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The Demon Deacons entertain High Point on Wednesday before Clemson rolls into town for three games beginning Thursday afternoon at Hooks Stadium.
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Wake Forest Finishes Regular Season With Four Straight Home Games
Deacons host High Point on Wednesday, then Clemson for three
May 13, 2003
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Wake Forest Finishes Regular Season With Four Straight Home Games. . .
The Demon Deacons (28-19, 8-12 ACC) close the book on the regular season with home games against High Point (13-36) and three straight versus Clemson (35-18, 12-9 ACC). Wake Forest enters the weekend in seventh place in the Atlantic Coast Conference and on a two-game slide after narrow losses to #25 VCU and Elon, 5-4 and 5-3, respectively.
The Deacons can improve their ACC standing and state their case for a sixth straight NCAA Tournament bid with a successful weekend against the Tigers.
Clemson, also coming off a midweek loss, was in sixth place just two weeks ago. But the Tigers have pushed in fourth and could move into third place this weekend.
The Deacons will send All-American pitcher and Golden Spikes Award Finalist Kyle Sleeth to the mound in the series opener on Thursday.
Sophomore Tim Morley, who has turned in three straight solid outings, will pitch for Wake Forest on Friday.
The game three starter has not been announced.
All three games of the series will air on WBRF 98.1 in Winston-Salem and on the internet. Saturday's game will be televised by the ACC Network. Mike Hogewood and Dan Bonner will call the action.
Deacons and Tigers: Series History. . .
Wake Forest and Clemson have split the last 14 meetings, dating back to 1999. In fact, eight of the last 11 meetings have been decided by three runs or less.
Neither team has completed a series sweep of the other since 1995.
Brad Scioletti hit .364 with a home run against Tiger pitching last year and Adam Bourassa batted .357 in four games vs. Clemson.
Sleeth Named Golden Spikes Award Finalist. . .
Last week, junior right-hander Kyle Sleeth was named as one of five finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, given by USA Baseball in partnership with the Major League Baseball Players to the top player in college baseball -- amateur baseball's most esteemed honor.
Sleeth is joined as a finalist by Tulane infielder Michael Aubrey, Stanford outfielder Carlos Quintin, Richmond pitcher Tim Stauffer and Southern infielder/outfielder Rickie Weeks. Sleeth was teammates with four of the players -- Aubrey, Quintin and Weeks -- last summer on the Team USA team that toured the United States and participated in tournaments in The Netherlands and Italy.
The 2003 winner will be announced on July 15.
The 2002 Golden Spikes Award winner was Khalil Greene of Clemson. Past winners of this prestigious award include current Major League Baseball stars such as Mark Prior ('01), Jason Jennings ('00), Pat Burrell ('98), J.D. Drew ('97), Travis Lee ('96), Mark Kotsay ('95), Jason Varitek ('94), Darren Dreifort ('93), Phil Nevin ('92) and Robin Ventura ('88).
Speed Demons. . .
The Demon Deacons boast the best base stealing duo in the Atlantic Coast Conference in Ryan Hubbard and Adam Bourassa. The pair have combined for 60 thefts this season. Hubbard's 32 bags lead the ACC and Bourassa's 28 rank third.
No Deacon has led the conference in that category since 1985 when Tommy Gregg swiped 41 bags.
D'Antona Ranks Among Top Players in ACC History. . .
Junior third baseman Jamie D'Antona has put together not only one of the best seasons in Atlantic Coast Conference history, but also one of the best careers in ACC history.
On April 29 at UNC Greensboro, D'Antona became Wake Forest's all-time leading home run hitter. He now stands at 57, tied for fifth in ACC history. (see page five)
At 238, He is four RBI away from moving into first place on Wake Forest's all-time RBI chart, passing Jon Palmieri.
With all these records in sight, it's easy to forget that D'Antona is a junior.
The only three-year player in the ACC to have more RBIs than D'Antona is J.D. Drew (257).
This season, D'Antona is hitting ACC pitching at a .367 clip with 7 HR and 30 RBI with an ACC best .722 slugging pct. That's 1.5 RBI per game, best in the league and the homers are second. He hit .444 in the FSU series, .417 against NC State and .364 against UNC.
D'Antona has not let five games pass without hitting a home run this year.
D'Antona's .722 slugging percentage is far better of the next closest competitor (Jeremy Cleveland, UNC, .678). The last three ACC leaders in that category (Khalil Greene, John-Ford Griffin and Mark Teixeira) were all first-round draft picks.
One area where D'Antona is underappreciated is at third base where D'Antona's .935 fielding percentage ranks third in the ACC.
George Greer Ranks 5th All-Time in ACC Wins. .
Now in his 16th year at Wake Forest, head coach George Greer has moved into the top five in overall wins while a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Greer has 590 wins in his 15-plus seasons, trailing only Bill Wilhelm (1161, Clemson), Mike Roberts (780, North Carolina), current Florida State coach Mike Martin (617) and current Virginia coach Dennis Womack (591).
Greer is four wins away from his 700th career victory in his 22nd year at the Division I level.
Off the Hook: Deacons Dominate at Hooks Stadium
During the last five seasons (including 2003), Wake Forest has been virtually unbeatable at home. Since 1999, the Deacons are 107-20 (.843) at Hooks Stadium.
That mark has been even more impressive against non-conference opponents. Wake Forest is 61-7 against non-ACC teams in that span including 13-1 records in each of the last three seasons.
In 2003, Wake Forest is 15-6 at Hooks, its on-campus home. However, due to a brutal stretch of weather and road games, only 10 of the team's last 31 games have been played at "The Hook."
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