LYNCHBURG, Va. (Interstat) — Virginia Tech used a balanced attack of early power and timely hitting to defeat Liberty 8-4 on Wednesday night at Liberty Baseball Stadium, salvaging a split of the season series between the in-state rivals.

The Hokies improved to 26-21, while the Flames fell to 35-14. Liberty had won the first meeting 11-4 on April 7 in Blacksburg.

Virginia Tech struck in the top of the first inning. Leadoff hitter S. Grube tripled to right field and scored on a groundout by catcher Henry Cooke. The Hokies added two more runs in the third inning when Cooke launched a homer to left field, driving in E. Gibson, who had doubled.

The visitors extended the lead in the fifth inning. Shortstop Pete Daniel homered to right-center field to make it 4-0. Later in the frame, with runners on first and second, E. Ball singled to left field, scoring Grube for a 5-0 advantage.

Virginia Tech appeared to break the game open in the seventh inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, S. Gates singled through the right side, driving in two runs to make it 7-0. The Hokies added another run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Ball that scored Daniel.

Liberty mounted its only threat in the bottom of the seventh. Down 7-0, the Flames loaded the bases with no outs on three consecutive singles from E. Swofford, L. Scilley and K. Hvidsten. Center fielder Josh Campos then doubled down the left-field line, clearing the bases with three runs to cut the deficit to 7-3. After a pitching change, T. Marsh singled to shortstop, moving Campos to third. Campos scored on a throwing error by Daniel, making it 8-4. The Flames had the tying run at the plate, but reliever Preston Crowl induced a groundout to end the inning.

Crowl then retired Liberty in order in the eighth and ninth innings, striking out three. He earned the save.

Madden Clement started for Virginia Tech and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out two before being relieved by E. Grim. Logan Eisenreich and B. Roe also saw action before Crowl entered.

Liberty managed only five hits, all coming in the seventh inning. Campos’ double was the biggest blow. Starting pitcher Kaleb Smith took the loss after allowing two runs in relief.

Virginia Tech’s offense collected 11 hits, with Cooke, Ball and Gates each driving in multiple runs. Daniel homered and scored twice.

The game marked the Hokies’ third straight win after they dropped the opener of a three-game series at California last weekend. Liberty had won five of its previous six games entering Wednesday.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Liberty 7, Virginia Tech 6, and its ELO system gave the Flames a 52.60 percent probability to win.