After Evan Blanco, No. 18 Virginia wins against Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash opener.

Maybe it's because Evan Blanco tamed a rival, or maybe it's because meaningful length from the starters gives hope for what Virginia can do this postseason.

“That was special,” sophomore left-hander Blanco said. Blanco was the first member of the Hoos to pitch in the eighth inning this season, earning a standing ovation for his pitch in No. 18 UVa's 7-3 series opener. A win over Virginia Tech on Thursday night at DeSharune Park.

“To be honest, I wasn't expecting much,” Blanco said of all the applause. “But it was great to be a part of it.”

Cavaliers coach Brian O'Connor said. [Blanco] I sat down and made a big pitch. It was great. That's what we need, and that's what leaders need to do. He stepped up in the biggest moment for us. ”

Although Blanco wasn't overly dominant, he was especially tough, showing an ability to navigate situations with runners on the bases and perform at his best against the Hokies' core.

Virginia Tech's 3-4-5 hitter was 1-for-10 in all four meetings Thursday against Blanco, who is facing Hokies star third baseman and projected first-round MLB draft pick Carson. -Demartini retired.

“[Blanco] We pitched through a lot of traffic,” Tech coach John Zefuk said. “But he threw strikes and was effective. He was good.”

The Hokies (32-18 ACC, 14-14 ACC) left nine total basemen on base against the Cavaliers (38-14 ACC, 16-12 ACC), and DeMartini left four. Blanco put a runner on the ball in the first inning and grounded out, in the third inning he grounded out with two runners on, and in the seventh inning he grounded out with a runner on.

He said the plan for Virginia Tech's strong left-handed batting lineup was to put fastballs and sliders low in the strike zone.

“I'll tell you what Blanco did tonight. It was his fastball execution,” O'Connor said. “It was in the zone, but when he wanted to go up the zone, the zone went up. But it was in the bottom of the corner zone, and his slider against the guys in the middle of the lineup. It went well.”

Blanco (6-3) held the Hokies to just two earned runs and five hits in 7.1 innings, which was good enough on a night when the Hokies extended their lead with three home runs.

Freshman third baseman Eric Becker hit a two-run shot in the second inning after Hoos first baseman and No. 4 hitter Henry Ford was given a leadoff home run, which was hit so far that opposing outfielders could not recover it. It was confirmed. Hokies left fielder Sam Tackett reached over the fence and made a great grab to keep the game scoreless.

But with two outs, Becker smashed a long ball from Tech starter Brett Renfroe into the middle of the scoreboard, over the right-field wall and ignited UVa for a 2-0 lead. The explosion reached an estimated height of 419 feet.

“This is a pretty important series,” Becker said. “In our last game before the postseason, our team is eager to score first and a two-out RBI would be even better.”

With the ACC and NCAA tournaments on the horizon and Tech heading squarely into the postseason, UVa entered Thursday looking to add to its resume as a potential regional host.

Going into the series, Baseball America and D1 Baseball projected the Cavaliers as the host, entering them as the 14th and 15th seeds, respectively. Baseball America listed the Hokies as one of the final four teams in the NCAA Tournament, and D1 Baseball listed Tech as one of the final four teams.

After Becker's home run, UVa continued to accumulate.

Trailing by three runs in the third inning, Ford hit a two-run homer to Jacob Ference's right-field seats and hit a line drive single to start the rally. That increased UVa's lead to 4-0, and Henry Godbout's RBI put Harrison Diderwick on base with a double, pushing the advantage to 5-0.

Diderwick pitched up in the fifth inning and hit a ball over the right-field fence, becoming the fourth player in history to hit at least 20 home runs in a season. He is now three home runs away from the Cavaliers single-season home run record of 23, set last year by Jake Geloff.

Diderwick, a sophomore, said, “I don't think so,” regarding whether he thinks he can hit 20 home runs this season. “My goal is to hit the ball hard every at-bat and have a great season. I was lucky enough to hit 20.”

After allowing two unearned runs in the Hokies' game against the Cavaliers Blanco in the fourth inning, Diderwick went 3-for-3 with a home run, a stolen base and three runs scored to extend UVa's lead to 6-2.

But Diderwick, a southpaw and roommate, said that was not the case, and it was a thrill to see Blanco play behind on Thursday. Blanco only had two strikeouts against the Hokies, but he was able to keep the defense involved.

“You can keep the whole defense locked down,” Didawicz said. “Strikeouts are good, but they can also put defenses to sleep. So if you can get quick outs and make the defense work, that's a good thing.”

Notes: Friday's game between the Hoos and Hokies had its start time moved up to noon to overcome forecasted inclement weather.The contest was originally scheduled to be held at 6 p.m.