Virginia Tech doesn't expect to strike out in its efforts to get its game with the New York Yankees televised in this area.

Because of limited seating, Tech is planning to allow only Tech students, faculty, staff and families of the April 16 shooting victims to attend the Yankees' March 18 exhibition against the Hokies at English Field. So Tech has been talking to TV and radio stations around the state, as well as to Comcast SportsNet, about broadcasting the 3 p.m. game. The game would air locally on WDBJ-7.

The Yankees, who offered to play the game in the wake of the shootings, have granted permission to Tech and are working to get Major League Baseball approval, according to both Tech associate athletic director Tim East and Yankees media relations director Jason Zillo.

"We don't have anything worked out yet, but we feel confident it'll be televised [in Virginia]," East said.

The Yankees will be televising the game on their YES Network, a Northeast-regional cable channel they own. The channel is only available in this area on DirecTV.

TV stations in Virginia -- as well as CSN if it is involved -- would be airing a simulcast of the YES Network telecast.

Virginia Tech would produce its own radio broadcast.

Tech also wants permission for TV stations to rerun the broadcast that night for the fans who will be at work that afternoon.

ISP Sports, which owns Tech's media rights, has been contacting its Hokie radio and TV affiliates to see if they want to carry the game.

"We're going to have a pretty good package, hopefully, of television and/or radio," said Rick Barakat, general manager of ISP's Tech network.

TV stations in six Virginia cities, including WDBJ, carry Tech's weekly highlights show, "Virginia Tech Sports Today."

"We'd be more than happy to [air the game]," WDBJ program director Mike Bell said.

Bell said WDBJ would also rerun it that night if permitted.

English Field has only about 1,000 chair-back seats, but Tech will bring in portable bleachers to accommodate as many as 2,500 additional fans.

Fans can also sit on the adjacent hills. Tech has begun carving out amphitheater-type terraces into the hill on the left-field line to make more room there. The projected capacity of 5,000 also includes standing room.

"We realize there's going to be a lot of interest in it, and unfortunately the baseball stadium only holds so many seats, so we want to do our best to make it available to as many people as possible, whether it's television, radio," East said.

If CSN airs the game, it would be in addition to individual stations such as WDBJ. CSN also carries "Virginia Tech Sports Today," as well as the "Hokie Playback" football reruns. But whether it would be given permission to air the Yankees game, given its broader reach, remains to be seen.