Box Score

BLACKSBURG, Va. — For the second straight day, the baseball team got off to quick start against perennial power Virginia Tech. But for the second straight day, the Hokies rallied for a come-from-behind victory. Virginia Tech won 5-4 on Wednesday when Andrew Rash was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Hokies a two-game sweep.
 
Senior catcher Brandon Lee was 2-for-3 with an RBI to improve his season average to .400, and senior shortstop Marshall Yanzick extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a sixth-inning single.
 
Cornell (9-4) took a three-run lead in the first inning without putting the ball in play. Freshman JD Whetsel and senior Marshall Yanzick drew walks, then senior Brian Billigen was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After a pair of strikeouts, freshman Kevin Tatum and sophomore Ben Swinford drew RBI walks around Lee's run-scoring hit-by-pitch.
 
Tanner McIntyre took over in relief for the Hokies and pitched 5 1/3 innings without surrendering an earned run. The Big Red did manage to extend its lead to four runs when Whetsel went from first to third on a failed pickoff attempt, then scored on a Yanzick sacrifice fly.
 
Cornell freshman Nick Busto worked through five scoreless innings in his first collegiate start, working a pair of 1-2-3 innings and also getting some help in the first and fourth innings when the final out was recorded in a play at home plate. The Hokies chased Busto with one out and runners on first and second in the sixth. After a single to load the bases, Virginia Tech's first run scored on a fielder's choice before a two-run double by Rash.
 
The Hokies (17-6) tied the game with an unearned run in the seventh, then finished the day with its only lead of the game.
 
Cornell stays in the Old Dominion state for a four-game series at Longwood. The teams are slated to open the set at 6 p.m. Thursday, play a twi-night doubleheader on Friday, then wrap up the series at 1 p.m. Saturday.