Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Virginia
Deacons Can't Hang On At 10th Ranked Virginia
5/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 13, 2004
Charlottesville, Va - Virginia catcher Scott Headd's one-out bases loaded single in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Cavaliers a 5-4 extra inning victory on Thursday night in Charlottesville.
Wake Forest (17-26, 4-15 ACC) was winning by four runs and six outs away from taking the opening contest of the three-game series on the road at 10th-ranked and ACC-leading Virginia.
Instead, the Cavaliers (38-11, 16-6 ACC) posted their 15th come from behind victory of the season and Wake Forest lost its eighth one-run game of the year.
Wake Forest starter Justin Keadle had thrown seven shutout innings and carried a 4-0 lead into the eighth inning. That's when Virginia mounted a three-run rally to cut the Deacon lead to 4-3.
Keadle got two strikes on each of the first two hitters, but both singled. Mark Reynolds was hit by pitch to load the bases with nobody out and the heart of the order coming to the plate.
Ryan Zimmerman cleared the bases with a double off the left center field wall, cutting the Wake Forest lead all the way to 4-3. After a groundout on a diving stop by Scioletti, the game-tying run was at third base with only one out.
Joe Koshansky sent a fly ball into shallow left field where Sterk caught the ball on the run. He fired a one-hop bullet to Tucker at the plate who tagged Zimmerman out for the inning-ending and lead-preserving double play.
But the lead would be short-lived as Virginia tied the game at four in the ninth. Tom Hagan led off with a walk from Deacon reliever Charlie Mellies. After a sacrifice bunt and a foul out, Tim Henry, the Cavaliers' ninth hitter, singled down the left field line to score pinch runner Mike Mitchell.
In the top of the 10th, Ben Ingold led off with a single and advanced to second a sacrifice bunt by Brian Shust. Ingold represented the go-ahead run with one out, but the Deacons stranded him in scoring position.
That set the table for Virginia to score the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. A hit by pitch and a walk put the winning run in scoring position with no outs. Following a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk, Headd lined a single down the left field line to win it 5-4.
Keadle was very effective through eight innings of work, the 10th straight time he pitched into the seventh inning or later. He allowed just three runs, all in the eighth inning, on six hits with two strikeouts and two walks. It was the fourth time Keadle left the game with the lead but was not credited with the victory.
Mellies, the Deacons' top reliever, fell to 3-1. Virginia's Canon Hickman improved his record to 7-2.
Wake Forest finally broke the scoreless tie with three runs in the sixth inning. With one out, Matt Miller tripled into the left center field gap. Then, Casey Sterk lined a laser through the left side to score Miller, giving the Deacons a narrow 1-0 edge.
Sterk moved up on Nick Blue's sacrifice and advanced to third on when Matt Antonelli beat out an infield single to shortstop. Then, Ben Ingold drilled the first pitch into the alley in left center field. Sterk trotted home from third and Antonelli hustled around to score from first base to make it 3-0.
In the seventh inning, the Deacons tacked on another run. Doug Riepe and Miller walked before Sterk laid down a sacrifice bunt. Riepe scored on Nick Blue's sacrifice fly to increase the Wake Forest lead to four.
The Cavaliers threatened in the fourth inning with two outs as Joe Koshansky doubled down the right field line. Then, Matt Dunn bounced an infield single to second base.
Initially, Nick Blue's throw to first base appeared as though it would sail over Brad Scioletti's head. But Scioletti leapt and snow-coned the ball and caught Koshansky coming down the third base line. Scioletti fired to the plate and catcher J.B. Tucker applied the tag to keep the game in a scoreless tie.
It was Wake Forest's first loss in Charlottesville since 2000 and broke a streak of four straight wins.
The Demon Deacons and the Cavaliers will resume their series on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. Wake Forest will send sophomore right-hander Kyle Young to the mound and Virginia will counter with Matt Avery.
