By Matt Jones, sports editor
About a week before their season opener against Bradley, Virginia Tech’s Andrew Aizenstadt, a transfer from Division III Babson College, previewed his redshirt-senior year.
“At Babson, I’d pitch against a really good team maybe twice a year, and I’d get really hyped up for that game, then the rest of the season just go through it,” he said. “Here, I have to be focused every single game.”
Facing the nation’s No. 6 team in Miami Sunday, Aizenstadt brought that focus and a little more, as he went eight-plus innings of three-hit baseball in the Hokies 3-2 walk-off win to silence the bats of the Hurricanes, as well as the critics.
Coming off two-straight sub-par starts against Florida State and Boston College, Sunday Aizenstadt looked like the pitcher many thought he would be coming into the season. His pitching coach, Pat Mason, was very happy to see Aizenstadt put it all together.
“Andrew had struggled the last couple weekends, and it was gut-check time for him,” Mason said. “He showed a lot of leadership and a lot of character. It was awesome, just awesome.”
Working almost solely off his fastball, Aizenstadt allowed just one ball to reach the outfield through the first five innings — a single by Miami’s Chantz Mack. When he was finished, Aizenstadt had recorded a career high seven strikeouts.
“It was a lot of fun,” Aizenstadt said. “I never really got a feeling for my second pitch, so I just had to work the corners. The defense behind me was incredible.”
The game’s winning hit, a single with the bases loaded off Miami closer E.J. Encinosa by freshman Mark Zagunis in the ninth inning, gave the Hokies their 18th come-from-behind win of the season. Zagunis also caught all eight innings from Aizenstadt behind the plate.
“He made my job easy behind the plate,” Zagunis said. “He threw the ball over, hit his spots all day, and I just caught them. He gave up a couple hits and did a great job. His curveball was a little shaky, so he just got ahead with his fastball and they couldn’t catch up with it today.”
Leading the game 1-0 courtesy of a Brendon Hayden solo home run in the third inning, Aizenstadt was given the opportunity to finish the game in the ninth. After walking the leadoff batter, Hughes signaled for his closer Jake Joyce to enter the game.
“I hit a wall,” Aizenstadt said. “I just got gassed. I made a couple pitches on that kid just a bit outside. The kid just wasn’t swinging that at bat. I just got a little gassed.”
Head coach Pete Hughes, who watched Aizenstadt last just two-thirds of an inning two weeks ago at Florida State, said the key for Aizenstadt is his frame of mind.
“He keeps grinding mentally to get right on the mound,” Hughes said. “He has the stuff, and all the guys have the ability to perform, but you have to grind to get yourself there mechanically right. I really wanted to give him the opportunity to win that with a complete game and that’s why we ran it back out there. He was really good, and I’m happy for him.”
Aizenstadt said he has been working on that.
“That’s what I’ve kind of been working on a lot, not letting the game kind of get to me,” Aizenstadt said. “Kind of stay calm, and coach Mason was great every inning, keeping me calm in the dugout.”
Mason, who along with the other coaches recruited Aizenstadt for his redshirt-senior, said he told his 6-foot-5 right hander before the season that this
“He had an opportunity to go play pro ball, and you can tell with his talent that opportunity is deserving,” Mason said. “We recruited him with the promise that not only the experience but the exposure that you get in this conference, it’s going to be rewarding. He took advantage of that today.”
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The Hokies, who took 2-of-3 against Miami, will move up in college baseball’s RPI after this weekend’s performance.
Hughes, who constantly watches the rankings and standings of his team, see’s this weekend’s series as a boost all around.
“We needed to, we really needed to beat a quality opponent,” Hughes said. “I told our guys that this series is the perfect recipe for our team right now. We need to beat a quality opponent, we need to get our RPI going and we need to get back in the race in the ACC. Miami coming to town was at the perfect time, but that’s easier said than done. You have to go out there and perform and play in tough games and tight games and get big hits and big performances. We did that, and I think it’s really going to give our group a boost with some much-needed confidence. I just like the way we played in tight games; I think that shows some toughness with our team.”
Prior to the season, Hughes and members of his team expressed that their goal was to make the College World Series in Omaha. It doesn’t sound like that goal has changed.
