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Inside Hokie Sports
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“The toughest part was having to watch baseball games from the
sideline,” Owens said. “Having to watch the team struggle in games and
not being able to affect that in any way … that was the hardest thing I’ve
had to do in my college baseball career. Playing is the easy part. That’s
why we work so hard—so you can go out there and perform.”
Entering May, Tech’s second baseman was hitting a team-high .349
and led the Hokies in runs (44) and hits (67). He also had a team-high
18 multi-hit games. He had started all 43 games for the Hokies. For
Owens, the key to his success goes back to having consistency at the
plate in each at-bat.
“I think the biggest thing is staying confident,” he said. “Some of my
teammates will say, ‘Stay hot, Jack,’ but in my head during a game, I’m
not in my head telling myself that. I’m going up there with the same
approach every at-bat and hoping to hit the ball hard. If you do that, the
average will follow. I haven’t looked at my average one time this year.
I’ve just been told.”
In a game April 2 against Boston College, the Hokies rallied in the
ninth to tie the game before Owens drove in the winning run in the
10th inning. That completed the sweep for Virginia Tech. For a player
who sat out the previous year, the series reminded him that this was a
different team.
“It’s a whole different team than last year. We’re competing to win
more so than last year, and we’re finding ways to do it,” he said.
Owens also brings a spark to a Virginia Tech offense that lost Saige
Jenco to the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft last year.
The Hokies came into 2017 with chips on their shoulders, and it started
at the top of their lineup.
“When he was at East Carolina, it was a tough situation,” Ryan
Owens said. “To get to Tech and play with the chip on his shoulder
that he has—and to be doing what he’s doing— is awesome. He’s
grown not only as a player, but also as a person and in learning how
to deal with adversity.”
“I try to be relentless with energy and try to bring a passion to the
field,” Jack said. “Sometimes it’s getting on yourself or getting on your
teammates, and it could be viewed as negative, but in the end, it’s
positive. We’re all out here trying to accomplish the same thing and
earn a trip to Omaha. It’s not going to get there by just going through
the motions. You have to bring some emotions and some passion to
the game.”
Owens, who is only 5-foot-10, has overcome a lot to get to Virginia
Tech and not only compete, but succeed. Young players rarely enjoy
success in their first seasons of playing in arguably the best conference
in college baseball, but Owens accepts the challenge of facing top-tier
talent every week.
“You have to believe in your ability and your work ethic,” Owens
said. “When you’re up there in the box looking at the pitcher, know that
you put in more hours of work than him. You trust your talent and your
hard work more than him. A lot of times, the baseball gods will pay off
the guys who work harder and work hard when nobody’s looking. It’s
awesome knowing that I’m not the biggest guy, strongest guy, or fastest
guy, but I can still perform high at the ACC level because of all the work
we put in as a team. It’s good to see success.”
Now a redshirt sophomore, Owens is pursuing a degree in sociology.
He also takes life one day, or one at-bat, at a time and tries not look too
far ahead.
“I really have no plans right now,” he said. “I’m trying to let
everything come to me. As of now, I’m just looking forward to the next
day and trying to bring energy to the ball club.”
Owens’ path to Virginia Tech wasn’t obvious, but he found his way
by using the help of the people around him—a brother who saw talent
in him and pushed him to succeed got it started and also a high school
coach who helped mold him into the player he is now. Adversity early
in his college career gave him the chip on his shoulder, and Virginia
Tech gave him a place to finally call home.
OWENS
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