May 16, 2007
| Demon Deacons (29-24, 12-15) vs. Hokies (22-29, 6-21) |
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Thurs., May 17 - 7:00 p.m.
Fri., May 18 - 7:00 p.m.
Sat., May 19 - 2:00 p.m. |
| English Field - Blacksburg, Va. |
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WF: LHP Garrett Bullock (3-1, 4.62)
VT: RHP Greg Fryman (2-9, 8.05)
WF: RHP Brad Kledzik (4-3, 5.09)
VT: LHP Andrew Wells (3-4, 4.82)
WF: RHP Ben Hunter (5-6, 4.76)
VT: RHP Adam Redd (3-5, 3.84) |
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Complete Release in PDF Format
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Television: ACC Select (all games)
Radio: 98.1 WBRF (all games), Internet (all games)
Thursday: Live Stats
Friday: Live Stats
Saturday: Live Stats |
IN THE BATTERS BOX -- The season is on the line this weekend, as Wake Forest travels north for a three-game set at Virginia Tech beginning on Thursday evening. The Demon Deacons have yet to secure a spot in the eight-team ACC Tournament and must win one more game than Boston College does this weekend. Wake comes into the regular season finale 29-24 overall and 12-15 in the ACC. The Deacs are coming off a series loss at home to Miami last weekend. Wake is tied with BC for the eighth and final spot in the conference tournament, but the Eagles hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Deacons. Wake will be scoreboard watching all weekend, awaiting the results of BC's home series against Virginia.
VIRGINIA TECH INSIDER -- Virginia Tech enters the series 22-29 overall and 6-21 in the ACC. The Hokies have been eliminated from postseason contention and thus are playing their final three games of the season. Virginia Tech is coming off a 9-3 loss to Charlotte on Tuesday in Blacksburg. The Hokies have lost three of their last four and are 10-14 at English Field. As a team, Virginia Tech is hitting .284 with 25 home runs. Nate Parks and Sean O'Brien are tied for the team lead with .327 averages. Bryan Thomas has tallied a team-best 43 RBIs, while Parks has stolen 35 bases in 44 attempts. On the mound, Virginia Tech has a team ERA of 5.92. Greg Fryman and Andrew Wells have each started 12 games for the Hokies. Rhett Ballard is 6-2 with 74 strikeouts in 33 relief appearances.
LAST MEETING -- Wake Forest swept Virginia Tech in three games March 31 - April 2 in Winston-Salem. The Deacs rolled the Hokies, 12-1, on Friday. Allan Dykstra was 4-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, while Evan Ocheltree had three hits. Starter Brad Kledzik got the win with six scoreless innings. On Saturday, Wake got past Virginia Tech 7-3. Eric Niesen started and allowed two runs in four innings. Ben Hunter earned a two-inning save. The Deacs completed the sweep with 13-5 win on Sunday. Dykstra went 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs, and Ocheltree and Jones had two hits apiece.
ON DECK -- This weekend's series wraps up regular season play. The top eight conference teams qualify for the ACC Tournament, May 23-27 in Jacksonville, Fla. Wake Forest is currently tied with Boston College for eighth place in the conference but loses out on the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Eagles.
RANKINGS -- Both Virginia Tech and Wake Forest are unranked.
POSTSEASON SCENARIOS -- Wake Forest enters the weekend tied with Boston College for eighth place in the ACC standings. Since the Eagles hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Deacs, Wake must win one more game than BC does this weekend to qualify for the ACC Tournament. However, should the Eagles sweep Virginia this weekend in Chestnut Hill, the Deacons could still make the eight-team field. Wake would need to sweep Virginia Tech and also have either Clemson sweep NC State or Duke sweep Miami.
MIAMI LEFTOVERS --
-Wake Forest dropped two of three to Miami in a critical ACC series at Hooks Stadium. The two teams matched up evenly, as all three games came down to the wire. Miami won 9-8 in 14 innings on Friday, completing the win on Saturday after darkness forced the game's suspension. Wake evened the series with a 12-10 walk-off victory on Saturday. The Hurricanes took Sunday's rubber match, 2-1, behind Enrique Garcia's complete game.
-The Deacs showed some grit in coming from behind late on Friday. Miami held a 7-0 lead midway through the seventh inning and then was up 8-2 in the ninth. Wake scored six in the bottom of the ninth, with the rally capped by Tyler Smith's three-run homer. After the game was suspended following the 11th inning, the Canes plated a run in the 14th to take the 9-8 win on Saturday.
-In the second game on Saturday, the two teams were back and forth to the very end before Austin Jones launched a two-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth. It was Wake Forest's eighth walk-off win of the season.
MR. CLUTCH, Tyler Smith -- Sophomore Tyler Smith has proven to be one of Wake Forest's most clutch hitters this season. In his first at-bat of the year, Smith hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th to cap a 9-7 comeback win against Charlotte on February 27. Smith was also in the middle of Wake's walk-off win against Gardner-Webb on March 6, hitting an RBI single to plate the first run of the ninth-inning rally. Smith scored the winning run against Clemson on April 14, enducing a leadoff walk and then scoring on Brett Linnenkohl's game-winning single. Smith was at it again last weekend against Miami. He hit the game-tying, three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth on Friday. Smith then scored the winning run on Austin Jones' walk-off homer on Saturday.
