Virginia Tech Baseball Notches 16 Strikeouts, Take Season Opener 9-2 over William and Mary

The Hokies scored nine runs over a five-inning span to take down the Tribe at home.

Anderson French rounds second during his home run trot. | Virginia Tech Athletics.

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech's pitching unit collected 16 strikeouts spread across three different arms in its 9-2 victory over William and Mary.

"They just stayed ahead," Virginia Tech (1-0) head coach John Szefc said about his pitchers. "That's probably the most impressive thing is how well they located and how they stayed out of plus counts."

𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙜𝙤 ⚙️#Hokies 🦃⚾️ pic.twitter.com/rigW8jraOS

— Virginia Tech Baseball (@HokiesBaseball) February 13, 2026

2025 All-ACC Third Team starting pitcher, Brent Renfrow, opened the game with a two strikeout opening frame for the Hokies.

While Renfrow allowed a single to squeeze through the 3-4 gap in the infield in the first off the bat of left fielder Louie Bartletti, junior Charlie Iriotakis pushed a single through the 5-6 hole to lead off the second.

Designated hitter Liam O'Neil, who led the Tribe (0-1) in home runs last season (8), from the seven-hole opened the scoring with a 345-foot homerun into left field.

"A guy hits a routine fly ball and it goes out," Szefc said. "That's kind of the way this park plays sometimes."

Homerun or not, after the second frame, mound duties were planned to be turned over to junior Virginia native Preston Crowl.

"It was a short start," Szefc said. "Like an opener. We knew we were going to come in, Preston behind him unless we were out big early on, which we weren't."

Crowl entered, trying to contain just a one-run deficit after the Hokies offense nabbed a run in the bottom of the second.

Without a hit from Tech, leadoff man Treyson Hughes was standing in the box after designated hitter Anderson French and shortstop Pete Daniel both walked, while graduate transfer Sam Grube was plunked to load the bases the batter prior.

Hughes lifted a flyball into center field, deep enough for French to scurry home for the Hokies' first run.

Crowl's first of five scorless frames started in the top of the third with a pair of swinging strikeouts to open and close the inning.

Over his next 14 batters faced over the next four frames, Crowl tallied five more strikeouts for a career-high seven punchouts against William and Mary.

"I thought it was really good today," Crowl said on how he preformed. "I was a little shaky at times, [at] like getting ahead of hitters, but I did a good job working back, not letting it spiral into a lot of 2 ball, 3 ball counts.

In prior seasons, Crowl never logged over three innings of work, yet he seemed to have no problem with the five inning workload.

"He was built for 90 pitches, he threw 75." Szefc said.

While Crowl dished for five scoreless frames, his offense exploded to set him in line for his third career win.

Tech's first hit came in the fourth, after William and Mary's third pitching change to right handed pitcher Charlie Seneker. The knock came off the slicing bat of Grube, marking his first of three doubles in the contest.

"Just the same approach I've had my whole baseball career," Grube said on how he attacks at the plate. "Up the middle, backside; if I can stay there, I feel like I'm pretty accessible."

With Grube at second, and Daniel situated at third from a leadoff walk, Hughes picked up his second RBI on a routine grounder to second. One batter later, Saint Joseph's transfer Owen Petrich sent a low shot double into center field, falling under the diving glove of the Tribe's Chase Ecker. Grube trotted home after pausing for a potential tag-up to give the Hokies the lead, 3-2.

French hit the Hokies' only home run in the bottom of the fifth, a towering 412-foot solo-shot into right field.

"We've got a great scouting plan from it, we got the wristwatch now," French said. "I was looking for that pitch in the zone, so it was a great swing."

Grube picked up three RBIs on a pair of doubles in the fifth and seventh inning, ending his Hokie debut with eye-pleasing 3-for-3, with three doubles and three RBIs.

"The best tool in baseball you can have is hitting," Grube said.

Second baseman Ethan Ball not only made his Hokie debut, but his collegiate debut as well. In his first outing, he snuck a single through the infield on a full-count for his first hit in the seventh. Ball went on to cap off Tech's scoring, 9-2, with an RBI single into left field that sent Sam Gates hustling home from second.

"[Ball has] been doing that since he got here in August," Szefc said. "He's really good. He's one of our best players."

To finish out the final two innings of work, Szefc put the ball into the hands of one of his southpaw arms: Chase Swift.

Swift pummeled the zones and attacked the batters for the final two innings, notching five strikeouts.

"He normally throws a lot of strikes, but obviously he's got a plus-plus changeup," Szefc said.

"Today was unbelievable," Grube said. "16 strikeouts... no walks, it was unreal."

Tech will end the two-day series with a doubleheader on Saturday, February 14, at 1 and 4 p.m. ET, respectively.