Wake Forest Athletics
Men's Baseball Begins Five-Game Road Stretch
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 12, 1999
WAKE FOREST (24-10, 9-5 ACC)
at APPALACHIAN STATE (9-26)
Apr. 13 * 3 pm * Boone, NC
at UNC GREENSBORO (21-14)
Apr. 14 * 6 pm * Greensboro, NC
HOT DEACONS BEGIN FIVE-GAME ROAD STRETCH
After posting a perfect 5-0 record last week and sweeping Atlantic
Coast Conference rival Virginia over the weekend, the Wake Forest baseball
team hits the road for a five-game road stretch beginning with
non-conference games at Appalachian State and UNC Greensboro this week.
With the sweep of the Cavaliers, the Demon Deacons find themselves firmly
entrenched in third place in the league standings behind first place
Florida State (13-1) and second place Georgia Tech (8-5) with their 9-5
conference record.
Wake Forest will visit Georgia Tech this weekend in Atlanta in a key showdown of the ACC's second and third place teams. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday, 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sunday. Friday's game will be televised on Fox Sports South while Sunday's game will be televised regionally by the ACC TV Network (Fox SS, HTS and Sunshine).
PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Sophomore right-hander Scott Siemon (7-1, 4.57 ERA) will make his
third start of the season on Tuesday at Appalachian State. Siemon, who owns
a staff-high 19 appearances this season, is 2-0 in his previous two
starting assignments this season after picking up wins over East Tennessee
State and Virginia Tech. He was impressive in his last start against the
Hokies, allowing two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings of work.
Sophomore southpaw Danny Borrell (0-0, 5.15 ERA) will start on Wednesday at UNC Greensboro. Borrell, who has missed much of the first two months of the season with various nagging injuries, returned to the mound on a full-time basis two weeks ago at Florida State. He will be making his second start of the season against the Spartans.
The likely rotation for the Georgia Tech series this weekend will feature junior right hander Mike MacDougal on Friday, senior southpaw John Hendricks on Saturday and junior righty Eric Schmitt on Sunday.
VS. APPALACHIAN STATE & UNC GREENSBORO
Wake Forest will be playing both Appalachian State and UNC
Greensboro for the second time the season after winning the first game of
each home-and-home series against both schools earlier this year. The Demon
Deacons defeated the Mountaineers by a 7-6 margin last week in
Winston-Salem and now lead the all-time series 19-9. The Deacs downed the
Spartans, 4-3, on March 10 in Winston-Salem and currently lead that series
15-6.
STREAKS & SKIDS
Batters: Second baseman Jason Aquilante broke a 4-for-34 slump with
a 5-for-14 (.357) performance last weekend against Virginia . . .
designated hitter Danny Borrell has hit safely in 15 of the last 18 games,
batting .409 with 17 RBI in that stretch . . . center fielder Scott Daeley
went 8-for-19 (.429) in five games last week . . . right fielder Ben
Danosky broke an 0-for-13 streak with a home run against Virginia . . .
left fielder John Kubachka is hitless in his last 8 at bats . . . left
fielder Ricky Mendez went 2-for-6 in two starts in the Virginia series . .
. first baseman Jon Palmieri has hit safely in 13 of the last 14 games,
batting .441 with 21 RBI in that stretch . . . catcher Andrew Riepe hit
.429 (9-for-21) in 5 games last week . . . third baseman Corey Slavik has
reached base safely in 10 straight games, batting .400 with 11 RBI in that
stretch . . . left fielder Stephen Sullivan snapped an 0-for-13 at FSU and
is 5-for-14 (.357) since . . . infielder Chris Turner is 5-for-14 (.357) in
his last four games . . . shortstop Chase Voshell went 4-for-11 (.364) in
the Virginia series.
Pitchers: Right-hander Matt Briggs has tossed 5.1 innings without allowing an earned run in his last two appearances out of the bullpen . . . when working out of the bullpen righty David Bush has a 3.65 ERA in 12.1 innings, while his ERA as a starter is 23.14 . . . lefty John Hendricks went 1-0 with 1 save in two appearances last week . . . in his last 7 starts, righty Mike MacDougal is 5-1 with a 2.21 ERA . . . in his last 3 starts, righty Eric Schmitt is 1-0 with a 1.57 ERA while recording 25 K's in 23 IP . . . righty Scott Siemon is 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA in two starts this season.
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 1999 15 Virgina Tech, 4-2 (Feb. 27) ??? 1982 14 VCU, 15-10 (Mar. 11) Wingate, 10-11 (Apr. 13) 1962 12 Kent, 4-0 (Mar. 22) Duke, 1-3 (May 10) 1990 10 Hartford, 9-3 (Mar. 18) North Carolina (Mar. 30)
HENDRICKS BECOMES "K" KING, EYES CAREER VICTORY MARK
Senior southpaw John Hendricks, became Wake Forest's all-time
strikeout king when he fanned Virgina's Ryan Kalamaya on April 10.
Hendricks currently stands at 279 career K's, passing previous record
holder Buddy Jenkins who struck out 277 batters from 1987-91.
Additionally, Hendricks now owns 29 career victories and is tied with Frank Humber (1986-89) on Wake Forest's all-time victory list. With one more win Hendricks would become the school's all-time victory leader and would be 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.
