Virginia Tech Evens Series With 10-2 Win Against Stanford

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Brett Renfrow delivered a 7.1-inning gem, striking out a career-high 12 batters as Virginia Tech baseball defeated Stanford 10-2 to even the series and force a decisive rubber match.

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— Virginia Tech Baseball (@HokiesBaseball) March 28, 2026

“That’s what you expect from him," said Virginia Tech head coach John Szefc during postgame media. "Our best player went out there and beat them, and that was the difference.”

Virginia Tech (13-12, 5-6 ACC) held Stanford (12-13, 2-6 ACC) to two runs on three hits while scoring 10 of their own on nine knocks and seven walks.

Virginia Tech struck first in the second inning, when Sam Gates dropped a bunt to the first-base side with runners on the corners. He reached safely and scored Hudson Lutterman to give Virginia Tech an early 1-0 lead.

That wasn't the Hokies' only run of the inning, though. Henry Cooke kept the inning going with two outs, blasting a 391-foot home run over the left-field wall and into the Virginia Tech bullpen for his second homer of the season.

The long-ball continues a recent hot streak from Cooke; he is hitting over .300 in conference play with a pair of home runs.

“I’m just not overthinking it," Cooke said. "Just going back to what I used to do and trusting my plan.”

That inning marked the end of Stanford Starter Sam Garewal's day. He threw two innings, allowing four runs on four hits, along with four strikeouts.

Stanford would answer in the top of the third, with lead-off batter Rintaro Saski blasting a one-out solo shot over the opposite field wall, cutting the Virginia Tech lead to three. That was the only run of the day Renfrow surrendered.

Renfrow cruised through the next five innings of work, finishing with 12 strikeouts (career-high) and one allowed run in 7.1 frames.

"I just executed pitches," Renfrow said after his start. "I trusted [my stuff], and went out there and did my thing."

After Parker Warner — Stanford's first reliever out of the bullpen — pitched a scoreless bottom of the third, Virginia Tech extended their lead in the fourth off the bat of Ethan Gibson, who hit a 389-foot home run to nearly the same spot that he did a day prior. The home run marked his second in as many days after going two-plus years without a big fly.

“I’m just trying to be where my feet are and not do too much," Gibson said. "The work’s been done already, so it’s about trusting it and just going out there and competing.”

The Hokies tacked on another pair of runs in the fifth; Owen Petrich roped a two-out, two-RBI single to right field, giving the Hokies a seven-run advantage.

Stanford would be forced to look to the bullpen again, this time in the form of Ben Reimers.

Reimers allowed Virginia Tech to once again extend its lead in the sixth. After three consecutive free passes — all walks or hit batters — he issued a four-pitch walk to Sam Gates, bringing in the ninth Virginia Tech run of the afternoon.

The seventh inning went scoreless as Brett Renfrow continued cruising and Stanford brought in reliever Austin Reeves. Renfrow started the eighth inning and struck out the first batter he faced — his 12th K of the afternoon — and was pulled after that.

The Hokies cycled through several bullpen arms in the eighth, allowing Danny Lazaro and Ethan Grim to load the bases and score a run on three walks and a single.

Chase Swift then entered the game with the bases loaded and one out and was able to get out of the jam and finish the game, pitching 1.2 innings and striking out three of the five batters he faced.

“He plays with a lot of emotion, and he uses it really well," Renfrow said about his outing. "‘Shut ’em down, Swift.’”

Evening the series, Virginia Tech has to turn its attention to the game-three rubber-match at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Griffin Stieg will likely get the starting nod for the Hokies, and they are in a very good spot as they look to take the series.

Stanford has been all over the place with their starters compared to who they've been starting for most of the year, so there's no telling who they'll start tomorrow.