Wake Forest Athletics
Deacs Have Busy Week of Non-Conference Play
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 19, 1999
WAKE FOREST (28-11, 11-6 ACC)
vs WINTHROP (28-13) April 20 Hooks Stadium at VA. COMMONWEALTH (30-9) April 21 Richmond, VA
DEACS HOST WINTHROP, VISIT VCU IN BUSY WEEK
The 16th-ranked Wake Forest baseball team hosts Winthrop and visits
Virginia Commonwealth in a busy week of non-conference action before
returning to ACC play against NC State at home this weekend. The Demon
Deacons have won nine of their last 10 games overall and also own a
school-record 15-game home winning streak, having not lost at Hooks Stadium
since Feb. 25.
Wake Forest went 4-1 last week to improve its record to 28-11 and climb back into the national polls after a brief two-week absence. The Deacs took two of three games at Georgia Tech last weekend to climb into second place in the ACC standings with a 11-6 record, trailing only first-place Florida State (14-1). Georgia Tech (9-6), North Carolina (8-7) and NC State (7-8) round out the top five teams in the ACC standings.
UPDATING THE DEMON DEACONS
The Wake Forest offense continues to be led by All-American first
baseman Jon Palmieri, who leads the team in nearly every offensive
category. Palmieri, the 1998 ACC batting champion, is batting .419 with a
team-high 13 home runs and 53 RBI. He has reached base safely in 37 of 39
games this year and is a perfect 12-for-12 in stolen base attempts.
Palmieri ranks among the ACC leaders in homers (3rd), hits (3rd), RBI
(3rd), batting (3rd), runs scored (5th) and stolen bases (8th).
Sophomore DH Danny Borrell, .356-8-32, is batting .381 with three homers since moving to the cleanup spot in the order eight games ago. During the Clemson series in late March he reached base safely in 10 straight plate appearances, going 8-for-8 with two walks.
Catcher Andrew Riepe, .320-7-33, continues to be an ironman behind the plate for the Deacs and has started 109 of Wake's last 112 games (97%), dating back to the final weeks of the 1997 season. He has been red hot at the plate of late, batting .432 with 16 RBI over the last 10 games.
After a slow start to the season, third baseman Corey Slavik, .259-5-29, has been one of Wake Forest's top hitters in recent weeks. He has reached base safely in 14 of the last 15 games, improving his batting average 76 points while batting .377 in that stretch.
Jump starting the Wake Forest offense is center fielder Scott Daeley, .352-1-26, who leads the team with 14 stolen bases in 17 attempts this season. He is batting .426 over the last 10 games and ranks among the ACC leaders in hits, doubles and runs scored.
Walk-on outfielder Matt Price, .400-1-6, has performed well in the last two weeks as he has taken over for injured right fielder Ben Danosky, .300-7-29. Danosky ended a streak of 98 consecutive against Virginia when he was sidelined with a hairline fracture in his right hand. He has missed the last seven games and his status for the remainder of the season is uncertain. He will be reevaluated later this week.
In left field, the Demon Deacons continue to look for one player to rise above the mix among righties John Kubachka, .250-0-8, Ricky Mendez, .244-2-6, and Carlos Brackley, .229-0-2, and lefty Stephen Sullivan, .241-3-12.
The sophomore middle infield combination of shortstop Chase Voshell, .323-5-21, and second baseman Jason Aquilante, .307-3-21, have been solid in all aspects of the game to date this season.
On the mound, junior right hander Mike MacDougal is 8-2 in 11 starts with an impressive 2.16 ERA. MacDougal, who tossed the school's first no-hitter in 60 years earlier this season against Duke, has been equally impressive against ACC competition, posting a 5-1 record and a 2.11 ERA in six starts. Rounding out the weekend rotation are senior southpaw John Hendricks, 6-4, 5.03, and junior righty Eric Schmitt, 3-1, 4.14.
Sophomore righty Scott Siemon, 8-1, 4.35, 4 SV, has emerged as the top man out of the bullpen after making appearances in 21 of 39 games this year. A pair of righties in junior Matt Briggs, 2-0, 5.05, and freshman David Bush, 0-1, 6.89, have been the other workhorses out of the bullpen. Sophomore southpaw Danny Borrell, 0-0, 3.72, bolstered the bullpen with his return to the staff earlier this month against Florida State. He should continue to see his mound action increase in upcoming weeks.
PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Sophomore right-hander Scott Siemon (8-1, 4.35 ERA) will make his
fourth start of the season on Tuesday against Winthrop. In his three
previous starts, Siemon owns a 3-0 record and a 3.31 ERA in 16.1 innings.
Siemon has been Wake Forest's top man out of the bullpen this season and is
currently tied for the ACC lead in victories (8) and ranks third in saves
(4).
Wednesday's starter at Virginia Commonwealth is yet to be determined.
The likely rotation for the NC State series will feature junior righty Mike MacDougal on Friday and senior southpaw John Hendricks on Saturday, while Sunday's starter is still to be determined.
DEMON DEACONS IN THE ACC
Spanning the 1998 and 1999 seasons, Wake Forest has been impressive
against ACC opponents. The Demon Deacons have 29 wins over ACC clubs
(including regular season and tournament games), second among all ACC
schools behind only Florida State's 36 wins.
ACC Wins in the Last Two Years
1. Florida State 36
2. Wake Forest 29
3. Georgia Tech 24
4. North Carolina 23
5. NC State 21
6. Clemson 19
7. Virginia 11
7. Duke 11
9. Maryland 10
(*Includes regular season and tournament games)
"IRON MAN" DANOSKY SUFFERS HAIRLINE FRACTURE IN HAND
Senior right fielder Ben Danosky suffered a hairline fracture of
the hamate in his right hand on Mar. 9 against Virginia while attempting to
check a swing. His status for the remainder of the season in uncertain and
he wil be reevaluated later this week.
Danosky has been a fixture in the Wake Forest lineup since his freshman season, starting 184 games to date in his career. He was the lone player to start all 66 games during the 1998 season and started each of the first 32 games of the 1999 season. He ended a streak of 98 consecutive starts, the longest such streak on the team, when he missed the final two games of the Virginia series.
PALMIERI APPROACHES ELITE 300/200/200 CLUB
Senior first baseman Jon Palmieri is quickly approaching an elite
group of four players in ACC history that have recorded 300 hits, 200 RBI
and 200 runs in their careers.
Player (School) Hits RBI Runs
Jake Austin (WF, 1989-92) 317 236 213
Jason Varitek (GT, 1991-94) 351 251 261
Jeremy Morris (FSU, 1994-97) 302 273 222
Jake Weber (NCS, 1995-98) 366 239 288
Jon Palmieri (WF, 1996-99) 295 200 197
HOME, SWEET HOME
Wake forest owns a 18-2 record in Winston-Salem this season (17-2
on campus at Hooks Stadium and 1-0 at nearby Ernie Shore Field). The Demon
Deacons are on a current 15-game home winning streak, the longest in school
history. Below is a look at the longest home winning streaks at Wake Forest
since ACC play began in 1955.
A closer examination of the statistics reveals just how much the Demon Deacons have dominated their opponents at home. In 20 games, the Deacs are batting .352 as a team and own a solid 3.24 team ERA. Conversely, opponents are hitting just .247 and have a 8.66 ERA. Wake Forest has outscored its opponents 176-87.
The home field advantage also has an affect on individual statistics as well. First baseman Jon Palmieri is batting a whopping .494 (42-for-85) with 6 HR and 31 RBI at home while DH Danny Borrell is hitting .412 with 4 HR and 18 RBI. Overall, seven of Wake Forest's starting nine players are batting .315 or better.
On the mound, Mike MacDougal is 5-1 with a 1.19 ERA in six starts (45.1 IP), including tossing a no-hitter against Duke (opponents are batting just .160 against him). Southpaw John Hendricks owns a 5-0 record and one save with a 2.72 ERA in 46.1 IP at home while bullpen ace Scott Siemon is a perfect 4-0 with 2 saves while posting a 3.60 ERA in 20.0 IP.
Longest Home Winning Streaks (since 1955)
Year Wins First Win Streak Ended By 1. 1999 15 Va. Tech, 4-2 (Feb. 27) ??? 2. 1982 14 VCU, 15-10 (Mar. 11) Wingate, 10-11 (Apr. 13) 3. 1962 12 Kent, 4-0 (Mar. 22) Duke, 1-3 (May 10) 4. 1990 10 Hartford, 9-3 (Mar. 18) North Carolina (Mar. 30)
