Sports > February 13, 2003

By Jason Mazda

Assistant Sports Editor

The Demon Deacons opened the 2003 season in style with a 26-0 victory over visiting Appalachian State. No, football season didn’t start early. This was baseball.

Wake Forest came out firing on all cylinders, as preseason All-American starting pitcher junior Kyle Sleeth (1-0) shut down the Mountaineers through six innings, allowing just two hits and striking out nine. It was Sleeth’s 21st consecutive victory, dating back to 2001, a new ACC record.

The two hits Sleeth did give up were not solid: an infield single to the right side and a pop fly to shallow left field that nobody caught. Other than those two hits, Sleeth was perfect, not walking a single batter. Considered possibly the nation’s best starting pitcher, the junior did not disappoint the plethora of men with radar guns in the stands behind the plate, as he was clocked in the mid-90s.

While Sleeth hardly needed any support from his offense on this day, he got plenty.

After a one-two-three top of the first inning by Sleeth, the Deacon offense got started in the bottom half of the inning with a single by senior leadoff man Adam Bourassa. Bourassa then advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third, and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Ryan Johnson. The Deacs did not score anymore in that inning, but in the second they caught fire.

Nearly batting around twice in the inning, the Deacs brought 15 batters to the plate and scored 11 runs on seven hits to make it 12-0. The inning was highlighted by a grand slam by junior Brad Scioletti, a double by senior Ryan Hubbard, as well as two singles and three RBIs from Bourassa. The Mountaineers went through three pitchers in the inning.

After another one-two-three inning by Sleeth, the Deacs went back to work in the bottom of the third. Johnson led off the inning with a solo homerun, and junior Jamie D’Antona followed with a double. After advancing to third on a groundout by junior Steve LeFaivre, D’Antona scored on a wild pitch to put the Deacs up 14-0.

In the fourth, the Deacs started the inning with doubles by freshman catcher Steve Malinowski and Bourassa. Malinowski scored on a groundout by LeFaivre, and Bourassa scored on an error, putting the Deacs up 16-0.

After two relatively quiet innings, the Deacs decided to start the party back up in the fifth inning. After two quick outs to start the inning, freshman shortstop Chris Getz reached on an error, making the 10 runs the Deacons scored afterwards unearned. Malinowski, Bourassa, Hubbard and Johnson each singled. D’Antona, LeFaivre and Scioletti were each walked then by Mountaineer pitcher Scott Clark, who was subsequently replaced by Jonathan Reeder. Reeder was given a hearty Wake Forest welcome by the first batter he faced, Riepe, who hit a grand slam to give the Deacs a 25-0 edge. The fifth inning was then rounded out by a double from Getz and an RBI single by Malinowski. Bourassa ended the inning by lining out to shortstop, after getting hits in his first five trips to the plate.

In the seventh, the Deacs replaced Sleeth at pitcher, and also replaced some of the other starters in the field, and there was no more scoring in the game.

Junior Indy Wilkinson and freshmen Kirby Wedekind and Kyle Young, all making their debuts for Wake Forest, allowed just a combined two hits over the final three innings to preserve the shutout.

Bourassa finished the game 5-for-7, a career high in hits for him, and scored four runs. He was also one of four Deacons in the game to drive in at least four runs. Bourassa, Riepe and Johnson each had four RBIs, and Scioletti had five.

Malinowski, in his debut as a Deacon, was impressive. The 26-run performance was the sixth-highest single-game scoring output in Wake Forest history.

For the Mountaineers, Nick Peterson (0-1) took the loss as his team fell to 0-1.

For the Deacs, it was the seventh straight year in which they won their home opener.

The success did not carry over to the next day, though. The Deacs followed the season-opening trouncing of Appalachian State with a 4-1 loss at Elon.

Elon starting pitcher Brian Hensen (1-0) went eight innings, allowing just one run on seven hits. Hensen struck out four and walked just two. Lance Cole pitched a perfect ninth for the save.

Wake Forest junior starter Seth Hill matched Hensen through six innings, shutting down the Phoenix offense.

In the seventh inning, though, it all fell apart for Hill. After inducing a fly out by Elon’s Paul Bennett, Hill was victimized by poor fielding as Ricky Callison reached on a throwing error by freshman shortstop Getz. Hill then hit Evan Tartaglia with a pitch. He temporarily recovered to strike out Gary Morris, but then hit Brian Ingram to load the bases.

At that point, Head Coach George Greer replaced Hill with junior relief pitcher Adam Hanson. Hanson hit the first batter he faced, Barry Tejeda, forcing in the game’s first run.

The Phoenix did not settle for one, though. The next batter Hanson faced, Holt Montgomery, doubled to left center, knocking in all three baserunners and putting Elon ahead, 4-0. Hanson then recovered to strike out Drew Davis looking, but the damage was done as they headed to the eighth inning trailing by four.

The Deacs’ only run of the game came in the eighth. LeFaivre singled, and advanced to second on a groundout by Johnson. After advancing to third on a wild pitch by Hensen, LeFaivre scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of D’Antona to finally put the Deacs on the board. It wasn’t enough, though, as they fell, 4-1.

Besides the eighth, the Deacons’ best chance to score came in the fourth inning, when they put runners on first and third with just one out. Malinowski, however, lined out and Riepe was doubled up at second, ending the inning.

If there was a silver lining on a day when the Deacs’ offense stalled, it was that they stayed with an Elon squad that participated in the 2002 NCAA Tournament, despite missing some key elements of their offense.

Junior Nick Blue, after missing the entire fall following shoulder surgery, started the game at designated hitter but came out after the first inning. The Deacs were also playing without shortstop Ben Ingold, first baseman Jeff Ruziecki and catcher Ryder Mathias.

The loss dropped the Deacs’ record on the season to 1-1. Elon, which defeated the Deacons last year by the same 4-1 score, improved to 2-2 on the season.

The Deacs will try to get back on track Feb. 14-16, when they play a three-game series at home against West Virginia. It will be the season opener for the Mountaineers.