Sports > February 22, 2007

By Gerard McMahon

Senior writer

After a preseason poll picked the Demon Deacons to finish eighth in the ACC, Wake Forest has started off the 2007 season 3-1 after a three-game sweep of Kent State from Feb. 16-18 and a heartbreaking 10-9 loss to Appalachian State on Feb. 20 at Hooks Stadium.

The three-game win streak was the Deacs longest to start a season since 2001, which also marks the last time Wake Forest won the ACC.

Junior third baseman Willy Fox, a transfer from Arizona State, paced the Deacons with five RBIs over the weekend, while junior outfielder Brett Linnenkohl made a triumphant return from an injury-plagued 2006 campaign, as all four of his hits against Kent State went for extra bases.

“It’s nice to be able to get back on the field and contribute again to the team,” Linnenkohl said. “It always feels better when you have a hand in the victory.”

The Demon Deacons opened the season in dramatic fashion, winning their first season opener since 2003 with a come-from-behind 8-7 victory over the Golden Flashes.

Linnenkohl and Fox combined to go five for seven at the plate with four runs scored to lead the offensive charge for the Deacs.

Despite jumping out to a 4-1 lead after three innings, Wake trailed 7-5 heading into the ninth before their bats, and some luck, came alive again.

After three straight walks to start the inning loaded the bases, an infield single and a fielding error tied the game at seven. Still with the bases loaded, redshirt sophomore catcher Weldon Woodall’s pinch-hit groundball was hit too deep in the hole at shortstop for Kent State to turn a double play, giving the Deacons the 8-7 victory.

Senior Josh Ellis struck out three in his two innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win.

Wake made sure to let Head Coach Rick Rembielak rest a little easier in game two of the series, as they scored five first-inning runs and never trailed in their 8-4 win.

Junior Eric Niesen dominated through the first five innings and picked up the victory after allowing four runs on five hits in 6.1 innings of work.

Sophomore right fielder Evan Ocheltree also put his name into the footnotes of the 2007 season after he led off the sixth inning with a home run, the first by the Deacs on the year.

Wake Forest capped the three-game series with an 8-6 victory on Feb. 18 in a game that again showed the strength of this year’s Demon Deacons.

Wake’s bats again showed up early, scoring seven runs over the first three innings to build a 7-0 lead on the Golden Flashes behind starting pitcher Garrett Bullock. The sophomore, who was limited to only five appearances a year ago due to pneumonia and a triceps injury, held Kent State to a single run on five hits over his five innings.

But Kent State refused to go away quietly, pulling to within 8-6 in the seventh inning before Rembielak brought in his fire crew to put out the fire.

Ellis struck out two in 1.1 innings of perfect relief, and junior preseason stopper of the year candidate Ben Hunter struck out two more while putting down the side in order to finish the game in the ninth.

“(Ellis and I) thrive off the pressure of knowing that the team relies on us to close the game out,” Hunter said. “We want them to feel that once we get to the eighth inning with a lead, we have the game won.”

The Deacons closed out their first full week of games by bolting out to an early 7-0 lead over Appalachian State before allowing 10 runs over the third and fourth innings to fall 10-9 to the Mountaineers. Sophomore first baseman Allan Dykstra, the 2006 ACC Rookie of the Year, belted his first home run of the season in the sixth inning.

Wake Forest hits the field next at 18th-ranked San Diego on Feb. 24 for a weekend series against the Toreros before returning home to face Charlotte on Feb. 27 at Hooks Stadium. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 2:30p.m.