Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
LeMoyne
Deacons Edge Le Moyne 3-2
3/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 7, 2003
Winston-Salem, N.C. -- Behind a complete game effort from junior All-American Kyle Sleeth, the 11th-ranked Wake Forest baseball team edged Le Moyne College 3-2 on Friday at Hooks Stadium.
For Sleeth (4-0), it was his fourth career complete game. He allowed just two runs, one earned, four hits with seven strikeouts. It was his 24th consecutive victory in a Deacon uniform, his 35th straight appearance without a loss.
Ryan Johnson returned after a four-game absence with a mild ankle injury. In the second inning, Johnson led off with a solo home run to give the Deacons (8-3) an early 1-0 lead.
The score remained unchanged until the sixth inning when Adam Bourassa led off with a double. After Ryan Hubbard's sacrifice bunt, the Dolphins brought the infield in for a play at the plate. Jamie D'Antona lined a ball to shortstop that was booted to score a Bourassa from third.
With two out, Doug Riepe reached on a line drive single that bounced up off the face of Le Moyne second baseman Sam Parkins. Parkins was attended to by medical personnel from both teams but remained in the game.
With runners on first and second, Brad Scioletti singled back through the box to score D'Antona. That gave the Deacons a three-run lead but Wake Forest would need every single run as Le Moyne rallied in the eighth.
An RBI double by Kyle Brown, a Wake Forest error and a sacrifice fly by Bryan Frisbee pulled the Dolphins within a run but Sleeth struck out the inning's final batter with the tying run on second base.
Sleeth recorded a three-up, three-down ninth inning to seal the victory. Wake Forest has won its last 84 games when leading after seven innings, dating back to April 2000.
Sleeth worked out of a couple jams, none more threatening than in the sixth inning when Le Moyne could have tied the game at one. With runners on the corners and one out, Le Moyne's Jeff Justice laid down a bunt. Sleeth fielded the rolling ball in front of the mound and tossed it underhanded to catcher Steven Malinowski who applied the tag at home plate for the second out. For the third out, Sleeth picked off a runner at second base.
LeMoyne starter Brian Mattoon was equally impressive for the Dolphins, despite taking the loss to fall to 0-2. Mattoon also threw a complete game, going eight innings, allowing three runs, one earned on six hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
D'Antona saw his eight-game hitting streak come to an end. The longest such streak on the team now belongs to Scioletti, who had Friday's game-winning RBI. His hitting streak is at four game and he led the Deacons with two of the team's six hits against Le Moyne.
Sleeth's complete game was the first for the Deacons since last year's NCAA Regional when Tim Morley went the distance against Navy. Morley (1-0) gets the ball on Saturday for Wake Forest as it continues its weekend series with Le Moyne at 1:30 p.m.
