May 2, 2007

Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Wake Forest extended its winning streak to a season-long six games, disposing of UNC Greensboro, 6-5, Wednesday evening at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.

The win moves the Demon Deacons to 28-22 overall, while the Spartans drop to 23-22 on the season. Wake notched its ninth one-run win of the season, moving its record to 9-11 in one-run games.

The Deacs jumped out to a 6-1 lead midway through the game and held on from there.

Brett Linnenkohl gave the Deacons an early 1-0 margin, leading off the game with a home run to right off starter Alex Shelton. It was Linnenkohl's seventh home run of the season and second this year against the Spartans.

UNCG tied it up with a run of its own in the bottom of the first. Tim Carrier led off with a double to right and then moved to third on Matt Gaski's groundout. Two batters later, Ricky Orton drove in Carrier with a single to right.

Wake re-gained the lead with a run in the second. Andy Goff reached on a leadoff walk and then stole second one out later. Tyler Smith followed with an infield single to first, putting runners at the corners. Austin Jones plated Goff with a sacrifice fly to left, giving the Deacs a 2-1 lead.

The Deacons broke the game open with four runs off relievers Clay Gibson and Brandon Harvey in the fifth inning. Linnenkohl led off with a single up the middle, and Ben Terry followed with a single through the left side. After both runners moved up on Allan Dykstra's groundout to short, Willy Fox drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to center. Dustin Hood notched the second RBI, driving in Terry with a two-out single to right.

Goff kept the rally alive, blooping a double into left off Harvey to score Hood from first. Evan Ocheltree plated Goff with a single through the left side, just past a diving Carrier, to bring Wake Forest's lead to 6-1.

UNCG cut the margin to 6-4 with three runs off reliever Alex Wiesner in its half of the fifth. Gaski and Guy Welsh hit back-to-back one-out singles, and Orton followed with an RBI double to left. Feltes drove in Welsh, who moved to third on Orton's double, with a sacrifice fly to right. Orton plated the third run of the inning, scoring when Sean Snell reached on a Wake fielding error.

The Spartans pulled closer with an unearned run off Garrett Bullock in the seventh. Gaski led off with a single up the middle and then moved to second when Hood threw the ball past Dykstra at first. After Wake went to Brad Kledzik out of the bullpen, Welsh followed with a single to put runners at the corners for Orton. Kledzik got Orton to ground into a double play, but Gaski scored on the play to cut the Deacons' lead to 6-5.

Harvey and Kory Judd held Wake Forest scoreless over the final four innings, allowing just two base hits during the stretch. However, Eric Niesen and Josh Ellis shut the door over the final two innings to make the 6-5 score stand up.

Wake starter Kirby Wedekind (2-0) earned the win on a scheduled staff day. Wedekind pitched a career-long four innings. The senior righthander allowed one run on four hits with a strikeout and a walk. The last time Wedekind went more than two innings came on April 11, 2004, when he threw 3 1/3 frames against Duke.

Ellis picked up his seventh save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth.

The Deacons used six pitchers on the day, getting most of the staff some work with a nine-day break ahead. Kledzik, Niesen and Ellis each pitched scoreless innings of relief.

Linnenkohl led the offense, going 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. He extended his hitting streak to six games. Dykstra, Smith and Terry each recorded two hits on the day.

Hood and Ocheltree extended their respective hitting streaks to seven games with RBI singles in the fifth. Fox saw his five-game hitting streak come to an end, going 0-for-3 with an RBI.

Like the Deacons, the Spartans had a staff day on the mound as well. Starter Shelton (1-4) took the loss with two innings of work. The lefty allowed two runs on three hits with a strikeout and a walk.

Orton led the UNCG hitters, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a pair of doubles.

The win was the Deacs' 14th in their last 16 meetings with the Spartans. Wake swept this season's series after defeating UNC Greensboro 14-3 on April 10 in Winston-Salem.

Wake Forest will be off for nine days for final exams. The Deacons return to action on Friday, May 11, for the first game of a weekend series with Miami at Hooks Stadium.