Three Takeaways From Virginia Tech's 2-1 Series Loss Vs Virginia

Virginia Tech dropped its second consecutive conference series in a 2-1 series loss vs Virginia. The offense was the best it's been all season, but the pitching emerged as the culprit on both of the Hokies losses.

Here are three takeaways from the weekend:

No. 1: Griffin Stieg is the Hokies most effective pitcher

In conference play, Virginia Tech has altered the order of its starting rotation, moving Ethan Grim to Friday and moving Renfrow and Stieg back to Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

For Renfrow, he has surrendered 12 runs in seven innings of work, with seven strikeouts. That's good for a 15.43 ERA in confrence play, sitting at his worst by far. He also was pulled due to injury in the second inning after surrendering seven runs in a pair of innings against Virginia.

#Hokies head coach John Szefc said that RHP Brett Renfrow was pulled after today's second inning due to injury. He had no details outside of that.
— Dylan Tefft (@dylantefft) March 14, 2026

Ethan Grim is in a similar boat, he also left due to an injury.

#Hokies head coach John Szefc post-game said of Ethan Grim, "He looks like he's got a strained flexor."
— Alex Winn (@alexwinn07) March 13, 2026

Grim did have a strong start against Virginia, throwing four innings and allowing just one earned run. He did badly struggle against Georgia Tech, though. His overall ERA in conference play is still 21.60.

Stieg also had a tough start against Georgia Tech, but it was the best of the bunch. He threw four innings and allowed four earned runs. He paired that with a six inning outing against Virginina, where he allowed just one run and struck out seven.

The Hokies are 2-0 in Stieg's starts in conference play.

No. 2: Virginia Tech needs to find replacement starters

There is no current timeline for Brett Renfrow, but he's struggled over the season. Maybe he's ready to pitch next week, but I think that he needs a week or two off to be able to fully recover. He only threw two innings in the opening weekend against William & Mary, and I think that may have had something to do with something potentially bugging him.

Ethan Grim has a solid bounce-back start, but with how young he is, it likely isn't a good idea to rush him back.

Because of that, the Hokies need to find two starters for this upcoming weekend. I think the best direction to go is a mix of Preston Crowl, Aiden Robertson, Brendan Yagesh and Chase Swift. The Hokies bullpen hasn't been deep enough to put together a pair of bullpen games.

No. 3: The offense looks significantly better

Over the previous two weeks, the Hokies offense had put up an average of four runs per game, with it being significantly boosted from 2.8 runs per game due to the eight-run game against Mississippi State, where the VT offense beat up on poor pitching.

Against Virginia, the Hokies offense put up an average of 5.67 runs per game and hit for four home runs.

The offensive boost could do a lot to make up for pitching's injuries and lack of success. If the offense can carry this momentum into Tuesday and then into the weekend, the Hokies could look dangerous.