Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Hope to Snap Four-Game Losing Streak
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 5, 1999
WAKE FOREST (19-10, 6-5 ACC)
at VIRGINIA TECH (16-10)
April 6 * Blacksburg, VA
vs APPALACHIAN STATE (7-23)
April 7 * Winston-Salem, NC
DEMON DEACONS WRAP UP ROAD STRETCH, RETURN TO HOOKS STADIUM
The Wake Forest baseball nine looks to snap a season-long four-game
losing streak when the Demon Deacons visit Virginia Tech on Tuesday at 3
p.m. The game will be the last of a season-long five-game road stretch as
Wake Forest will return to Hooks Stadium on Wednesday afternoon to host
local rival Appalachian State at 3 p.m. The Deacs will host Virginia in a
three-game ACC series beginning on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Wake Forest's record currently stands at 19-10 on the season, including a 6-5 mark in ACC play, after dropping three straight games against top-ranked Florida State last weekend. The Demon Deacons are unranked for the first time in 1999.
PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Sophomore right-hander Scott Siemon (5-1, 4.76 ERA) will get the
starting nod on Tuesday at Virginia Tech. Siemon, who has been Wake
Forest's top weapon out of the bullpen this year, will be making just his
second start of the season. In his first start against East Tennessee State
on Mar. 17, he allowed one earned run in four innings of work. Siemon was
outstanding two weeks ago, tossing 8 2/3 shutout innings in four
appearances, but struggled in two outings against East Carolina and Florida
State last week.
On Wednesday against Appalachian State, Wake Forest will turn to one of two southpaws in senior John Hendricks (4-3, 5.07) or sophomore senior Danny Borrell (0-0, 7.71). Hendricks is looking for his 29th career victory, which would tie him for first place on the school's all-time win list (see note below), however he has not won a ball game since Mar. 13 against Duke. Borrell, who has missed much of the first half of the season with various injuries, returned to the mound last weekend against Florida State for just his second appearance of the season.
The likely rotation for the weekend series against Virginia will feature a pair of junior right-handers in Mike MacDougal and Eric Schmitt as well as Hendricks.
VS. VIRGINIA TECH
Wake Forest and Virginia Tech will be meeting for the third time in
the 1999 season on Tuesday afternoon in Blacksburg. The Demon Deacons swept
a two-game series with the Hokies in Winston-Salem on Mar. 27 and 28 by
scores of 4-2 and 10-9. John Hendricks tossed a complete-game victory in
the first game of the series, allowing just one earned run while striking
out seven batters, while Scott Siemon picked up the second win in relief as
the Demon Deacons rallied for a 10-9 victory by scoring five runs in the
bottom of the ninth inning. Overall, Virginia Tech leads the series 21-15
dating back to 1957.
DEACONS RECORD HISTORIC SWEEP OF CLEMSON
Wake Forest wrapped up an impressive month of March (13-4 record)
with a decisive three-game sweep of Clemson, winning by scores of 5-1, 11-6
and 10-2. The sweep of the Tigers marked the first time Wake Forest swept
three regular season games from Clemson since the 1952 season.
HOME, SWEET HOME
Wake forest owns a 14-2 record in the friendly confines of Hooks
Stadium this season, and a closer examination of the statistics reveals
just how much the Demon Deacons have dominated their opponents in
Winston-Salem. In 16 games, the Deacs are batting .352 as a team and own a
solid 3.17 team ERA. Conversely, opponents are hitting just .238 and have a
8.67 ERA. Wake Forest has outscored its opponents 139-67.
The home field advantage also has an affect on individual statistics as well. First baseman Jon Palmieri is batting a whopping .493 (33-for-67) with 6 HR and 24 RBI at Hooks Stadium while right fielder Ben Danosky is hitting .412 with 4 HR and 18 RBI. Overall, seven of Wake Forest's starting nine players are batting .317 or better.
On the mound, Mike MacDougal is 4-1 with a 1.24 ERA in five starts (36.1 IP), including tossing a no-hitter against Duke. Southpaw John Hendricks is 4-0 with a 2.37 ERA in 38.0 IP at home while bullpen ace Scott Siemon is a perfect 3-0 with 2 saves while posting a 3.32 ERA in 19.0 IP.
CALL ME MR. CLUTCH
Everybody knows that to win a championship it takes good pitching,
good defense and timely hitting. The Demon Deacons boast one of the top
pitching staffs in the ACC and the defense has been solid all year (.968
fielding pct.), so here a look at Wake Forest's Nos. 3, 4 and 5 hitters
perform in the clutch:
Player Overall Avg. Avg. w/ 2 outs Rnrs in score pos.
3. Jon Palmieri .395 .326 (-69) .436 (+41)
4. Danny Borrell .346 .423 (+77) .375 (+29)
5. Ben Danosky .322 .382 (+60) .419 (+97)
EASY AS "1-2-3"?
On March 19-21, the Demon Deacons took on the nation's then
third-ranked team, North Carolina, in a three-game series in Chapel Hill.
Last weekend, Wake Forest faced the nation's No. 1-ranked team, Florida
State, in a three game series in Tallahassee. Throw in a single game
against Auburn, now ranked 4th in the country, and the Demon Deacons have
played seven games against three of the nation's top 10 teams, all away
from home.
Wake Forest faced another ranked club on the road when the Deacons visited No. 23 East Carolina earlier this week. Other ranked teams remaining on the schedule include three games at Georgia Tech (ranked 16th), three games at home vs. NC State (24th) and a single game at Virginia Commonwealth (23rd). In all, Wake Forest will play 15 games against ranked teams, with 12 of those games coming on the road.
HENDRICKS EYES CAREER VICTORY & STRIKEOUT MARKS
Senior southpaw John Hendricks, who owns 28 career victories, needs
just one more win to tie Frank Humber (1986-89) on Wake Forest's all-time
victory list. Two more wins would move Hendricks into sole possession of
first place on the school's chart and he would become just the 11th pitcher
in ACC history to win at least 30 games in his career. The ACC record for
victories is held by Brian Barnes, who won 44 games at Clemson from 1986-89.
Additionally, Hendricks needs just two more strikeouts to become Wake Forest's all-time strikeout king. Hendricks currently stands at 276 career K's while Buddy Jenkins (1987-91) currently holds the record at 277.
