BLACKSBURG — The Virginia Tech baseball team kept hope alive Sunday.
The Hokies banged out 13 hits in a 13-4 win over Miami at Atlantic Union Bank Park, salvaging the final game of a three-game series.
Tech (32-17, 14-13 ACC), which snapped a three-game losing streak overall, is trying to make the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years.
“Everybody needs hope,” Tech coach John Szefc said. “This win gives us a little bit of hope. … Realistic hope, not like a-wing-and-a-prayer hope.”
But Miami (23-27, 10-17) won the series, hurting Tech’s resume.
“It doesn’t help,” Szefc said. “But it’s not over yet.
“We’re all right. … Winning today, … we’re above .500 in the league, which is usually the key to getting an NCAA bid.”
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Tech has lost five consecutive ACC series.
“Friday and Saturday sucked,” said Henry Cooke, who had two hits and three RBIs on Sunday. “Feels good to go out on a win.
“We’re just in a little bit of a rut. We should have … won four out of the five series.”
The Hokies have lost 11 of their last 15 ACC games.
“This league … can be brutal at times. And then you’ll have a day like today,” Szefc said.
Tech has only four regular-season games left, including a Tuesday home game with James Madison (30-20) and a three-game series this week at 10th-ranked Virginia.
“You’re going to go into Virginia and do the best you can,” Szefc said. “I’d feel pretty good about [an NCAA bid] if we finish the regular season at 16-14 [in the ACC],” Szefc said.
The Hokies have already clinched a berth in next week’s ACC tournament.
Last Wednesday morning, Baseball America projected Tech would make the NCAAs as the No. 3 seed in a four-team regional hosted by East Carolina. That same morning, D1baseball.com projected Tech would make the field as the No. 3 seed in a regional hosted by Tennessee.
But Tech has gone 1-3 since then, including a defeat at Liberty last Wednesday night.
Miami beat Tech 8-6 on Friday. Tech led 6-5 after six innings, but Miami tied the game in the seventh and belted two homers in the ninth.
The Hurricanes beat Tech 7-5 on Saturday night. Tech led 4-2 after five innings, but the Hurricanes erupted for five runs in the sixth.
“The other two games we played [against Miami] were close games. … We didn’t finish them,” Szefc said.
“We know we’re better than … how we played on Friday and Saturday, so we just came out today with a lot of energy,” Tech reliever Wyatt Parliament said.
Tech’s bullpen was more impressive Sunday.
“We pitched better today,” Szefc said. “Anytime you can hold those guys to four runs, it’s good.”
Parliament (4-3), the third of Tech’s five pitchers Sunday, threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to get the win. He allowed one hit and no walks while striking out five.
“We got really good relief from him,” Szefc said.
“Just pounding the zone, just throwing strikes,” Parliament said.
Jordan Little pitched the final three innings for Tech, allowing two hits, no runs and no walks while striking out five. He earned his seventh save. He is the first Hokie with at least that many saves in a season since Clark Labitan had 11 in 2013.
“Little came in and did a really good job,” Szefc said.
Tech played Sunday without Chris Cannizzaro (.346), who suffered a high ankle sprain while playing center field Saturday night.
“I hope we’ll have him for Charlottesville; I don’t know. Those things usually don’t heal too fast,” Szefc said.
Carson DeMartini belted a two-run homer to give Tech a 2-0 lead in the first inning. It was his 20th homer of the year. He became the first Hokie with at least that many homers in a season since former major leaguer Kevin Barker belted 20 in 1996.
Griffin Stieg pitched the first three innings for the Hokies. It was his first appearance since he left an April 28 game with a strained muscle in his back.
“That’s important, to have a guy like that back going into Charlottesville,” Szefc said.
With Tech up 3-2, Parliament replaced Tech reliever Brady Kirtner with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth. After Jacoby Long tied the game with a sacrifice fly, Parliament struck out Edgardo Villegas to escape further damage.
Sam Tackett hit an RBI infield single in the bottom of the fourth to give Tech a 4-3 lead.
The Hokies added two runs in the fifth to extend the lead to 6-3. Clay Grady hit an infield single, advanced on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly and scored when Gehrig Ebel reached base on an error. After Eddie Micheletti Jr. was hit by a pitch, Cooke hit an RBI single.
Tech added six runs in the sixth for a 12-3 cushion. The barrage included a solo homer by Eddie Eisert, an RBI infield single by Ben Watson and a two-RBI double from Cooke.
Watson finished with three hits and two RBIs.
