Hokies wait for berth in NCAAs
0 Comments | Roanoke Times & World News, May 31, 2010 | by Mark Berman
The ACC baseball tournament gave Virginia Tech a shot of confidence, but it also raised a few questions about whether the Hokies are good enough to make a run in the NCAA playoffs.
Two outs away from advancing to the ACC final, the sixth-seeded Hokies failed to close out the win and instead fell to seventh- seeded North Carolina State 10-9 in 10 innings in a game that did not end until almost 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
“This is really hard to swallow because our goal was to win an ACC championship,” left fielder Andrew Rash said.
The 18th-ranked Hokies (38-20) will now turn their attention to the NCAA tournament. They are a safe bet to receive an at-large bid today when the field is announced at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Coach Pete Hughes expects his team to be a No. 2 seed in its four- team regional. Tech has not been to the NCAA tournament since 2000.
The Hokies are optimistic they can make a splash in the NCAAs. They beat third-seeded and 11th-ranked Georgia Tech in their ACC tournament opener Thursday and defeated second-seeded and 25th- ranked Clemson on Friday.
“It’s a confidence booster,” said catcher Steve Domecus, who hit a two-run homer Saturday and tagged a runner out at home. “It’s telling us we can win a regional, go out and win a super regional.”
“We’re a confident team,” said Rash, who had three hits and four RBIs. “We know that we can play with the best and we’re a really good team
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