April 26, 2001

#21 Wake Forest (32-14, 14-7)

at

Maryland (13-28, 3-14)

Shipley Field in College Park, Md.

April 27 7:00 p.m.
April 28 7:00 p.m.
April 29 1:00 p.m.

Radio: www.umterps.com

Deacons To Finish ACC Slate At Maryland
Wake Forest travels to Maryland this weekend for its final three games on the ACC schedule. Other teams around the conference have as many as three more series to play before everyone heads for Charlotte, the site of this year's 2001 ACC Tournament, on May 15.

Entering the weekend, the Deacons are in second but with so many games to be played, Wake's final regular season position is up in the air.

Shooting For Second
The only certainty in the ACC is Florida State, who at 14-1 is coasting to the regular season title. In the ACC standings, the Deacons are second place residents behind Florida State, ahead of Clemson and Georgia Tech.

The Demon Deacons (14-7) and Clemson (10-5) have the same winning percentage but Wake is in second place by virtue of being fewer games back of Florida State. Georgia Tech (10-8) resides in fourth place.

Wake Forest only has one remaining conference series, this weekend at ninth-place Maryland. Clemson still has nine games to go including North Carolina, NC State and Virginia. If the Deacons win the series at Maryland by taking two of three, Clemson would have to win six of its final nine.

Burning Bush
Junior closer Dave Bush was tied for the NCAA lead in saves as of April 23 with 11. He picked up his 12th of year on Wednesday at Charlotte.

Bush doesn't fit the traditional mold of a closer as he is second on the team in innings and first in strikeouts. Several times this season, Bush has been called upon in the seventh, or even the sixth inning. He leads the ACC in appearances, strikeouts per nine and of course, saves.

Bush is Wake Forest's all-time leader in saves and appearances.

Deacs-Terps: The Series History
Wake Forest owns the all-time series against Maryland by a 69-45-1 count since 1954.

In his 14 years with Wake Forest, George Greer has a 36-7 mark against the Terps, the best record of any ACC foe. That includes a 16-4 record in College Park.

In 1999, the team's last trip to Maryland, the Deacons came away with a convincing three-game sweep. Wake Forest outscored Maryland 33-11.

The Class of 2001 holds a 7-2 edge in the series since 1998 but Maryland took two of three from Wake Forest in Winston-Salem last season.

Scott Siemon has an impressive history against Maryland. (more on that later in this release)

Deacons Make ÎBA' All-America Watch List
Two Demon Deacons, Jamie D'Antona and Cory Sullivan, were identified by Baseball America as players most deserving of All-America honors.

The publication broke down the positions by class and ranked Sullivan as one of the three best senior outfielders in the country.

D'Antona was tabbed as America's best freshman first baseman.

Siemon Owns Maryland
In two career appearances against the Terrapins, Scott Siemon has flat out dominated, owning 2-0 record with a perfect 0.00 ERA over 16 innings.

Those wins came as a sophomore and a junior. He has allowed 11 hits in those 16 innings with seven strikeouts and five walks.

Greer Gets 500 at Wake Forest
Head coach George Greer became just the seventh coach in ACC history to reach the 500-win plateau with Friday's 8-7 win over NC State at Ernie Shore Field.

This is Greer's 14th season at Wake Forest with a record of 503-308-3. His overall record is 609-430-7 in 20 seasons as a head coach, including six at Davidson.

Greer coached his 1,000th Division I game last season in the NCAA Tournament.

Deacons Guilty of Petty Theft
Wake Forest, not traditionally known as a running team, has been stealing bases at an unprecedented rate. In the month of April, a stretch of 18 games, the Stealin' Deacons have swiped 39 bases in 40 attempts.

NCAA Tournament Projections
The NCAA Tournament is just over a month away and the predictions have started to roll in, led by Baseball America. The publication has Wake Forest as a two-seed in Notre Dame's subregional in South Bend.

Four ACC teams are expected to make the field and BA's projected 64-team field includes eight teams from Wake Forest's 2001 schedule.

A Note From the Scheduling Department
Wake Forest has weathered the storm as far as the schedule goes. On paper, the toughest stretch of the 2001 slate has come and gone.

Between March 21 and April 1, Wake Forest played seven games against ranked opponents, four of which came on the road. The Demon Deacons went 1-6 during that span.

Wake Forest has played 13 games against ranked opponents, the most of any ACC team. The remaining regular season schedule lists six games. Of those four opponents, none of those teams are ranked and none have a winning record.

. . . And We're Back
Wake Forest is ranked in all three major polls for the first time since March 19. The Deacons have been ranked in Baseball America and ESPN's top 25 the last two weeks. Collegiate Baseball joins the crowd and lists Wake Forest at No. 22 after a four-week absence.

Glad To Be Back In The ACC
Wake Forest's 1-0 loss in game one of Wednesday's doubleheader at Charlotte marked the team's third straight non-conference loss.

The last time the Demon Deacons dropped three in a row outside the league, the Yankees were the scrambling to get out of the AL East basement, Arsenio Hall was still on the air, George Bush was President. The first George Bush.

The year was 1991. That's when the Demon Deacons opened the season by losing three straight the Georgia, the last time Wake Forest lost three straight non-conference games.

208 Games Later . . .
Wednesday's 1-0 loss to Charlotte marked another milestone. The last time Wake Forest had been shutout was March 24, 1998, a span of 208 games. Ironically, it was the 49ers who shutout the Deacons on that March afternoon in 1998, 7-0 at Hooks Stadium.

Three Deacons Nominated For All-America Honors From Writers' Association

Three Wake Forest players are receiving All-America consideration by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America. They are:

* Cory Sullivan, senior outfielder/pitcher
(.378 / 74 hits / 8 HR / 47 RBI / 20 SB / 3-0, 4.09 ERA) Sullivan has done just about everything for Wake Forest. Against ACC competition, Sullivan leads the conference in the following categories: RBI, hits, runs and stolen bases. He is second in batting average and home runs.

Sullivan's best game at the plate came at Georgia Tech, going four-for-five with two HR and six RBI.

But perhaps his signature game of the season was on March 24 against 10th-ranked Clemson when he pitched complete game win, allowing one earned run while going three-for-five with three RBI.

* Dave Bush, junior reliever
(12 saves / 3-3, 3.06 ERA / 53.0 IP / 63 K / .219 OBA) Bush has been Wake Forest's ace reliever for the last three seasons but has really come into his own in 2001. His 12 saves lead the ACC and put him into a tie for the lead in the NCAA.

Bush has struck out the side six times, an incredible stat for a pitcher who has thrown just 53.0 innings. He has dominated some of the country's best hitters, including Florida State's John-Ford Griffin who was 0-2 against Bush after striking out swinging, grounding into a 3-6-3 double play and an intentional walk.

* Jamie D'Antona, freshman first baseman
(.349 / 10 HR / 52 RBI / 65 hits / 18 BB / .565 Slg. %) D'Antona immediately stepped into the Wake Forest lineup and made an impact. He has started each of the team's 40 games at first base.

His 10 HR and 52 RBI are among the nation's top first basemen. He is is underrated defensively with a .992 fielding percentage. Baseball America calls him the country's best freshman first baseman.