with the bases loaded for Nick Locurto. He’d take full advantage of the moment, knocking in all 3 base runners with a bases-clearing triple. The triple would give the Hokies a 21-4 lead.
Virginia Tech wouldn’t stop there either. Heading into the seventh inning, Virginia Tech would get a single from Cooke and a double from Slade to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Holzemer would then add to the score after sending a blast into left center, scoring an additional 3 runs for the Hokies. The lead would turn into a mountain at 24-4 after the homer, and the inning would end shortly after. Heading into the bottom of the ninth George Mason would have almost no chance to come back but they would try. After a single from Woody and a double from Butler, the Patriots would have runners at 2nd and 3rd for Bardatsos. He would go on to rocket a ball into left that would allow a run to score, bringing the score to 24-5. They’d load the bases only a couple of batters later, only to have a pop-up end the rally.
