In the first road series of the season, the Charlotte baseball team was swept by No. 11 Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va., on March 3-5. With the loss, the 49ers fall to 5-7 on the season.
Brandon Stahlman and Cam Fisher recorded solid performances over the weekend despite the sweep. Stahlman went 4-12, and Fisher went 3-9 with one home run and three RBIs in the series opener.
Game one
The contest was a 10-inning thriller that saw the 49ers take the early lead in the first inning. Will Butcher doubled to right center scoring Fisher and Jake Cunningham.
Stahlman hit one to shortstop, advancing Butcher to third. Butcher then scored on a Hokies error extending the lead to 3-0.
The Hokies cut into the 49er lead in the bottom of the first as Eddie Eisert singled to drive in Carson DeMartini and Chris Cannizzaro, making it a 3-2 game.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Hokies tied the game up 3-3 after a sacrifice RBI from David Bryant scored Garrett Michel.
In the top of the third inning, the 49ers regained a 4-3 lead after Josh Patrick singled to bring Butcher home. In the bottom of the inning, Michel homered for the Hokies, making the score 6-4.
The 49ers answered back as Kaden Hopson homered to right field in the fourth, tying the game at six apiece.
The Hokies created separation in the bottom of the fourth, scoring four runs and pushing the lead to 10-6. A sacrifice fly started things as Bryant came home to score. Then, Jack Hurley recorded a three-run home over the right field fence to end the scoring run.
After a scoreless fifth and sixth inning, Stahlman singled up the middle to score Fisher, making the score 10-7. A wild pitch by the 49ers in the bottom of the seventh scored Hurley as the Hokies pushed the lead to 11-7.
The 49ers fought back in the top of the eighth, tying the game at 11. Calvert Clark scored on a Cunningham sacrifice fly. Fisher then hit a three-run homer to right field to tie the game 11-11.
Neither team could get things going in the ninth inning, and the game moved into extra innings. The Hokies sealed the game in the bottom of the tenth when Cannizzaro hit a two-run homer.
Virginia Tech took the first game 13-11.
Game two
The second game of the series was another close contest with both teams fighting for control.
Virginia Tech started the scoring in the second inning. Gehrig Ebel scored on a throwing error, and then Cannizzaro singled to left field to make it 2-0.
In the fourth inning, the Hokies tacked on two more runs as Martin hit an RBI triple to left field. Cannizzaro followed things up with a double extending the lead to 4-0.
The 49ers pulled closer in the fifth inning as they scored three runs. A Hopson single scored Jack Dragum and recorded Charlotte's first run of the day. Austin Knight capped the inning off with a two-run homer to cut the lead to 4-3.
In the bottom of the fifth, Ebel singled to score Eisert pushing the Hokie lead to two. In the bottom of the sixth, Cannizzaro finished the game with a home run, producing the final score of 6-3.
Game three
The Hokies took an early lead within the first three innings in the series finale and would not relent. Hurley was hit by a pitch that advanced all runners and scored the contest's first run. Carson Jones doubled, bringing home all three runners on base and extending the lead to four.
An RBI grounder scored Christian Martin in the second to push the lead to 5-0. Michel then hit a two-run homer to make the score 7-0.
The 49ers got on the board when Cunningham homered in the fourth to cut the lead to 7-3.
In the next two innings, the Hokies scored four runs to push the game out of reach 11-3. In the seventh inning, Eduardo Malinowski homered for the Hokies making it a nine-run lead.
The final action for the 49ers came in the ninth inning when Spencer Nolan was walked, and Dante DeFranco scored.
The Hokies swept with a 12-4 win in the series' final game.
Next up
Charlotte will be back in action on Wednesday, March 8, when they take on the University of North Carolina at Wilmington at Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis, N.C. The contest will be available to stream on CUSAtv. The first pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.