Hokies force extras, but can't come away with the win

Tech falls 8-7 to Irish setting up Sunday rubber match

April 21, 2018

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Virginia Tech overcame a three-run deficit in the ninth inning to send its game at Notre Dame into extra innings, then scored two runs in the top of the 12th frame only to see the Fighting Irish get three runs in the home half and win the second game of a three-game ACC series at Frank Eck Stadium Saturday afternoon, 8-7, and set up a rubber match there on Sunday.

The Hokies broke the 7-7 tie in the 12th after loading the bases with two outs. Nick Owens hit a grounder up the middle which was snagged by diving Irish second baseman Nick Podkul, who flipped to the shortstop covering second. The toss was in time, but Daily dropped the ball and two Hokies scored, including Luke Horanski who scored from second, never quitting on the play.

However, there was no quit in Notre Dame either, as the Irish used a leadoff walk and single to put the tying runs on the corners. An error by Tech allowed one run to score and with two outs, the Irish had the bases loaded for Eric Gilgenbach, who singled home two for the walk-off victory.

Tech (17-22, 7-13 ACC) sent the game into extras with three runs in the ninth. Mike Fernandez singled home two to cut the deficit down to one, and with the bases loaded, Tom Stoffel’s sacrifice fly plated Fernandez with the tying run.

The teams traded holding one-run leads through five innings as Notre Dame was on top 1-0 after the first before the Hokies responded with single runs in the second and fourth to take a 2-1 lead.

Sam Fragale tried to bunt for a single to lead off the second, but was called out on a close play at first. However, after video replay he was ruled safe and would later score on a Nick Menken RBI single. Horanski gave Tech the one-run lead with a solo home run to lead off the fourth.

Notre Dame (16-23, 7-13 ACC) tied the game in the home half of the fourth on an RBI triple by Alex Kerschner and took a 3-2 lead with an unearned run in the fifth. The Irish padded its lead with a two-spot in the sixth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Bryce Gray and an RBI double by Daily, which held until the ninth.

Inside the Box

• Coward – six innings pitched, pushing career total at Tech to 196.2; two scoreless frames, a team-high 46 for the season, 119 in his career; one was perfect, a team-high 27 this year, 53 in his career; four strikeouts, team-high 71 for the season, 188 in his career.
• Fernandez – two hits, fifth multi-hit game of season; two RBI, first career multi-RBI game.
• Fragale – singled in the second, extending his hitting streak to a season-long 10 straight games.
• Horanski – home run, his fourth of the season and first since March 24; two runs, third multi-run scoring game of the season.
• Stevie Mangrum – two hits, sixth multi-hit game of season, 11th of his career.
• Andrew McDonald – one scoreless inning pitched, 22 for the season, 76 in his career.
• Menken – two doubles, fifth and sixth of the year; three hits, eighth multi-hit game of the season, second three-hit effort.
• N. Owens – two hits, 10th multi-hit game of the year.
• Joey Sullivan – three scoreless innings pitched, 19 this year, 82 in his career; three were perfect, 11 this season, 32 in his career; retired nine straight out of the bullpen, pushing his consecutive outs streak to a career-high 10 before single in the 11th.

Additional Notes

• The Hokies turned their 35th double play of year – the fifth behind Coward, tying for the team lead, and the 13th of his career.
• Tech is now 4-9 in games decided by one run and 2-3 in extra-inning games.
• In three of the Hokies games this week and five times this month, they’ve scored runs in the ninth inning to tie a game before losing (Radford and today) or win a game (Virginia, Marshall, Old Dominion).

Up Next

• The two teams will conclude the three-game ACC series with the rubber match on Sunday at Frank Eck Stadium with a 1 p.m. first pitch.

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