Virginia Tech baseball not satisfied with just making ACC tournament

Virginia Tech baseball coach Pete Hughes is past the point of satisfaction with the Hokies’ first ACC Tournament appearance in three years.

The Hokies also have put themselves in consideration for an NCAA Tournament bid, but Hughes wants more than that.

“I’m thinking about it all the time,” said Hughes in a Monday phone interview. “Campaigning, too. I think we need to be in host discussions and we’re not.

“That aggravates me.”

Hughes’ contention is that Tech (35-19, 15-14 ACC) has earned the right to play at home on the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.

“You look at our resumé and, say, [Clemson’s,] and it’s very comparable,” Hughes said. “It depends on how many home sites the NCAA committee wants to give out for the ACC.

“I don’t know if they’re going to give out six, but if we’re the No. 1 league in the country and all eight teams in the ACC Tournament have an RPI below 20, then maybe it is the year you give out six host sites to that league.”

Clearly, Tech could help its case with a strong performance starting today at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, where the Hokies begin play at 3 p.m against sixth-ranked Virginia (45-9, 22-8).

Tech and UVa are in Pool B with Florida State (44-12, 20-10) and Georgia Tech (33-23, 15-15).

Although the Cavaliers had the second-best record in conference play, percentage points behind Coastal Division champion North Carolina, Florida State is the No. 2 seed by virtue of its Atlantic Division title.

Virginia is seeded third overall, Virginia Tech is sixth and Georgia Tech is seventh.

“It’s a bear,” Hughes said. “We’ve got all we can handle in Pool B.”

The Hokies finished third in the Coastal Division after being picked fifth in a coaches’ poll before the season.

They were one of two ACC teams to take a series from Virginia, then ranked No. 5, during the regular season.

“Before Virginia beat Carolina, we were the only team in the country to win two series against top-five opponents,” said Hughes, whose Hokies earlier had beaten then-No. 4 Florida State twice in Blacksburg.

Virginia swept Florida State when the Seminoles were No. 5 and took two out of three from No. 2 North Carolina last weekend.

The Hokies come off a two-game sweep of Wake Forest in a three-game series that was curtailed by inclement weather.

UVa coach Brian O’Connor said he exchanged texts with Hughes, a good friend, throughout the weekend.

“We were both just trying to figure out where we would end up in these brackets,” Hughes said. “To be honest, I wasn’t excited that we were playing Virginia, and I know Brian’s not excited to be playing us.”

Likely starters today are freshman left-hander Brandon Waddell (5-1, 4.00 earned-run average) for the Cavaliers and senior lefty Joe Mantiply (5-0, 3.14) for the Hokies.

“Game 1 is pivotal,” Hughes said. “And if you can win your first two games, depending on what else happens, then you can gameplan what you want to do with Game 3. With pool play, you might find you’re in the championship round at 2-0. But, you can’t have those decisions if you don’t win Game 1.”

As late as April 20, the Hokies were 7-12 in ACC play but went 8-2 over their final 10 regular-season conference games.

“Ultimately, your goal is to go to Omaha,” said Hughes, referring to the site of the College World Series, “but you’re not going to Omaha if you don’t make your conference tournament. You’re not going to the national tournament [in that case] without some starpower.

“North Carolina did that three years ago, but it’s really tough to do that.”

Tech currently has the No. 15 RPI, according to the NCAA. Independent analyst Warren Nolan has the Hokies with the No. 4 strength of schedule.

“With our community, people would go crazy if we hosted a regional here,” Hughes said. “What a tremendous advantage on the way to Omaha to play in your home park! And, we’re good there.”

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