May 19, 2005

Games No. 51-53: Wake Forest vs. Clemson
Records:	Demon Deacons (24-23, 11-16 ACC) vs. Hokies (21-26, 5-18 ACC)
When:	Thu., May 19 - 7:00 p.m. Fri., May 20 - 7:00 p.m. Sat., May 21 - 1:00 p.m.
Where:	English Field - Blacksburg, Va.
Pitching Matchup:	WF: Brian Bach (2-2, 4.30 ERA) VT: Ryan Kennedy (5-7, 4.26 ERA) WF: Josh Ellis (5-4, 6.26 ERA) VT: Greg Fryman (3-2, 7.30 ERA) WF: tba VT: Jake Chaney (5-4, 5.56 ERA)
Game Notes:	Complete Release in PDF Format Download Free Acrobat Reader
Coverage:	Thursday: Gametracker; Listen Friday: Gametracker; Listen Saturday: Gametracker; Listen

Wake Forest closes the 2005 Regular Season schedule this weekend with an ACC weekend series at Virginia Tech. The schedule for the weekend series is as follows: Thursday (7 pm), Friday (7 pm) and Saturday (1 pm). There will be radio for the entire series with the Hokies. Those games will be broadcast live on WBRF-FM (98.1) and be available on the world wide web at WakeForestSports.com through the Yahoo subscription service. Gametracker will also be available for live stats.

RANKINGS... Wake Forest and Virginia Tech are each unranked in any of the four polls.

ON DECK... After the regular season closing series at Virginia Tech, Wake Forest will embark on the 2005 ACC Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. from May 24-29. The entire tournament will be played at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.

INJURY UPDATE... Redshirt freshman Andrew Knox and junior catcher Dan Rosaia remain out indefinitely... Knox has a slight tear in his labrum and has not pitched since Mar. 2 against High Point... Rosaia injured his ankle against South Alabama on Feb. 18 and will miss the entire season after undergoing surgery on Mar. 21... Senior Tim Morley is questionable for the series at Virginia Tech... Senior center fielder Matt Miller injured his right ankle in the series finale against Clemson and is doubtful for the series with the Hokies.

THE SERIES VS. THE HOKIES... Wake Forest leads 30-26.

NOTES... The Demon Deacons have captured the last 11 meetings dating back to Feb. 27 of 1999... The Hokies have not beaten the Deacs March 20, 1988... Wake Forest and Virginia Tech did not meet between 1988-99, but have faced one another at least once in five of the past six seasons.

THE STARTING PITCHERS... Virginia Tech will start junior lefthander Ryan Kennedy (5-7, 4.27 ERA) on the mound in game one Wednesday. The Punta Gorda, FL native has made 13 starts and one relief appearance for a total of 86.2 innings pitched. He has allowed 90 hits and 41 walks while striking out 67. He has also allowed three homers and opponents are batting .278 against him.

Wake Forest will start senior righthander Brian Bach (2-2, 4.30 ERA) in game one Wednesday. The Winston-Salem, NC native has made six starts and 11 relief appearances for a total of 52.1 innings pitched. He has allowed 55 hits and 13 walks with 28 strikeouts. He has allowed just one home run and opponents are batting just .268 against him.

The Hokies will send out sophomore righty Greg Fryman (3-2, 7.30 ERA) in game two. The Gibsonia, PA native has made six relief appearances and seven starts for a total of 49.1 innings pitched. He has allowed 72 hits and 15 walks with 28 strikeouts. He has allowed nine home runs and opponents are batting .346 against him.

The Demon Deacons will send out sophomore righty Josh Ellis (5-4, 6.26 ERA) on Thursday. The Lexington, KY native has made 13 starts and two relief appearances for a total of 73.1 innings pitched. He has yielded 98 hits and 30 walks with 45 strikeouts. He has allowed a staff-high 11 home runs and opponents are batting .330 against him.

Virginia Tech will start senior righthander Jake Chaney (5-4, 5.56 ERA) in game three. The Blowing Rock, NC native has made seven relief appearances and eight starts for a total of 66.1 innings pitched. He has yielded 79 hits and 31 walks with 52 strikeouts. He has allowed eight home runs and opponents are batting .302 against him.

In game three, Wake Forest has yet to announce a starter.

VIRGINIA TECH NOTES... Virginia Tech is led by 27th-year Head Coach Chuck Hartman, who has won 938 games as the Hokie head coach. He also has won 1,421 career games in his 46th year as a head coach. That mark puts Hartman #4 on the all-time Division I coaching victory list.

The Hokies enter the series with a 21-26 overall record and 5-18 ACC mark. Virgina Tech, who is 9-12 at home and 11-12 on opponents' home fields, dropped all three at Georgia Tech last weekend by a combined score of 48-3. The club has been good in close games, as it is 5-1 in one-run games and 3-1 in extra-inning games. The Hokies' magic number has been six, as they are 14-2 when scoring at least six runs and 7-24 when scoring five runs or less.

