Why Virginia Tech Helped Their Postseason Chances With Their Series Win Over Cal

Have the Hokies played their way back into postseason contention after their series win over Cal?

You might not be aware, but Virginia Tech has been one of the hottest teams in the ACC over the past couple of weeks. The Hokies have won three consecutive ACC series, the most recently against Cal and before that, Pittsburgh and NC State. The pitching has improved, and the Hokies are playing their best baseball heading into the stretch run of the season.

Virginia Tech has been relevant to the postseason discussion for a number of weeks, but they have worked their way in their over the past month with the series win. After having a record that was below .500 after a tough start to the season, Virginia Tech is now 25-21 and 13-14 in the ACC. They have one ACC series remaining and if they can finish the season strong, they can find their way into a regional this postseason.

Their efforts have not gone unnoticed nationally either. D1Baseball's Kendall Rogers wrote today that with their series win over the Golden Bears, Virginia Tech greatly helped their postseason cause this weekend:

"One of the bigger concerns we’ve had about the Hokies throughout the projections process has been the overall record, and that has continued to improve with VT rattling off three-straight series wins. The Hokies took two of three from California on the road this past weekend, and are up a few spots in the RPI to 36 with a 13-14 league record. Should the Hokies win the final regular season series against Clemson at home, it would be a sizable surprise if they are omitted for the postseason field."

Looking ahead

There are a few resume-building opportunities left for the Hokies this season. Coming up this week, they have a midweek non-conference game vs Liberty, which is one of the best mid-major teams in the country this year, two games against UNCG, a midweek game against Marshall, and then theirlast ACC series against Clemson, who has been a big disappointment this season. While midweeks are not weighted as heavily as weekend series, every win matters for Virginia Tech at this point if they want to get into the postseason.

I think a 6-1 finish to the season and a strong showing in the ACC Tournament could be good enough to get the Hokies into the field of 64. This team is playing its best baseball right now and has played against the No. 6 rated strength of schedule according to D1Baseball. If the Hokies can manage to get 30 wins and perform well in the postseason tournament, I think they have their case.