Virginia Tech's John Szefc praises Carson Jones' big bat vs. BC, explains decision to pitch Anthony Arguelles

Virginia Tech outfielder Carson Jones hit a grand slam for the Hokies in a win over No. 1 Wake Forest this past weekend.

Jones stayed hot in the first game of the ACC tournament, starting off 2-for-2, including a home run, against Boston College.

The junior hit a two-run homer to right to give the Hokies a 3-0 lead in the third inning. He was also a part of a fourth inning rally that gave Virginia Tech a 6-4 lead after four innings.

Boston College and Virginia Tech are playing their first game of the ACC baseball tournament.

“He’s been really good at this time of the year, for sure,” Virginia Tech coach John Szefc said. “I mean he’s just steady, consistent, big, physical guy. He’s a force to be reckoned with for the opposing pitcher, I think.”

While Jones has had success at the plate against BC, Anthony Arguelles has had success on the mound.

Arguelles typically works as a starter, but Virginia Tech is doing everything it can to win its ACC tourney opener. Szefc is unsure how long Arguelles will be able to stay on the mound.

“We’ll have to kind of see how he feels, how he does. We weren’t planning on using him to start, but we had to kind of get a feel, because he just pitched on Friday,” Szefc said. “So just going to kind of see how it goes. This is one of those kinds of games where you’re kind of just seeing how each guy does on the mound and how he responds inning to inning, because you have a lot of guys that are going on short rest here.”

Boston College is the No. 6 seed in the ACC tournament, while Virginia Tech is the No. 10 seed. The two teams are joined in Pool C by No. 3 seed Clemson.

While Virginia Tech and BC are playing on Tuesday, Clemson won’t begin ACC tourney play until Wednesday at 7 p.m. when the Tigers take on Virginia Tech.

Boston College and Clemson will meet on Friday at 11 a.m. The winners of each pool will meet in the ACC semifinals on Saturday. The ACC tournament championship is scheduled for Sunday at Noon. The games are being played at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina.

Virginia Tech and Boston College received a tough draw as Clemson is arguably the hottest team in college baseball and is considered the favorite to win the ACC tournament championship.