Marty Gordon
Welcoming an esteemed leader in the game to run the Virginia Tech baseball program’s day-to-day cadence, head coach formally introduced Rich Witten into the role of general manager, director of baseball operations on Thursday.
Witten joins the Hokies following his four-year tenure as the head baseball coach at Florida International, where he led the Panthers in 2025 to their highest single season wins total (31) since 2017. Returning to the ACC and the Commonwealth of Virginia, he previously served on the coaching staff at VCU from 2018 to 2022 as the Rams’ hitting coach and recruiting coordinator while harvesting earlier coaching experience at Miami (2014).
Under Witten’s direction, Florida International bettered its cumulative win total during each of his first three seasons as head coach, improving annually in conference victories, too, to set a seven-year high (13) during the 2025 campaign. Upon taking the reins, he oversaw a three-year rise of the Panthers’ NCAA Division I Baseball RPI ranking by more than 100 positions nationally.
Prior to taking the head coaching job at Florida International, Witten factored into five winning seasons at VCU as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
Drag strip to open Aug. 8
Pulaski Motorsports has announced plans to open its closed drag strip during an open house Saturday, Aug. 8. The dragway has been closed for the past five years and has been renovated to allow racing to begin next month.
Track officials say its timing equipment still has not been installed, so grudge matches will be held until then. Other activities being discussed include swap meets and a farmers’ market.
ACC shared officiating association
The Atlantic Coast Conference has partnered with seven other Division I conferences to establish a women’s basketball officiating alliance aimed at enhancing the quality, consistency and development of officiating through a collaborative system of assigning, training, evaluation and oversight, the conferences have announced.
The ACC will join the American Conference, BIG EAST Conference, Atlantic 10 Conference, Big South Conference, Coastal Athletic Association, Ivy League and Metro Conference (formerly Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) in the officiating alliance, led by newly appointed ACC Supervisor of Officials Pualani Spurlock-Welsh.
Spurlock-Welsh will work closely with the supervisors across the alliance conferences to develop officiating assignments that maximize geographic efficiencies.
Tech’s Deputy Athletics Director
Virginia Tech Vice President and Director of Athletics Brian White has announced the hiring of Mary Giardina as the department’s Deputy Athletics Director and Chief of Staff, adding one of the nation’s most respected senior administrators to the Hokies’ executive leadership team.
Giardina brings more than 15 years of experience in collegiate athletics administration, including leadership roles at West Virginia, Florida Atlantic, Duke and the Atlantic Coast Conference. She most recently served as West Virginia’s executive senior associate athletics director for student-athlete experience, governance and compliance after joining the Mountaineers in January 2026.
Prior to that, she spent seven years at Florida Atlantic, including three (2022-25) as deputy athletics director, chief of staff and senior woman administrator under White. Giardina arrived in Boca Raton in 2018, initially hired as the Owls’ senior associate athletics director of compliance and SWA.
Hunter added to Concord staff
Concord University head baseball coach has announced will join the program as a graduate assistant beginning in the fall of 2026.
Bailey has also elevated from student assistant coach to a graduate assistant coach. And the final staff change for the upcoming year is the addition of as a volunteer assistant. will remain the pitching coach for the Mountain Lions under Bailey.
One of the most successful four-year players in recent program history, Hunter, a native of Christiansburg, played for the Mountain Lions from 2022-25. Over four seasons in Athens, Hunter appeared in 193 games with 187 starts. He drove in 115 runs and stole 30 career bases to go with 45 extra-base hits. The two-way player for CU was All-MEC Second Team in both 2023 and 2024 at the utility position. He capped his career by being named All-MEC First Team at utility in 2025 and was also named All-Atlantic Region Second Team in 2025.
On the mound, Hunter made 36 appearances with 26 coming in relief. He pitched a total of 61.2 innings in his career and tallied six career saves—all in 2024.
He ranks in a tie for tenth in program history in walks (82) and a tie for tenth in saves (six). His 30 stolen base count was just four away from top 10 in Concord program history.
Good Works Team nominee
Virginia Tech running back has been named to Allstate’s 2026 AFCA Good Works Team nominee list, Allstate and the American Football Coaches Association have announced.
Hawkins is one of 162 student-athletes nominated for the 2026 Good Works Team, recognizing college football players who lead through community service, academics and athletics.
The 2026 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team will be announced in September and include 22 student-athletes and one honorary head coach. One student-athlete will also be selected as team captain and receive the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy.
Hawkins played in 11 games last season for the Hokies, making nine starts. He was the Hokies’ most productive running back, rushing for 749 yards, averaging 6.3 yards per carry.
