Wake Forest Athletics
No. 24 Baseball Has Won 11 of 14
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 22, 1999
WAKE FOREST VISITS EAST TENNESSEE STATE, HOST CLEMSON
Having won 11 of their last 14 games, the Wake Forest baseball nine
visits East Tennessee State and hosts ACC-rival Clemson this week. The
24th-ranked Demon Deacons travel to Johnson City, Tenn., for a game with
the Buccaneers on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and host the Tigers in a three-game
series beginning on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m at Hooks Stadium.
The Demon Deacons had pushed their season-long winning streak to eight games before dropping two straight contests at 3rd-ranked North Carolina last weekend. Wake Forest's record now stands at 15-6 on the season, including a 3-2 mark in ACC play.
UPDATING THE DEMON DEACONS
The Wake Forest offense continues to be led by All-American first
baseman Jon Palmieri, who produces nothing but consistent results at the
plate. Palmieri, the 1998 ACC batting champion, is batting a team-best .365
with a team-high eight home runs in addition to his perfect 5-for-5 mark in
the stolen base department. He has reached base safely in all but three
games this year.
Jump starting the Wake Forest offense is center fielder Scott Daeley, .360-0-11, who has been a fixture on the basepaths this season for the Deacs from his leadoff spot in the batting order. Daeley leads the team with eight stolen bases in 10 attempts.
Right fielder Ben Danosky, .360-5-22, leads the club in RBI and has thrived since moving to the cleanup spot in the lineup eight games ago (.438, 3 HR, 11 RBI). In left field, however, the Demon Deacons continue to look for one player to rise above the mix among righties John Kubachka, .368-0-3, Ricky Mendez, .250-2-6, and Carlos Brackley, .321-0-2, and lefty Stephen Sullivan, .188-2-6. Each of those four players had one start last weekend in the North Carolina series.
The sophomore middle infield combination of shortstop Chase Voshell, .338-4-14, and second baseman Jason Aquilante, .357-2-11, were expected to provide solid defense and a smooth double play combination, but the early season offensive numbers for both players have a pleasant surprise. Voshell has already surpassed last season's home run (0) and RBI (7) totals while Aquilante has moved to the two-hole in the batting order over the last eight games after his hot start.
Catcher Andrew Riepe, .277-3-14, continues to be an ironman behind the plate for the Demon Deacons and has started 91 of Wake's last 94 games (97%), dating back to the final weeks of the 1997 season.
Among the starting nine, only third baseman Corey Slavik, .187-2-9, has yet find his hitting stroke, although he has shown positive signs in recent games that his slump may soon be over. Slavik is on a current season-long four game hitting streak in which he is batting .308.
Sophomore DH Danny Borrell, .300-3-11, began the season with a fast start but saw his availability limited during the first two weeks of March while suffering from a sore back. He returned to the lineup on a full-time basis last week.
Junior right hander Mike MacDougal is 5-1 in his first seven starts of the season with an impressive 2.05 ERA. MacDougal, who tossed the school's first no-hitter in 60 years earlier this year against Duke, was impressive in his most recent outing against North Carolina when he allowed three runs in seven innings and outdueled Tar Heel's ace Kyle Snyder.
Rounding out the weekend starting rotation are senior southpaw John Hendricks, 4-3, 4.72, and junior righty Eric Schmitt, 2-1, 6.03, although both have struggled in their most recent outings. Sophomore righty Scott Siemon, 3-0, 3.32, 3 SV, has emerged as the top man out of the bullpen after making appearances in 12 of the first 21 games of the year. A pair of righties in junior Matt Briggs, 1-0, 4.12, and freshman David Bush, 0-0, 2.70, have also been solid out of the pen to date.
Sophomore lefty Danny Borrell, who had been out with a bad back, bolstered the bullpen with his return to the staff earlier this month against UNC Greensboro. Borrell started and tossed 1.1 scoreless innings before having to leave the game with a sore elbow. He has begun throwing again and is expected to return to the mound next week. His return would bolster the depth of a bullpen that has been very thin in the opening month of the season.
PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Junior righthander Matt Briggs (1-0, 4.12) will get the starting
call on Wednesday afternoon at East Tennessee State. Briggs will be making
his first start of 1999 and the third start of his career. Last week, he
allowed one earned run in 5.1 innings of relief against the Buccaneers.
The likely rotation for the Clemson series this weekend will be junior righty Mike MacDougal on Friday, senior southpaw John Hendricks on Saturday and junior righty Eric Schmitt on Sunday.
EASY AS "1-2-3"
Last weekend the Demon Deacons took on the nation's third-ranked
team, North Carolina, in a three-game series in Chapel Hill. Next week,
Wake Forest will face 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 2nd in the country, and the Demon Deacons will have played seven
games against the nation's three top teams, all away from home.
HENDRICKS EYES CAREER VICTORY MARK
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 10th 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.
500 & COUNTING FOR HEAD COACH GEORGE GREER
A 25-year veteran of coaching, George Greer has a 504-386-6 record
in 18 years at the Division I level. Greer reached the 500 victory plateau
in Wake Forest's 5-0 win over Duke earlier this season. Prior to coming to
Wake Forest, Greer coached at Davidson and Connecticut-Avery Point as well
as in the Cape Cod League.
The winningest coach in Wake Forest history in any sport, Greer is now in his 12th season with the Demon Deacons. He owns a record of 398-264-2 at Wake Forest, and has led the Deacs to 30 or more wins in 10 of 11 seasons, including a school-record 43 wins last season. Greer needs just two more wins to reach 400 victories at Wake Forest and would become just the 8th coach in ACC history to win that many games at a conference school.
