Can OU baseball reach the CWS? First Sooners will have to beat the Virginia Tech Hokies

NORMAN — OU continues its postseason baseball run this weekend with a best-of-three battle against No. 4-seeded Virginia Tech in the NCAA Blacksburg Super Regional.

The series begins Friday at 2 p.m. and continues Saturday at 11 a.m. A third game, if necessary, would be played Sunday at an undetermined time.

The Sooners (40-21, 15-9 Big 12) enter the matchup after emerging from the Gainesville Regional with a 5-4 win over No. 13 Florida on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Hokies (44-12, 19-9 ACC) are making their first Super Regional appearance after winning the Blacksburg Regional with a 7-2 victory over Columbia on Sunday.

Here are five things to know about Virginia Tech.

More: OU baseball beats Florida to advance to first super regional since 2013

Drue Hackenberg is a freshman phenom

Drue Hackenberg has three brothers, all of whom saw success in their respective sports.

Christian Hackenberg finished his football career at Penn State as a record-setting quarterback. He walked away as the program's leader in passing yards (8.457), passing touchdowns (48) and total yards of offense (8,215) before being selected in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the New York Jets.

Brandon Hackenberg captained the Penn State men's soccer team. He earned a pair of All-Big Ten First Team selections before being selected in the first round of the 2021 MLS Draft by Orlando City SC.

Then there's Adam Hackenberg, who captained the Clemson baseball team before being selected in the 18th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox.

When Drue arrived at Virginia Tech, he wasn't as highly touted of a player as his brothers. He was rated by Perfect Game as the 435th-best prospect in the nation and the 81st-best incoming ACC freshman.

But Drue has made the Hackenberg name proud this season.

The freshman pitcher (10-2) has an ERA of 3.10 with a team-high 84 strikeouts in 90 innings pitched, which helped him earn a spot on the All-ACC First Team.

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OU's Peyton Graham isn't the only slim slugger

Of the 126 players in the nation who have hit over 15 home runs this season, only four of them weigh under 175 pounds.

Two of those rare, lightweight sluggers will face off in Blacksburg.

Virginia Tech's Tanner Schobel is a 5-foot-10, 170-pound sophomore who boasts a team-high 18 home runs. He's hitting .374 on the season, which helped him earn an All-ACC First Team selection.

Then there's OU's Peyton Graham, a 6-foot-4, 171-pound redshirt sophomore who also has a team-high 18 homers to his name. Graham is hitting .339 on the season, and he earned an All-Big 12 First Team selection.

'It makes up for it': Why the heart of OU's Peyton Graham outweighs his thin frame

Ryan Metz got in on the ground floor

When Ryan Metz joined Virginia Tech as a freshman in 2018, both he and the team had a lot of growing to do.

The Hokies went 21-33 under newly hired head coach John Szefc that season, and Metz was equally underwhelming. The first-year pitcher made seven game appearances, all out of the bullpen, and he posted a 16.62 ERA in 4 ⅓ innings pitched.

Virginia Tech posted a combined record of 85-90 in Metz's first four seasons with the team. Now a fifth-year senior, he and the Hokies are finally hitting their stride.

Virginia Tech secured the program's first Super Regional berth on Sunday with a 7-2 win over Columbia in the Blacksburg Regional final, and Metz led the way on the mound. He threw for a career-long 4 ⅔ innings and struck out four batters while only allowing one run.

Metz isn't Virginia Tech's top pitcher. But as one of only two fifth-year seniors on the team, he represents the growth of the program as it continues its storybook postseason run.

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Hokies have a high-powered offense

The Hokies know how to put runs on the board.

Virginia Tech ranks 10th in the nation in runs per game (8.8), and it put its high-powered offense on display in the Blacksburg Regional.

The Hokies went undefeated in the three-game stretch and averaged 15.3 runs per contest. They hit .344 as a team and racked up eight total home runs.

Nick Biddison proved to be Virginia Tech's hottest hitter during the regional run. The junior racked up six RBIs, eight runs and a pair of home runs while going 8-for-16 at the plate (.500 hitting).

It's a full-circle moment for the Sooners

OU and Virginia Tech have only played each other three times leading up to the Blacksburg Super Regional.

The Hokies are 2-1 in the all-time series. They emerged from the most recent meeting on Feb. 18, 2018, with a 14-6 win.

OU's only all-time win against Virginia Tech came on Jun 2, 2013. The Sooners ended the Hokies' season with a 10-4 win in the Blacksburg Regional.

It's a full-circle moment for the Sooners, who are in the Super Regionals for the first time since that season.

NCAA Blacksburg Super Regional Schedule

Game 1: Friday at 2 p.m. (ESPN2)

Game 2: Saturday at 11 a.m. (ESPNU)

Game 3 (if necessary): TBD Sunday

Justin Martinez can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or @JTheSportsDude on Twitter. Make sure to subscribe to The Oklahoman to stay up to date with all local sports.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU baseball will meet the Virginia Tech Hokies in NCAA super regional