Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Maryland
Deacons Complete Sweep of Maryland
4/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 21, 2002
WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- The fifth-ranked Wake Forest baseball team continued its offensive fireworks on Sunday, blasting six home runs as the Deacons defeated Maryland 15-7 to complete a three-game weekend sweep.
Sunday's win improved Wake Forest's record to 33-6 overall, 14-3 in the ACC. It also marked the tenth straight ACC series victory, dating back to March last year at Florida State.
In all, the Deacons had 13 home runs and a total of 52 runs in three games against Maryland, the most runs scored by a Wake Forest team in a three-game ACC series. The previous record was 42 runs against Maryland in 1990, the year the conference adopted the format.
Adam Bourassa, Nick Blue, Ryan Johnson and Jamie D'Antona, the team's top four hitters, had huge days. They combined to go 10-for-17 with six home runs and 13 RBI.
Bourassa was 3-for-5 with a home run, a triple, a stolen base, three RBI and four runs scored. Blue was 2-for-4 with his first home run, a stolen base, two runs and three RBI. Johnson was 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs, four RBI and four runs scored. D'Antona was 3-for-4 with two home runs, three RBI and two runs scored.
On the mound, Ryan Braun made his second start and got his first win of the season. He gave up just two earned runs in six innings of work while fanning a season-best seven hitters. Dave Bush made his ACC-leading 29th appearance of the season, allowing just one hit in two innings of work.
Maryland (24-17, 2-13 ACC) jumped out to 3-0 lead in the first inning but Blue's two-run blast in the bottom of the inning pulled the Deacs within a run. In the second, Wake Forest took the lead for good on Bourassa's two-run homer and extended its lead llllll when Johnson and D'Antona went back-to-back.
D'Antona homered again in the fifth, this time over the scoreboard, and Johnson tacked on a three-run shot in the seventh inning to wrap up the scoring. Jeff Ruziecki had three hits for the Deacons and Ryan Hubbard was 2-for-3 with a triple.
Todd Ainsworth suffered the loss for the Terrapins, giving up ten runs on ten hits with five strikeouts and four walks.
The Deacons hit the road for ten of their next 13 games, beginning Tuesday at Charlotte. The tour continues Wednesday at Virginia Tech and this weekend at top-ranked Clemson.