ONE-RUN WARRIORS -- Wake Forest has had a lion's share of one-run games this season, so much so that the Deacs lead the nation in that category. With a 9-13 mark, Wake has the most one-run losses and has played in the most one-run games in the country. That figure also includes a 3-8 record in conference play. No other ACC team has more than seven one-run losses overall and none has played more than 15 one-run games. Additionally, the Deacons have twice the number of one-run conference losses as the next highest teams (Georgia Tech and Maryland with four one-run ACC losses).
WAKE WALKING-OFF TALL -- Wake Forest has had a knack for getting the big hit late in games this season. The Deacons' 12-10 defeat of Miami on Saturday, May 12, was Wake's eighth walk-off win of the year. The Demon Deacons have also walked-off against Kent State, Charlotte, Gardner-Webb, High Point, Virginia, Clemson and Duke. Wake Forest also won in its last at-bat on the road at San Diego and Charlotte. The Deacs have been on the wrong end of walk-off rallies four times this season, including setbacks at San Diego, Florida State and twice at Boston College.
DEACS PARTICIPATE IN BASEBALL BEARS -- Wake Forest participated in its annual Baseball Bears community service project on Monday, May 14. The Deacs visited six local second grade classes around Winston-Salem, passing out 52 bears that had been donated earlier in the season by fans at Hooks Stadium. Students receiving bears were selected by their teachers based on hard work, leadership and academic excellence. Deacon players and coaches spoke with the classes about working hard and staying in school in order to achieve their dreams. The team also encouraged the students to work with and learn from their teachers just like a baseball team works with its coach.
CURRENT HITTING STREAKS -- Junior Brett Linnenkohl leads the team with a nine-game hitting streak. Linnenkohl has had a hit in 19 of his last 20 games, dating back to March 31 at North Carolina. Junior Ben Terry is the only other Deacon with an extended hitting streak, as Terry comes into the weekend riding a five-gamer. Sophomores Dustin Hood and Evan Ocheltree each had nine-game hitting streaks snapped on Sunday against Miami. Sophomore Allan Dykstra has reached base safely, via a base hit, a walk or a hit by pitch, in 51 games this season.
Player Statistics During Streak
Brett Linnenkohl (9) .381 (16-for-42), 14 R, 5 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .690 SLG, .469 OBP, 5 BB, 4 SB
Ben Terry (5) .429 (9-for-21), 8 R, 2B, 1 RBI, .476 SLG, .500 OBP, 2 BB
DYKSTRA INCLUDED ON WALLACE AWARD REVISED WATCH LIST -- Sophomore Allan Dykstra has been listed on the revised watch list for the 2007 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award, as announced by the College Baseball Foundation on May 3. Dykstra is one of 112 players in the country, including 10 from the ACC, that were included on the midseason list. The annual award goes to the top collegiate baseball player in the nation. The selection committee will pare the midseason list down to 30 semifinalists at the end of May. From there, three finalists will be announced during the College World Series, and the winner will be announced during a three-day celebration of college baseball July 2-4 in Lubbock, Texas.
LINNENKOHL LEADING THE WAY -- Junior leadoff man Brett Linnenkohl has turned up the heat at the plate recently. After missing five games with a minor injury, Linnenkohl returned with a bang. In a 16-game stretch prior to the Miami series, Linnenkohl hit a team-leading .415 (27-for-65) with 19 runs scored. During the stretch, Linnenkohl got on base at a .531 clip and slugged .646. He had a hit in 15 of the 16 games, including nine multi-hit performances. Linnenkohl hit the game-winning home run in the 11th inning of Wake's 3-2 defeat of No. 22 Charlotte on April 24. He then scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning of the Deacons' 4-3 win against Duke four days later. The Olympia, Wash., native led off the game at UNC Greensboro on May 2 with a home run.
HUNTER IMPRESSIVE AS STARTER -- Junior Ben Hunter has been solid in each of his five starts this season. The Deacons' All-American closer in 2006, Hunter made the transition to a starting role in mid-April. He has made four starts, three coming against ranked opponents (Coastal Carolina twice and Charlotte). Hunter has gone 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA as a starter. He has struck out 29 batters and walked 12 in 29.1 innings pitched. More importantly, Wake Forest is 4-1 in games that Hunter has started. In contrast, Hunter is 3-5 with a 6.91 ERA in 20 relief appearances in 2007. Hunter earned All-American honors as the Demon Deacons' closer last season and came into 2007 as a Preseason All-American by multiple publications. However, Hunter's early struggles out of the bullpen thrusted him into the role of a starter. This is not new territory for Hunter, though, as he went 6-3 in 13 starts as a freshman at Furman in 2005.
DON'T RUB IT -- Junior Ben Terry is making a push to break one of Wake Forest's most painful single-season records--hit by pitch. Terry was hit four times in the Duke series, three of which came in Friday's game alone. The four plunkings gave Terry 18 HBPs on the year, tying him for second place on Wake's single-season list. Terry is tied with Matt Miller (2005) for second and is 11 away from Ryder Mathias' school-record of 29, set in 2005. Terry is not the only Deacon getting hit at an alarming rate this season. Allan Dykstra is not far behind having been hit 17 time this season, including three times in the Miami series. Dykstra has a career total of 29, which ties him for third on Wake Forest's all-time list. Willy Fox has also been plunked 12 times on the year.
