Sports > April 24, 2008

By Jeff Merski | Senior writer

The baseball team turned in one of its best weekend pitching performances of the season against Virginia, but it was only able to take one game away from the Cavaliers in its April 18-20 series in Charlottesville, Va.

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Sophomore left-handed pitcher Alex Wiesner throws a pitch during a recent home baseball game at Hooks. (Jeff Merski/Old Gold & Black)

The Deacons dropped the first game of the series by a score of 4-2, as the offense jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning before Virginia was able to chip away to take the victory.

Senior outfielder Willy Fox provided the offense for the Deacons with a two-run home run to left field, driving in senior outfielder Ben Terry who had reached base on a leadoff single.

Junior starting pitcher Garrett Bullock took the loss for the Deacons, despite allowing only three runs over 5 2/3 innings. The Cavaliers were able to manufacture a run in the third inning with a single, a stolen base and a sacrifice fly and were able to use a combination of walks, hits and sacrifices in the fifth inning to score two more runs.

The Deacons had an opportunity to come back in the eighth inning with junior first baseman Allan Dykstra and sophomore catcher Mike Murray both earning walks, but the Deacons were unable to capitalize, leaving the two runners stranded.

The Deacons’ bats came alive in the second game of the series, as Wake Forest beat the Cavaliers by a score of 14-3. Junior third baseman Tyler Smith led the team with two home runs and Dykstra contributed an inside-the-park home run to pace the Deacon offense.

The Deacons jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning behind a Murray double before the Cavaliers responded with two runs in their half of the inning. However, the Deacons responded with an RBI single by Dykstra in the third inning to tie up the score at two before the Deacons opened the floodgates with a six-run fourth inning.

The Deacons were able to capitalize on two Virginia errors as well as Dykstra’s inside-the-park home home run that plated three runners.

Smith finished off the slugfest by adding home runs in the fifth and sixth innings, as he finished the day with a total of four RBIs.

Senior starting pitcher Charlie Mellies settled down after the first inning, as he went eight innings, allowing three runs while scattering six hits and striking out six to earn his first victory of the season.

The Deacons’ bats went quiet again in the rubber game of the series, as they dropped the series to the Cavaliers by a score of 3-2 in 11 innings.

The Deacons earned a 1-0 lead in the second inning behind a sacrifice fly by Smith and made it a 2-1 game in the fifth inning after a double by Terry to score senior shortstop Andy Goff.

Senior starting pitcher Ben Hunter had another strong outing, going eight innings, allowing two runs on six hits and seven strikeouts.

The Cavaliers were able to win the game in the 11th inning after a leadoff double by Franco Valdes off of junior reliever Brad Kledzik. Corey Hunt pinch-ran for Valdes and was able to score following a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly to clinch the series for the Cavaliers.

The Deacons traveled to the east side of Greensboro on April 22, where they fell to the Elon Phoenix in a slugfest by a score of 19-10.

The Deacons jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Dykstra’s 11th home run of the year, but Elon quickly responded, with them tagging freshman starting pitcher Mark Adzick for five runs in the first inning, and then scoring an additional nine runs over the next two innings against redshirt freshman reliever Ryan Bouton.

The Deacons were able to add a pair of runs in the fifth inning on an opposite-field home run by junior outfielder Evan Ocheltree and Fox’s fifth home run of the season.

Wake Forest manufactured four runs in the seventh inning behind a Fox RBI grounder, a Murray RBI single with an additional run being scored on an error and an RBI single by junior second baseman Dustin Hood.

On April 23, the Deacons traveled to Conway, S.C. to face No. 18 Coastal Carolina, where they defeated the Chanticleers by a score of

Wake Forest jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, with Fox hitting a single to center field and then being brought home on Dykstra’s 12th home run of the season, his third in the last six games.

The Deacs later added a run in the fifth inning where Hood got a two out single to center to drive home Terry. The Deacons added another run in the sixth inning to take a 4-1 lead on a two out single to left-center field to drive in senior catcher Austin Jones.

Dykstra added another RBI in the eighth inning, when he drove in Fox on a double before scoring on a wild pitch.

The Deacons added some extra insurance runs in the ninth inning, with Hood leading off the inning with a single to shortstop, before moving over to second base on a walk to Goff.

Hood moved over to third after an errant pickoff move, before Jones walked to load the bases. Ocheltree was able to bring Hood home despite hitting into a double play before redshirt junior third baseman Nathan Frazier reached on an error to plate Goff.

Deacon starter Ryan McGrath struggled with his command, walking eight Chanticleer batters in his four innings of work. However, he was able to work his way around the walks by allowing only two hits and one run in four innings of work. Sophomore reliever Phil Negus also allowed only two hits, one of which was a solo home run in the seventh inning, to protect the Deacon lead.

Junior reliever Brad Kledzik was able to pitch around a leadoff double in the eighth inning before retiring the next three Chanticleers to preserve the Deacon lead. Kledzik faced some difficulty with two outs in the ninth inning, allowing a solo home run and then allowing a single and a walk to Coastal before Tommy Baldridge doubled in a run. Kledzik then walked another Chanticleer before Tyler Bortnick had a 2 RBI single to make it an 8-6 game. The Chanticleers added another run to make it an 8-7 game before Kledzik was able to get a strike out to end the game and preserve the Deacons’ fourth win in eight games.