Sports > March 8, 2007

By Gerard McMahon

Staff writer

In the midst of an 11-game homestand, Wake Forest followed up a weekend series of taking two out of three against UNC-Wilmington with a dramatic 5-4 victory over Gardner-Webb on March 6 and a 10-inning 6-5 win over High Point March 7.

The 4-1 week improves the Deacs’ record to 9-4 on the year.

“We’ve had a positive approach this year (to lead to some comebacks),” Head Coach Rick Rembielak said. “Hopefully it can keep snowballing and we can get on a roll.”

Hosting UNC-Wilmington on March 2, sophomore Brad Kledzik (1-1) allowed only a pair of earned runs over 6.2 innings to earn his first victory of the season as Wake cruised to an 8-4 win.

After the Seahawks went up 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning, the Deacons responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning, one in the fifth, and three more in the sixth to put the game out of reach.

Sophomore first baseman Allan Dykstra and sophomore right fielder Evan Ocheltree each tallied three hits to lead the offensive attack for the Deacs. Game two saw a similar opening, as Wake Forest found themselves down 2-1 heading into the bottom of the third.

But after putting two on the board in the third and adding another in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead, the Demon Deacon offense exploded for seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings to take the 11-2 victory.

Junior left fielder Brett Linnenkohl went 4-4 with four runs scored and a pair of RBIs.

The Deacs’ leadoff hitter also notched his third home run on the season with a two-run blast to right-center field in the third inning.

Redshirt sophomore Weldon Woodall added his first home run of the year.

Junior Eric Niesen (2-0) allowed only two runs and three hits while striking out five over seven innings.

The Deacons’ luck did not continue into March 4, however, as Wake Forest fought all the way back from a seven-run deficit only to lose 16-11 in a marathon 12-inning contest.

A nine-run fourth inning put the Seahawks ahead 10-3 in the sixth inning, but the Deacs slowly climbed back into the game, pulling within 11-8 entering the ninth inning.

With one on and two out in the ninth, the Deacons again showed their resiliency with a two-out rally.

Junior second baseman Andy Goff’s two-out single set up Dykstra’s only hit of the game — an RBI double that put the tying run on second base with sophomore outfielder Tyler Smith coming up as a pinch hitter.

After hitting a walk-off home run against Charlotte Feb. 27, Smith again delivered a clutch hit when he took a 3-2 pitch into the opposite field to deliver a two-run single to tie the game.

Wake Forest did not capitalize, however, with the bases loaded and only one out in the 10th inning, and the Seahawks pushed five runs across in the 12th to avoid the sweep and hand the Deacs a 16-11 loss.

The Demon Deacons bounced back from the extra-inning loss with a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over Gardner-Webb March 6.

Down 4-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Deacs loaded the bases with nobody out.

After a yet another clutch pinch-hit RBI single from Smith, a bunt single, a strikeout, and a sacrifice fly put runners at the corners with two outs for junior third baseman Willy Fox with Wake still trailing 4-3.

Fox smashed a two-strike fastball just inside the third base bag and down into the left field corner, scoring the speedy Linnenkohl all the way from first and sending the Deacon faithful home in a frenzy.

“It would be nice to turn it on a little earlier than that,” Fox said. “But it’s good to see that we never give up.”

“We just turned the Bunsen Burner on and realized we got to get something going,” Linnenkohl said.

“When (Fox) hit that ball, all I’m thinking is ‘run like a deer.’”

Redshirt freshman Matt Hammond (1-0) pitched three shutout innings in relief to earn his first victory on the season.

The Deacs followed up the emotional win with their second straight victory in their last at-bat when they took down High Point 6-5 in 10 innings one day later.

Tied at five in the tenth inning, closer Ben Hunter (2-2) used a strikeout and a groundout to pitch out of a second and third, one out jam.

Ocheltree led off the bottom of the inning by lacing a triple to left-center, just barely beating the throw into third base.

Two pitches later, he scored the winning run on a wild pitch to give the Deacs their fourth win in their last at-bat on the year.

Wake Forest begins conference play March 9-11 with a weekend series at Hooks Stadium against Virginia before taking on Ball State in a two-game series March 13-14.

First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. March 9.