Wake Forest University
East Carolina
Deacons Defeat East Carolina In Game's Final At-Bat
3/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 7, 2001
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Freshman first baseman Jamie D'Antona waited until there were two outs in the bottom of the ninth to extend his personal hitting streak to 13 games. After going 0-for-4 to begin the game, D'Antona dropped a single into center field that scored Cory Sullivan to give Wake Forest to an 8-7 win over East Carolina on Wednesday afternoon at Hooks Stadium.
The game was expected to be a pitcher's duel with the ace pitchers throwing for both teams who are ranked in the top 25. But Wake Forest starter Scott Siemon left the game after just one inning with soreness in his shoulder. East Carolina's Foye Minton surrendered seven runs, five earned, in 6.1 innings.
Wake Forest jumped out to 4-0 lead after three innings thanks to home runs from freshman Josh Hansen and senior Carlos Brackley, who hit opposite field home runs in the first and second innnings, respectively. The Pirates responded with three unearned runs in the fourth to pull within one and eventually tied the game in the seventh on a double by ECU's John Williamson who enjoyed a 4-of-5 day with two runs batted in.
The Deacons recaptured the lead in the bottom of the seventh on Hansen's two-out infield single that scored Jason Aquilante. But once again, the Pirates fought back to tie the game at seven.
That set the stage for late-inning heroics on the part of Wake Forest. With one out and a runner on first base, pinch hitter Stephen Ghutzman lined a rocket directly to the right fielder who lost the ball in the sun and was unable to make the catch allowing Sullivan to advance to second base. Hansen struck out swinging but on strike three, the ball got away from the catcher and both runners advanced 90 feet. That put Sullivan and Ghutzman in scoring position for D'Antona who placed a single into center field to bring home Sullivan.
Cold temperatures and gusty, swirling winds caused difficult playing conditions as the teams combined for six errors.
"Today we saw two very good teams play in harsh conditions, and honestly, played to those conditions. Play wasn't as crisp as you would expect it to be and the weather was a major factor in that," head coach George Greer said. "I thought Foye Minton was outstanding. After we took him opposite field with those home runs, he made some great adjustments and really changed his patterns well. But (reliever) Ryan Lewis did a great job of keeping them at bay and we got some timely hitting from Josh Hansen and Jamie D'Antona."
Junior Dave Bush, the ACC leader in strikeouts, earned the win in relief and Sears suffered the loss for East Carolina.
With the win, 22nd-ranked Wake Forest improves to 11-2 overall and keeps its unblemished home record intact. The Demon Deacons are 9-0 at Hooks Stadium this season. 17th-ranked East Carolina loses for only the second time as they fall to 13-2 on the year. Wake Forest begins conference play this weekend as Duke rolls into Winston-Salem for a three-game series beginning Friday at 3:00 p.m.
#17 East Carolina 000 002 110 - 7 12 4#22 Wake Forest 121 020 101 - 8 8 3
