April 1, 2007

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Eric Niesen gave Wake Forest what it needed to snap its four-game losing streak, a dominant performance on the mound. Niesen pitched 8 1/3 innings of shutout ball to lead the Demon Deacons to a 6-0 defeat of No. 6 North Carolina at Boshamer Stadium.

The win snaps Wake Forest's four-game losing streak, moving the Deacons to 15-15 overall and 4-8 in the ACC. UNC sees its four-game winning streak come to an end. The Tar Heels are now 25-5 overall and 8-4 in conference play. It was the first time this season that Carolina has been shut out.

Niesen (3-3) earned his first win since March 3 to help Wake recover from Saturday's late-inning loss and salvage the final game of the three-game set. The junior lefty had suffered a loss in each of his last three starts but turned in a career performance against the Tar Heels.

Niesen allowed six hits with three strikeouts and a walk in the longest outing of his career. The New Boston, Mich., native left the game after surrendering a one-out double in the ninth inning.

Josh Ellis came on to record the last two outs of the game and preserve the shutout.

Niesen retired 13 in a row from the end of the third inning through the seventh. Niesen walked Benji Johnson to lead off the eighth but battled back to retire the next three batters in order.

The only time North Carolina threatened against Niesen came in the third, but the Wake defense came through with a pair of spectacular plays to hold the Tar Heels scoreless. With runners at first and second and one out, second baseman Willy Fox made a diving stop on a grounder up the middle. Fox made the flip from his knees to get the runner at second and save a run. Tim Federowicz then hit a sinking line drive to right field, and Evan Ocheltree made a diving catch to his left to end the inning.

UNC starter Luke Putkonen retired the first 11 Deacon batters in order before an Allan Dykstra double broke up the perfect game in the fourth. Fox followed with his first hit of the series, a single through the right side, to put runners on the corners for Michael Murray.

Murray responded with a single up the middle to score Dykstra and give Wake a 1-0 lead.

Putkonen and reliever Rob Catapano committed a combined three errors in the sixth inning to hand the Deacs three unearned runs. Ben Terry reached on an error to lead off when Putkonen dropped a flip from first baseman Dustin Ackley. Terry then stole second on the following pitch, and Dustin Hood grounded out to Ackley to move him up one more base.

UNC intentionally walked Dykstra to put runners on the corners for Fox. Fox came through in the clutch, chopping a single over the head of third baseman Chad Flack to plate Terry.

Dykstra moved up to third on Murray's flyout to center and then scored on a wild pitch from Catapano, who had just been inserted into the game. Fox advanced to third on the play when Catapano muffed the throw from catcher Tim Federowicz.

Catapano and the Tar Heels looked to be out of the inning when Ocheltree hit a weak ground ball to the mound. However, Catapano threw wild to first for his second error of the inning, scoring Fox to give Wake Forest a 4-0 lead.

The Demon Deacons added two more in the eighth, courtesy of Tyler Smith's third home run of the season. Fox led off with a double to left center, and three batters later Smith hit Brian Moran's 1-0 pitch just inside the right field foul pole for the two-run bomb.

After struggling in the first two games of the series, Fox ended on a high note. The junior went 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored on Sunday. Fox also shined defensively in just his third start of the season at second base. He completed the turn on a 6-4-3 double play ball in the second and made the run-saving stab on a grounder in the third.

Dykstra finally got some pitches to hit and produced the way he's accustomed to. Dykstra finished the day 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. Coming into Sunday, he had just two official at-bats in the series. The Tar Heels walked Dykstra five times over the weekend, including two intentional walks. He was also hit by two pitches on Saturday.

Putkonen (5-1) suffered the first loss of his collegiate career. The sophomore righthander came in with a career mark of 11-0. On Sunday, Putkonen pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs, just one earned, on four hits and one walk.

The two teams played through intermittent showers, but the rain was not heavy enough to delay the game.

Wake Forest returns to action on Tuesday at Elon, the Deacons' only non-conference opponent of the week. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.