For the third straight season, the Virginia Tech baseball team was not good enough to make the NCAA tournament.
So Hokies coach John Szefc has shaken up his staff.
The baseball program announced Saturday that it has 鈥減arted ways鈥 with pitching coach Ryan Fecteau and player development director Kyle Sarazin.
Fecteau had been the pitching coach for all eight of Szefc鈥檚 seasons in Blacksburg. Sarazin had been the director of player development since July 2019.
Sarazin tweeted that he was told Saturday morning that his contract was not being renewed.
Szefc, who has two years left on his contract, did not respond to a text message seeking comment.
The moves were announced three days after Virginia Tech was eliminated from the ACC tournament in the second round.
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The injury-plagued Hokies went 31-25 overall and 12-18 in ACC play this year. They lost 15 of their final 23 games. They lost their final five ACC series, going 3-12 during those series.
The Hokies have made the NCAA tournament in only one of Szefc鈥檚 eight seasons at Tech. That came in 2022, when Fecteau and Sarazin helped the Hokies win 45 games. The Hokies earned the Coastal Division title and the top seed in the ACC tournament for the first time with a 19-9 league mark.
Virginia Tech baseball coach John Szefc is not retaining his pitching coach and his director of player development after a 31-25 season.
The 2022 Hokies not only made the NCAAs for the first time in nine years but were the No. 4 overall seed. After winning an NCAA regional for the first time, they got to host a Super Regional. They fell just one win short of the College World Series.
But the team has sputtered down the stretch in each season since then, finishing with a losing ACC record each time.
Two years ago, the injury-plagued Hokies entered a late-April series at 24-14 overall and 10-10 in ACC play. But they finished 30-23 overall and 12-17 in ACC play.
In mid-April of last year, Virginia Tech was 22-8 overall and 10-5 in ACC play. But the Hokies finished 32-22 overall and 14-16 in ACC play.
This year, Virginia Tech entered a mid-April series against Florida State with a record of 23-10 overall and 9-6 in the ACC. Baseball America had Tech safely in the NCAA tournament field at that point. But thanks to an 8-15 finish, Tech will not be getting an at-large bid when the NCAA field is revealed Monday.
Fecteau served as Szefc鈥檚 pitching coach for Szefc鈥檚 final season at Maryland before making the move with Szefc to Tech in June 2017. He was promoted to associate head coach during the 2022 season.
Fecteau worked with 14 Tech pitchers who wound up being chosen in the Major League Baseball draft.
But the Hokies rank 11th out of 16 ACC teams in ERA (5.23) this year. They walked 266 batters; only two ACC teams have walked more.
Sarazin was the program鈥檚 first player development director. He was in charge of analytics and baseball technology, helping with pitching, hitting, recruiting and scouting reports.
鈥淚 am thankful for the constant growth I experienced at Virginia Tech the last six seasons,鈥 Sarazin said in his Twitter statement. 鈥淚 wish I could鈥檝e done better for the program but I cherish celebrating the 176 victories with the brotherhood that is Hokies Baseball. I look forward to taking what I鈥檝e gained from Virginia Tech and attacking whatever opportunities come my way.鈥
