Virginia Tech vs JMU Baseball Preview And Prediction
Coming off of a 2-1 series win against Rutgers, Virginia Tech (6-1) travels northeast to Harrisonburg to take on James Madison (3-3) in a road midweek matchup.
Virginia Tech is looking for a big win to give themselves some momentum heading into a touch stretch of baseball that is coming up. Here are some keys to the game.
No. 1: Who starts on the mound?
Against ETSU last week, Virginia Tech started Aiden Robertson, who threw four innings of three-run ball in the win. Robertson has had a lot of trouble this season, boasting a 8.44 ERA with eight walks in 5.1 innings of work.
There has been a clear transition period for the junior college transfer, which would point to why the staff wanted to start him against ETSU last week. He didn't have much success against Rutgers over the weekend, recording just one out and surrendering three free passes.
My guess is that he will start against JMU, giving him some more lower competition so that he can continue his to transition to playing D-I baseball.
They could also go in a different direction, giving the nod to a freshman like Tyler Stone or Jake Wise.
No. 2: Can Henry Cooke turn his season around?
Early in the year, Henry Cooke is having a lot of trouble at the plate. He is hitting just .083 with 10 strikeouts on the season. Virginia Tech doesn't have a lot of power in the lineup like they have in years past.
Cooke is one of the team's top power bats, showing the ability to hit the long ball, tallying 16 over his past two seasons. He is also established enough to have been previously ranked as a top 12 catcher in the country per D1Baseball, so he clearly has the ability.
The offense has been OK so far, but if Henry Cooke is able to step up and become the bat that the coaching staff expects him to be, this offense can take a massive step forward.
No. 3: Can Ethan Ball stay hot?
True freshman infielder Ethan Ball has been one of Virginia Tech's best hitters early on the season. Through the first seven games, Ball is slashing .379/.438/.621 with two home runs and six RBI.
Coming into the season, I had higher expectations for ball than most did, but I never expected a start like this. He has shown to be a strong defender with a disciplined approach at the plate.
Ball does have 11 strikeouts, totalling for 61% of his outs, that's pretty typical for a freshman. Coming in, no matter who the recruit is, they will almost always have a glaring hole in their game that will need to be addressed during their true freshman season and their first full offseason as well.
For comparison, in Carson DeMartini's first seven games, exactly 60% of his outs came by way of a strike out. He ended up being a top four round pick in the MLB draft along with helping the Hokies to their first superregional appearance.
If Ethan Ball can continue as the force that he has been, the Hokies will have a superstar.
Prediction
Facing its first road test, Virginia Tech will have a chance to beat a struggling JMU team and move to 7-1, and I think they will.
VT 11 - 3 JMU
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-6a5b43e289498e1daf5a7229ef5b8a73.jpeg "Josh Poslusny")
Joshua Poslusny - who goes by Poz - is a Radford University sophomore in the School of Communication. He graduated from Ocean Springs High School in Mississippi in 2024. He has previously done work for The Tech Lunch Pail, Tech Sideline, and Sons of Saturday, among others. He specializes in baseball coverage, which he has been doing for the last year. He also has experience covering football, basketball, and softball.