Deacons Defeat Third-Ranked Yellow Jackets

Saturday, April 14

Atlanta, Ga.

1:00 PM ET

Wake Forest University

Georgia Tech

Brian Kuklik engineered<BR>a second half comeback<BR>against North Carolina<BR>that came up short.

4/14/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

April 14, 2001

Box Score

ATLANTA, GA - The Wake Forest baseball team posted a come-from-behind 14-10 victory over third-ranked Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon to even the weekend series at one game apiece. The Demon Deacons trailed 9-5 after six innings of play but scored nine runs over the final three innings to get the victory.

Junior closer Dave Bush became Wake Forest's all-time saves leader with 18 as he recorded the final six outs allowing only one hit and one walk.

"Having a guy like David Bush is such a luxury in college baseball. We have so much confidence in him and he has some much confidence in himself," head coach George Greer said. "We feel like we give ourselves the best chance to win when we put the ball in Bush's hands."

Freshman Kyle Sleeth earned his team-leading sixth win of the season for his 2.2 innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits.

The Deacons scored nine runs in the final three frames to post the comeback win. Wake Forest plated four runs in the seventh, tying the game on Steve LeFaivre's two-out, pinch-hit bases-loaded single that scored Ryan Johnson and Jamie D'Antona.

In the eighth, the Deacons took the lead with two runs on RBI singles by D'Antona and Matt Price. Wake Forest gave Bush three insurance runs in the ninth inning to make it 14-10.

"These guys never give up. After losing a tough one yesterday and being down four runs today, it would have been very easy for our team to give up but they didn't. It speaks volumes about this team's heart and determination," Greer said.

The Demon Deacons and Yellow Jackets have combined for 53 runs and 56 hits over the last two games.

The series concludes at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. The winner will capture second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with exactly one month to go before the conference tournament. The game will be televised on Fox Sports South and sophomore Ryan Braun gets the start for Wake Forest.