“We’re just going to keep it going,” Zagunis said. “It’s good to get hot at this part of the season. We struggled a little bit early in the year, but it’s better to get hot at the end and keep it going.”
Hughes went on to say that the confidence his team gained from the wins was probably the biggest part of the wins.
“Most importantly it gives our guys confidence, because we’re good baseball players and we just need a win to legitimize that in their head,” he said. “Our guys know they’re a good team now, but my biggest concern is our health.”
The injuries Tech has sustained are a whole other issue.
Ronnie Shaban, who is playing with an injured hamstring, is 30 percent in that leg. He will continue to play, but Hughes is monitoring him closely. Another senior, Jake Atwell, will be getting the cast taken off his fractured right hand, and Hughes is hopeful that he’ll have him back in a week or two.
“He’s close enough that the doctors are doctors are going to say “you can’t do anymore damage,’” Hughes said. “When they say that, then we’re going and he’s going to have to manage pain. Hopefully they’ll say that.”
Friday starting pitcher Joe Mantiply exited his start against Miami after just 4.2 innings with arm soreness. Marc Zecchino, who went 4.1 innings Saturday, is also dealing with some arm issues. Hughes said he was still sore after his start. Manny Martir, who came out of the bullpen Friday night, is in the same boat as the other two.
“There’s our Friday, Saturday and Sunday guys to start the season, all hurt right now, day-to-day,” Hughes said.
Catcher Chad Morgan, who had a concussion at Florida State, is getting better Hughes said. He hopes to have Morgan cleared tomorrow.
“Monday’s seem like the biggest day in our program because that’s when everybody see’s the doctor,” Hughes said.
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Zagunis, a true freshman, continues to impress all his coaches and teammates.
“My exact words to coach (Hughes) when the game ended were “that wasn’t a freshman hitting,’” Mason said. “He’s not a freshman catcher, and he’s just way beyond his years when it comes to caving to pressure or anything along those lines. He doesn’t think that way; he challenges himself to succeed every time.”
With his walk in the eighth inning, Zagunis extended his reached base streak to 30 games in a row. He’s now batting .363, has 12 steals and has just three errors behind the plate.
His game-winning hit showed Hughes a lot.
“(He) was like a five year veteran at bat to get the game winning hit, fouling off pitches and keeping his two-strike approach and being clutch winning the game for us,” Hughes said.
When he came to the plate in the ninth inning, Zagunis battled to a 2-2 count before lining a ball by the first baseman.
“I was a little bit nervous but anxious too,” Zagunis said. “I wasn’t trying to do too much, just put a ball in play, try and put a ball in the outfield and I did. (Encinosa) seemed rattled, but he settled in against me. I fouled off a couple balls with two strikes, and kept fighting. Just a nice easy swing and it found a hole.”
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Pete Hughes
On Andrew Rash’s struggles: “He’s tough enough to get himself going, and he’s team-oriented enough to get himself going. He’s just so focused on winning, and if he can’t swing it…yesterday he cuts a ball off in the gap and saves a run. He gets an infield in in the eighth inning (Saturday) to get us a run. He’ll help us win with his leadership and with his legs and his defense and then he’ll figure out the hitting.”
On if he was worried about Shaban celebrating after the game on his hamstring: “I was. That last at bat, I gave him one shot to elevate the ball in the outfield or else I was going to pinch-hit him (Kyle) Wernicki to bunt. I don’t know how he does it, but he’s doing everything on one leg.”
On winning some walk-off games: “To get a series win, we needed to beat a quality opponent in a series. We hadn’t done that this year, and their RPI indicated that we needed to get a quality win. I want to win every game and I want to go to the national tournament so we can get hot and go to Omaha. You don’t do that without beating a Miami or another formidable opponent in our ACC. That was huge, it got us going nationally, and it gets us back going in the ACC race. Most importantly it gets our guys feeling good about themselves and we’ve got a confident team right now. We just need to get healthy.”
On his message to his team before the bottom of the ninth: “The message was I don’t care what happened last half inning. The only thing I care about is what’s going to happen after this half. Let’s stay positive, let’s stay focused on what we have to do, not what we didn’t get accomplished. I think to our guys’ credit, they did exactly that. That’s a tough bunch right there.”