
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 25, 1993                   TAG: 9304250245
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Staff report
DATELINE: LOUISVILLE, KY.                                LENGTH: Medium

TECH SWEEPS LOUISVILLE

Someone must have told Virginia Tech's baseball team that it was career day Saturday at the University of Louisville.

The Hokies hammered nine home runs and rapped 27 hits to rout the Cardinals 33-6 in the first game of a Metro Conference doubleheader. Tech then scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to win the second game 9-8.

In the opener, Dee Dalton of Roanoke smacked two home runs in the second inning, and Mike Reedy and Popeye Smith also homered as Tech started the fireworks with an eight-run inning. After an 11-run third inning, the only suspense was whether the Hokies (27-10 overall, 7-4 Metro) would set a school record for most home runs in one game. They didn't - the record is 10 - but there were enough personal highlights to fill a scrapbook.

Second baseman Fred Hatfield was 5-for-5, belted two homers and scored a school-record seven runs; Reedy hit for the cycle, went 4-for-5 and drove in four runs; Dalton went 4-for-5 with two homers and a double; and David Fitt and Justin Dobson drove in four runs apiece.

All that firepower made a winner of Ron Preston (5-3) who went the distance.

In the second game, the Cardinals (13-25, 2-10) displayed some long-ball prowess of their own. With one out in the first inning, four consecutive Louisville batters slugged home runs.

The Cards led 6-1 going into the fifth inning, when Bo Durkac cracked a two-run homer and J.R. Hawkins yanked a solo shot to bring the Hokies to 6-4.

Tech scored again in the fifth to pull to 6-5, and Reedy homered in the top of the seventh to make it 6-6. Dalton singled to drive in a run and Denny Hedspeth drove home two more with a single to put the Hokies on top 9-6.

Back-to-back homers in the bottom of the seventh brought Louisville to 9-8, but Mark Thompson relieved and retired the side to save the victory for Jamie Patteson (5-0).

Dalton capped a hitter's dream day by going 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBI.

The teams will conclude their three-game series today.

by CNB