Sports > April 5, 2007

By Gerard McMahon

Senior writer

Continuing their trek through a scheduling quirk that forced the Demon Deacons to face the top four teams in the ACC on four straight weekends, Wake Forest took one of three games from No. 6, North Carolina, due in large part to junior Eric Niesen’s shutout, before falling to the Elon Phoenix at Elon on April 3.

The 1-3 week dropped the Deacs’ record below .500 to 15-16 on the year and 4-8 in conference.

As conference games take on an increasing amount of importance throughout the year, the urgency to collect some ACC wins has been steadily building.

“UNC is a big series for us,” sophomore shortstop Dustin Hood said earlier in the week.

“The only thing we can do is try to get everybody on board and go for the win — that’s all we can ask for.”

The Deacons certainly had everybody on board during the series, giving stiff competition to the Tar Heels in the first two games before finally breaking out with a victory in the series finale.

Sophomore Brad Kledzik (2-2) allowed only three runs in 6.1 innings on March 30 but still suffered the tough-luck loss, as the Deacon offense could provide him with only a pair of hits.

Among the few positives from the Wake Forest offense in the game was the continued improvement of freshman catcher Michael Murray, who has hit .333 over his last five games, including his first career home run to account for the Deacs’ lone run in the March 30 game.

Bouncing back in the second game of the series, Wake took a 5-1 lead on the strength of a two-run double by Hood to spark a four-run seventh inning.But then the pieces fell apart for the Deacons.

Sophomore Garrett Bullock, who had coasted through the first six innings — allowing only one run on two hits — allowed four of the first five batters to reach base in the bottom of the seventh before leaving with a 5-2 lead. Junior Ben Hunter could not get out of the tough bases-loaded jam, as the Tar Heels erupted for eight runs in the inning on their way to an 11-6 victory.

“The big innings are huge momentum changers,” Hood said.

“When we have the lead and then lose it, the offense needs to be able to keep scoring runs. We need to know that all game we need to score runs, we can’t let our guard down.”

Below .500 for the first time this season, junior Eric Niesen (3-3) dominated North Carolina in the final game of the series, scattering six hits in 8.1 innings on his way to a 6-0 victory. The start, coupled with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief he pitched throughout the week, earned Niesen recognition as the ACC’s Pitcher of the Week.

“We need all our weekend starters to give us quality outings every time they take the mound,” Head Coach Rick Rembielak said earlier in the year.

“It helps us all breathe much easier when the other team can’t put any runs on the board.”

Niesen received plenty of help from his offense.

Junior third basemen Willy Fox went 4-5 with a pair of runs scored and sophomore utility man Tyler Smith smacked his third home run of the year to lead the Deacon offense and propel the Deacs back to .500.

Wake finished off their week April 3 with a 8-2 defeat at Elon.

Freshman Alex Wiesner dropped his record to 1-1 on the year after allowing seven runs in four innings of work. A bases-loaded walk and sacrifice fly in the ninth inning was all that prevented the Deacons from being shut out by the Phoenix in a game in which the offense managed only four hits.Wake Forest returns to action April 6 for a three-game weekend series at Maryland before returning home to Hooks Stadium on April 10 against UNC-Greensboro.