Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 4 | March 2020

inside.hokiesports.com 35 Before the game or after , Preston’s Restaurant is a delicious place for a new game-day tradition. Start with our fresh breakfast buffet. Order lunch or dinner from our mouth-watering a la carte menu of seasonal cuisine. And don’t forget the Valley’s best brunch, every Sunday at Preston’s. Make Preston’s Restaurant your game-day tradition. @PrestonsRestaurant @PrestonsIVTSCC 540.231.0120 | www.InnatVirginiaTech.com 901 Prices Fork Rd, Blacksburg, VA 24061 (inside The Inn at Virginia Tech) Reservations recommended. A delicious game-day tradition. “That’s also a blessing. In a situation like that now, I’m not going to be thinking, ‘Oh, Tyrod Taylor is right there’ or ‘Look at all these people. I’ve got to do well to please them.’ It’s more like, ‘I’m on the mound now. My job is to throw this pitch in this spot.’ If that situation were to come up again, I’d no doubt be my normal self.” Last year as a sophomore, he led the team in ERA (3.97), innings (70.1) and strikeouts (81), finishing with a 4-5 record. One of those wins came as a result of a dominating performance against then-No. 8 North Carolina in which he allowed just a run on three hits, striking out eight in a complete-game victory. He carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning. “I had every pitch working,” Seymour said. “Some days, you go out there, and you’re like, ‘Oh man, I have everything I need today.’ You don’t miss your spots. Everything is going the way you want it to.” Unfortunately, though he pitched well, Seymour lost five of his final seven starts after that performance, as the Hokies struggled the latter half of the season. But that has fueled his hunger for this season. Expectations for the Hokies among ACC coaches were low, as they pickedTech to finish sixth in the Coastal Division in the league’s preseason poll. Plus, most national preseason polls rated seven league teams among the top 25. So the challenge for the Hokies was certainly real. But Tech was undeterred, particularly Seymour and a pitching staff that ranked third in the ACC in ERA in 2019. For that reason and many others, Seymour entered this season with much higher expectations than many others. “We return pretty much all the best statistical pitchers—and we added a ton of talent,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any question that we can do something special this year as a pitching staff. The same with our hitters. We brought back some talented younger guys like Biddy [Nick Biddison], Kev [Kevin Madden], and we added some new freshmen in there. We’re really athletic.” Unfortunately, the national implications of the coronavirus ended the season. Now for Seymour, a decision could loom. Most expect him to get drafted in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft in June. In addition to being left-handed and pitching well for the Hokies over two seasons, he attracted a lot of attention this summer when he finished third in the prestigious Cape Cod League in strikeouts. But Seymour keeps a short-term perspective—concentrate on every pitch, use every practice to get better, and apply maximum effort in the classroom and on the diamond. “Obviously, it’s a dream,” Seymour said. “You grow up as a kid, and you want to play professional baseball. It’s a goal, but I just try to get better every single day.” There’s a lot of maturity in that statement. Ten short years ago, he pitched a fit after poor outing. Now more mature, he’s pitching his heart out each time he takes the mound . And whatever he ends up doing in the future and wherever that takes place, he’ll more than likely be an ace. Ian Seymour has been a stalwart as a starting pitcher for the Hokies and has a bright future in baseball once his college playing days end.