The team is hitting .278 overall and managed just three runs all weekend against the Yellow Jackets. Virginia Tech batted just .219 (21-for-96) with three extra-base hits the entire weekend. Bryan Thomas leads the squad with a .363 batting average and 15 doubles. Billy Marn is hitting .314 with a team-best six homers, while Jose Cueto is hitting .289 with a team-high 29 RBIs. Nate Parks (17-19) and Chris Stanton (14-19) are the team's top-two basestealing threats.

The pitching staff has a 6.09 ERA and .314 opponents' batting average. Virginia Tech has struck out 314 against 204 walks in 417.0 innings pitched. Freshman righthander Randy Buffington has a team-high three saves in 16 relief appearances and one start. The Hokie defense has been solid. The team sports a .967 fielding percentage. LAST SEASON AGAINST THE HOKIES... Former Demon Deacon Steve LeFaivre hit two home runs, including a grand slam, as Wake Forest defeated Virginia Tech, 15-2, on Mar. 17 of 2004. Tim Morley picked up his second win and extended his scoreless innings pitched streak to 17.0 with five shutout innings of work against the Hokies.

WAKE FOREST NOTES FROM CLEMSON SERIES...
-- The Tigers swept the Deacs for the fourth straight year and have won 12 consecutive overall.
-- Senior Brian Bach was a hard luck loser on May 13, but the right-handed hurler allowed a leadoff double then retired 22 consecutive batters. Bach has now worked into the sixth inning in his last five ACC starts.
-- Senior J.B. Tucker extended his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games. It is a team-high for the Deacs.
-- Senior Ben Ingold went 6-for-6 with four runs scored on May 14. Ingold was the first Demon Deacon to register six hits in a game since Ryan Hubbard set the school record with seven against Maryland on March 16, 2003.
-- Redshirt sophomore Brendan Enick had a grand slam and drove in a career-best five on May 14.
-- Wake Forest starter Charlie Mellies tossed the first complete game of his career on May 15.
-- Wake Forest blew a seven-run lead to the Tigers in the second game of the series. It was the biggest lead the Deacs have blown since Apr. 13, 2001 when the Deacs blew a 7-0 lead in a 18-11 loss to Georgia Tech.

HITTING STREAKS... Entering this week's game against High Point, two Wake Forest players have hitting streaks of at least six games.

Player                 Statistics During Streak
J.B. Tucker (16)       .460, 29-for-63, 21 R, 7 2B, 6 HR, 24 RBI
Casey Sterk (7)        .387, 12-for-31, 5 R, 2 2B, 5 RBI
Brendan Enick (4)      .263, 5-for-19, 4 R, 1 HR, 7 RBI
Matt Miller (3)        .250, 3-for-12, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Ryder Mathias (3)      .455, 5-for-11, 6 R, 2 HR, 7 RBI
Brett Linnenkohl (3)   .308, 4-for-13, 4 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI

ACC TOURNAMENT SEEDING SCENARIO... Wake Forest and Virginia are locked into either the seventh or eighth seed in the upcoming 2005 ACC Tournament. With this season's new tournament format, the top seven seeds avoid a single elimination play-in tourney on Tuesday, while seeds 8-11 play one another for the right to face the top seed Wednesday. To secure the seventh seed, the Deacs need to win one more game this weekend than the Cavaliers which hosts Duke.

MAJOR POWER SURGE... Since returning from their 13-day layoff, Wake Forest has drilled 14 home runs in six game. The Demon Deacons have hit three home runs in each of their last three games and four times in the past five outings.

SAME STARTERS... Wake Forest has had four players - Matt Antonelli (3B), Brett Linnenkohl (LF), J.B. Tucker (C/DH) and Ryder Mathias (1B/C/DH) - start all 50 games this season. Andy Goff (SS/2B) has 49 contests, while Casey Sterk (CF/RF), Ben Ingold (2B/SS) and Matt Miller (CF) have been in the starting lineup on 48 occasions. Antonelli is the only two player to start all 50 games at the same position and have played every inning at their respective spots.

MONTH OF MAY... Wake Forest has struggled in the month of May each of the past two seasons. The Deacons dropped all nine of their games in May last season and were just 1-7 in the month in 2003. Wake Forest snapped a 14-game losing streak in the month of May with their victory over Elon on May 10. Wake Forest is 3-3 in May this season

MATHIAS ON A TEAR... Senior designated hitter Ryder Mathias is on an absolute tear over the Demon Deacons last 10 games. Mathias is batting .463 (17-for-39) with eight home runs and 22 RBI. Mathias is slugging an absurd 1.103 and has a pair of multi-home run games. In fact, Mathias homered twice in the same inning against Appalachian State on May 11. He was the first Demon Deacon to do so since Jeff Ruziecki blasted two home runs in the second inning versus UNCG back on April 30, 2002.

REMBIELAK ON HIS WAY TO 400... first-year head coach Rick Rembielak is on the brink of his 400th career victory. In 11 years at Kent State, Rembielak went 373-251-1. After the Deacs victory over Appalachian State this past Wednesday, Rembielak has now recorded 397 victories.