Sports > April 9, 2003

By Jason Mazda

Assistant Sports Editor

Not even Kyle Sleeth could cool down the flaming Florida State bats as the 14th-ranked Demon Deacons were swept by the 2nd-ranked Seminoles in Tallahassee April 4-6.

Sleeth, the junior ace of the Wake Forest staff who tied the NCAA record for consecutive wins without a loss in his last outing, was going for his 27th straight win and sole possession of the record as the Deacs took on the ’Noles April 4 to open the series.

It was a struggle from the outset for Sleeth, as the Seminoles plated two runs before he recorded the first out, and eventually put the Deacs in a 3-0 hole after one inning of play.

“I didn’t think he was himself in the first inning,” Head Coach George Greer said. “They scored three runs, and with 6,000 people in the stands and the emotion that was involved, he was under adverse conditions. But he settled down and pitched great the rest of the game.”

Another run in the second made it 4-0, but the Wake Forest offense provided some help in the top of the third with a two-out rally that culminated with a three-run homer by junior Jamie D’Antona, cutting the FSU lead to 4-3.

The Seminoles scored two more in the bottom of the third, though, making it 6-3 after three innings.

For the next five innings, Florida State starter Trent Peterson was dominant, allowing just one more Wake Forest hit before leaving the game after eight solid innings. To make things worse, the Seminoles tacked on one more run in the bottom of the eighth to give their closer a four-run lead to work with. The closer happened to be Daniel Hodges, who had not given up a run in 20 appearances this season.

The Deacs refused to go down without a fight, though. Senior Jeff Ruziecki led off the ninth with a single. After junior Brad Scioletti, pinch-hitting for junior Steve LeFaivre, struck out, Ruziecki moved to second on a balk by Hodges. Freshman Chris Getz followed with a single, moving Ruziecki to third. Sophomore Ben Ingold then singled as well, knocking in Ruziecki to cut the lead to three, and bringing the tying run to the plate. With runners on first and second, freshman Steven Malinowski struck out looking for the second out, but senior Adam Bourassa kept the rally alive with an RBI single, cutting the deficit to two. With the tying run on base, however, Hodges buckled down and struck out senior Ryan Hubbard to end the game and give the Seminoles the 7-5 win.

“Once we started to string hits together, I really thought we were going to make a come back,” Sleeth said.

The Deacs did have ten hits in the game, but Florida State pitching was able to avoid allowing baserunners to score.

“We had opportunities to score and we just didn’t,” Greer said.

Sleeth’s final line in the streak-snapping game was eight innings, 11 hits, seven runs (six earned), eight strikeouts and six walks. Sleeth had only walked seven batters in 52 innings entering the game. “They were good,” Sleeth said of Florida State. “But, I had the worst stuff I have had on the mund in a while . . . I just didn’t have it.”

Although he could not reach 27, Sleeth’s name is in the record books alongside Brigham Young’s Scott Nielson, who pitched from 1978-82, as the only college pitchers ever to record 26 consecutive wins without a loss. “It is an accomplishment that I am proud of and one that I never thought would happen two years ago,” Sleeth said. His coach also amazed by the incredible streak.

“I think it’s remarkable that in this day in age with aluminum bats and hard baseballs and such, and with parity in college baseball, that he could do it,” Greer said. “It’s a remarkable feat.”

The Deacs looked for some revenge April 5, sending sophomore Tim Morley to the mound, but were again stopped by the Seminoles.

Wake Forest got out to a 2-0 lead when two runs scored on a two-out single by Scioletti, one as a result of an error by the Florida State centerfielder.

After retiring the side in order in the first, Morley gave up a double to lead off the second inning. After retiring the next two batters, he gave up an RBI single as the ’Noles cut the Deacon lead in half. The Seminoles then tied it in the fourth before breaking it open in the sixth.

Morley started the sixth, but was replaced by sophomore Daniel Davidson after yielding a home run and a double to the first two batters. Davidson did not fare any better, though, getting just one out before allowing an RBI triple, an RBI single and a two-run home run on the next three at-bats.

Greer replaced Davidson with freshman Kirby Wedekind, who pitched the final 2-2/3 innings without giving up a run or even a hit, but the damage was done.

After FSU starter Matt Lynch gave up just two runs, one earned, on five hits in six innings, Hunter Jones and Matt DiBlasi combined to allow just one hit over the final three innings to preserve the 7-2 victory for the Seminoles.

The Deacs tried to salvage at least one win in the series finale April 6, sending junior Adam Hanson to the hill for just his second start in 13 appearances this season. Hanson, who is usually used mostly in relief, was the only Deacon besides Sleeth with more than 11 innings pitched and an ERA under 3.00.

“Adam Hanson has one of our better arms, and if we can’t use him in a closing role on Friday or Saturday, we want to use him just to get him out there,” Greer said. “We felt putting one of our better arms out there was in our best interest.”

The game started on a high note, as Bourassa hit a lead off home run to give the Deacs a 1-0 lead.

Florida State, however, wasted no time getting on the board itself, taking a 2-1 lead with a two-out rally that included two singles and a double. Another double and a single in the second gave the Seminoles a 3-1 lead before the Deacs scored again.

In the top of the third, Bourassa led off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Hubbard and scored on a single by senior Ryan Johnson. The Deacs could not tie it, though, as Scioletti grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Seminoles added to their lead, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third to go up 6-2. The inning was highlighted by an RBI double, a sacrifice fly and an error by D’Antona that led to another run.

In the fifth, the Deacs got two more on an RBI fielder’s choice by Johnson and an RBI single by Scioletti, cutting it to 6-4.

In the sixth, a double and triple gave the Seminoles a 7-4 lead. Hanson left the game after the sixth, having allowed seven runs, five earned, on 11 hits in six innings. Because of bad weather during the week and the team losing the first two games, Hanson had not pitched in a long time and was overly rested, not a good thing for a sinkerball pitcher, according to Greer.

Sophomore Brian Bach kept the Deacs in the game with a perfect seventh inning, but senior Seth Hill could not do the same in the eighth. Hill walked a batter and hit another before giving up a three-run homer to make it 10-4 in favor of FSU.

In the ninth, the Deacs again roughed up the previously dominant Hodges. After Bourassa popped out to lead off the inning, Hubbard singled and D’Antona hit his second homer of the series, making it 10-6. Johnson was then hit by a pitch, stole second, advanced to third on a bad throw by the catcher and scored on a sacrifice fly by LeFaivre, but Ruziecki grounded out to end the game.

“We probably just ran out of innings,” Greer said of the back-and-forth nature of the game.

Hubbard was 4-for-5 in the game, while Bourassa had his third two-hit game of the series.

The official attendance totals for the three games were 4,615; 3,438 and 3,397. By comparison, the biggest crowd the Deacs have drawn all season at home was 1,866.

“It was a great baseball atmosphere,” Greer said of the series. “They do a great job, and they’re virtually unbeatable at home.”

With the 10-7 win, the Seminoles improved to 9-3 in the ACC, 31-5 overall, and the Deacs fell to 6-5 in the ACC, 20-10 overall. The Deacs fell from first in the conference to fourth.

After being swept in Tallahassee, the Deacs’ scheduled home game against Davidson was rained out. They will be in action next April 11-13 with a three-game home series with N.C. State.