Virginia Tech Baseball Hosts Stanford In First-Ever Weekend Series Meeting

Coming off of their first ACC series win and a midweek loss to ETSU, Virginia Tech has set its sights on Stanford as it looks to win a second consecutive conference series to even or move above .500 in conference play.

𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙙#Hokies 🦃⚾️ pic.twitter.com/74Ok76babU
— Virginia Tech Baseball (@HokiesBaseball) March 25, 2026

One of the nation's top programs, Stanford has struggled in the ACC in recent years, sitting at 11-12 with a 1-5 conference record, including a three-game opening-weekend sweep to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem.

The Stanford offense is one of the best in the ACC, scoring nine or more in eight of their last ten games, including scoring a total of 47 runs in their last three games against Utah Valley.

Stanford only has six qualifying batters because they alter their lineup on a day-to-day basis, with 14 players that have at least 10 games played on the season.

Their most dangerous regular hitters are Charlie Bates and JJ Moran. Bates is hitting a team-leading .337 with stellar power. He has seven home runs, two triples and four doubles on the season with 23 RBI and nearly as many walks as strikeouts (11 BB, 12 K).

JJ Moran is hitting .322 on the season while displaying a similar amount of power, hitting five homers with five doubles and a triple.

They also have a pure power-hitter in Rintaro Sasaki, who is hitting .265 with an OPS over 1.000. He has seven homers with five doubles and 15 RBI, displaying more power than contact and speed, given his lower batting average and very high OPS.

Stanford's offense has been impressive as of late, but the downfall has been the pitching. Of their three weekend starters, the best ERA on the team is Aiden Keenan's 6.75 accross 18.2 innings of work. They also don't have a high leverage reliever with an ERA below four, aside from Toran O'Harran, with a 3.77 ERA in 14.1 innings.

On Friday, expect Nick Dugan to start for the Cardinal and face off against an unknown Hokies starter. Last week, Brennan Yagesh took the mound on Friday and pitched 7 scoreless innings en route to a 7-1 Virginia Tech win, so I wouldn't be surprised if he gets the nod on the mound again.

Nick Dugan has an ERA of 8.04 across 28 innings of work, where he's surrendered 41 hits and 11 walks to 29 strikeouts. He does do a good job at limiting the long ball, allowing just two on the year, but he does allow a good amount of hits for extra bases, with eight doubles against him on the year.

Aiden Keenan is expected to get the ball on the mound Saturday for the Cardinal against Brett Renfrow. In five starts, Kennan has a 6.75 ERA across 18.2 innings. He does a decent job at limiting hits, with just 20 on the season. His Achilles' Heel is that he has issued 20 walks on the season, on par with his 20 strikeouts.

In game three, Stanford will likely look to Parker Warner, who has tallied just 15.2 innings across five starts and a singular relief appearance. He totes a 7.47 ERA with 24 hits and nine walks to his name. He does a decent enough job striking guys out, with 16 on the season.

For a Virginia Tech offense that has taken a massive step forward in recent weeks, a poor pitching unit in Stanford is exactly what they're looking for to keep the momentum rolling forward.