Virginia Tech SS Pete Daniel To Return For Senior Season In 2027

All but one of Virginia Tech's six routine starters with eligiblity left are confirmed to return.

Virginia Tech Athletics

Virginia Tech baseball announced this afternoon on social media that shortstop Pete Daniel will return for his senior season. Daniel, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound prospect from Nashville, Tennessee, spent two seasons at Belmont before transferring to Virginia Tech. Daniel is draft-eligible but chose to return to the Hokies after a successful season in Blacksburg.

𝙋𝙚𝙩𝙚'𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 '𝟐𝟕 🔨

≫ @PeteDaniel13 #Hokies 🦃⚾️ pic.twitter.com/jL9ftPMYCR

— Virginia Tech Baseball (@HokiesBaseball) June 11, 2026

Daniel hit .296 over two seasons at Belmont, logging 124 hits, 26 doubles eight home runs and 46 RBI. As a sophomore, he batted .360 with a .521 slugging percentage, cobbling together 15 doubles, five homers and 32 RBI. For his efforts, he was named to the 2025 All-Missouri Valley FIrst Team at third base.

In his first year with the Hokies, Daniel slashed at a .327/.434/.902 rate, logging 52 hits, nine doubles and two home runs. His .327 batting average clip sat second on the team, only behind fellow junior Ethan Gibson (.329). Daniel's .468 on-base percentage paced the team. The junior shortstop committed a team-high 11 errors, though he also stole a joint-team-high eight bases. In 15 of Virginia Tech's last 16 games, Daniel occupied a batting slot in the back half of the Hokies' order, save for the season finale vs. No. 1 UCLA, where he batted leadoff.

Daniel compiled 16 multi-hit games in his first season in Blacksburg, including four outings with three or more knocks. Against Stanford on March 27, the junior went 5-for-5 at the plate, driving in two runs and finishing with five total bases in a narrow 9-7 loss. Two weeks later against Boston College, he again went 4-for-5 at the plate, drawing a walk and coming across home twice in a 9-8 win over the Eagles.

In the second round of the ACC Tournament against Notre Dame, Daniel went 2-for-5 in a 17-10 win over the Fighting Irish. In the Los Angeles Regional opener against Cal Poly on May 29, Daniel went 2-for-3 and was the lone Hokie to tab multiple hits against the Mustangs, who went on to advance to the Morgantown Super Regionals. Daniel went on an 11-game hitting streak from May 2-May 29 that wrapped up with a 0-for-4 day against UCLA in the 6-5 season-ending loss.

Daniel has one year of eligibility remaining, and he is the fifth routine starter to announce his return to Tech, joining senior infielder Ethan Gibson, junior right fielder/first baseman Sam Grube, junior utility player Hudson Lutterman and junior left fielder Nick Locurto. Of the nine routine starters, catcher Henry Cooke, third baseman Owen Petrich and center fielder Sam Gates are the only ones without eligibility remaining. At the time of writing, second baseman Ethan Ball remains the lone regular starter with eligibility left whose status for next season has not been confirmed.