The next time Virginia Tech has a baseball victory to match its upset of No. 1-ranked Miami this past Saturday, maybe the Hokies will have a little more time to savor it.

No sooner did the Hokies hold off the Hurricanes 7-6, than they had to get ready for the second game of a doubleheader.

Miami prevented Tech from winning the series, prevailing 9-2 in Saturday's second game, but the opener served as validation for second-year coach Pete Hughes.

"Our program is right on schedule," said Hughes, whose team improved its record to 22-30 on Tuesday with a 10-5 victory over William and Mary, which came to Blacksburg with a 35-15 record.

"I think we had something like 17 guys play their first college baseball game this year. If anybody expects us to be in the upper echelon of the ACC with that many first-time players, they're crazy. It's called a building process.

"If we're having the same conversation two years from now, then we're not doing the right things."

Second baseman Austin Wates, a freshman from St. Christopher's in Richmond, knocked in the go-ahead run against Miami. Classmate Justin Wright, a 5-foot-9, 171-pound left-hander, pitched a complete game and raised his record to 3-0 while striking out seven.

"He kept getting guys out in the middle of the week and getting guys out in the middle innings, so we bumped him up to the weekend," Hughes said. "He pitched well enough at Clemson two weeks ago to beat those guys, but we had to pull him after it rained."

Wates, who hit in the clean-up spot, leads the team in batting average at .341.

"We had five first-year players in the lineup when that game ended," Hughes said. "That has a lot of significance, I think."

The Hokies, out of the running for an ACC Tournament berth with their 5-22 conference record, are in the position of spoiler as Duke (34-17-1, 8-17-1) visits today for a three-game series. A Duke sweep would knock Clemson out of the tournament.

"We have no idea how many Duke has to win or how many times we need to beat 'em to help somebody else," Hughes said.

Recruiting

Former Group AAA state player of the year Tyree Evans from Richmond's George Wythe High School has signed with Maryland after averaging 22.1 points this past season for Motlow (Tenn.) State Community College. Evans, a 6-foot-3 guard, spent time at a New England prep school and two junior colleges and also signed with Cincinnati. He never played with the Bearcats after being charged with rape. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery, according to The Baltimore Sun.

n First, Duke took a commitment from Mason Plumlee, a 6-11 junior from Christ School outside Asheville, N.C. Then, when Stanford coach Trent Johnson resigned to take over the program at LSU, the Blue Devils added Plumlee's 6-9 older brother and Christ School senior, Miles, who was released from a letter-of-intent with the Cardinal.

Duke's success in landing the older Plumlee came at the expense of former Blue Devils' assistant Johnny Dawkins, who was hired to replace Johnson at Stanford.

Destinations

Villanova is the new home for Taylor King, released from his scholarship at Duke after averaging 5.9 points and 2.0 rebounds this past season as a freshman. King, who originally committed to UCLA before his freshman year in high school, played in every game for the Blue Devils but saw his role diminish during the season. He had 43 3-point field goals.

n In another move involving the Wildcats, guard Malcolm Grant will be transferring to Miami after averaging 5.6 points this past season as a freshman for Villanova. Grant, originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., shot 46.6 percent (34-of-73) on 3-pointers but was playing behind two other freshman guards at Villanova.

n After two years at Boston College, Shamari Spears is transferring to UNC Charlotte. Spears averaged nearly 27 minutes for the Eagles and was their leading rebounder (6.1) and third-leading scorer (9.6). Seldom-used BC sophomore Dave Kaba has transferred to Marist, but the Eagles are adding Joe Trapani, a former double-figure scorer at Vermont.

Coaching chatter

Bucknell continues to look for a head coach almost a month after the April 18 resignation of 14-year head coach Pat Flannery. Virginia is fearful that it could lose two-year assistant coach Bill Courtney, who was the captain of the Bison's 1992 team and recently was named to the Bucknell sports hall of fame.

Thin ice

Mike Brown's future as a Virginia football player has been endangered further by his arrest for driving under the influence. Brown did not take part in spring drills after a February arrest on a series of charges that included larceny and possession of marijuana. Another UVa player who faced a larceny charge, freshman linebacker J'Courtney Williams, was booted off the team.

Local update

Chris Hincker from Patrick Henry High played mostly No. 4 singles for the University of Delaware men's tennis team this spring and set a record for singles victories by a Blue Hens freshman while finishing 19-8. Delaware's 10-7 record was its best since 2004-2005.

n Zachary Atkins, a shortstop and first baseman for the baseball team at Giles High School, has signed with Concord University in Athens, W.Va. Concord is talking about using him as a pitcher or first baseman, his American Legion position.