Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Opens Three-Game Series With Cincinnati Friday Afternoon
2/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 24, 2005
| Games No. 9-11: Wake Forest vs. Cincinnati | |
| Records: | Demon Deacons (2-6) vs. Bearcats (3-3) |
| When: | Fri., Feb. 25 - 2:30 p.m. Sat., Feb. 26 - 1:30 p.m. Sun., Feb. 27 - 1:30 p.m. |
| Where: | Hooks Stadium - Winston-Salem, N.C. |
| Pitching Matchup: | WF: LHP Tim Morley (0-2, 3.09 ERA) UC: RHP Tony Maynard (1-0, 1.98 ERA) WF: RHP Josh Ellis (1-1, 4.50 ERA) UC: RHP Kevin Schrader (0-0, 3.38 ERA) WF: RHP Matt Hammond (0-2, 17.55 ERA) UC: TBA |
| Game Notes: | Complete Release in PDF Format |
| Coverage: | |
WAKE FOREST... continues its nine-game homestand this weekend with a three-game non-conference series against Cincinnati. First-pitch for the series with the Bearcats are 2:30 p.m. (Fri., 2.25), 2:30 p.m. (Sat., 2.26) and 1:00 p.m. (Sun., 2.27). Gametracker live stats will be available for all three games this week on WakeForestSports.com.
RANKINGS... Wake Forest and Cincinnati each enter this weekend unranked.
ON DECK... after this weekend's series with the Bearcats, Wake Forest will host High Point on Wednesday, March 2 at 2:30 p.m., before opening the 2005 ACC schedule against Virginia at Hooks Stadium.
CINCINNATI NOTES... The Bearcats will be looking to extend its winning streak to four when they return to the state of North Carolina. Cincinnati is fresh off their sweep of Duke last weekend, the team's first sweep since taking all three games of a home series from Cleveland State March 8-10, 2002. The Bearcats are led by third baseman Jon DeLuca who is the reigning Conference USA hitter of the week after going 7-for-14 with four RBIs and three runs scored against Duke last weekend. In raising his batting average to .276 for the season, DeLuca earned his first ever C-USA award. Right-handed hurler Tony Maynard is 1-0 with a 1.98 earned run average in two starts for the Bearcats. Maynard has tossed 13.2 innings and allowed just three earned runs.
CAREER STATS AGAINST CINCINNATI...
Player Avg. G AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR SBBen Ingold .250 1 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH CINCINNATI... the Demon Deacons lead the all-time series, 3-0, after sweeping Cincinnati in a three-game set during the 2002 season.
STATISTICAL COMPARISON...
Category Wake Forest CincinnatiGames 8 (2-6) 6 (3-3)Average .236 .236Runs 38 41Hits 61 552B 12 93B 2 1HR 5 6RBI 33 30SB 13 7SLG% .357 .361ERA 4.77 5.86SO 42 34BB 22 40B/Avg. .308 .300
HITTING STREAKS... Following the 11-4 rout of Appalachian State on Feb. 22, a pair of Demon Deacons have hitting streaks of six games or more games.
Player Current Streak Statistics During StreakRyder Mathias 7 games .417, 10-for-24, 2 2B, 3 R, 1 HR, 3 RBIJ.B. Tucker 7 games .345, 10-for-29, 4 2B, 6 R, 3 HR, 11 RBILAST TIME OUT... Charlie Mellies tossed 7.0 solid innings and the Demon Deacon bats awoke for 12 hits and 11 runs in a 11-4 rout of Appalachian State this past Tuesday.
Mellies, making only his second career start for the Deacs, struggled early on. The right-handed hurler (1-1) allowed hits to each of the first three Mountaineer batters, but settled down and allowed just one earned run over a career-high 7.0 innings. Mellies ended up scattering eight hits, but struckout five and did not walk a single batter. He threw just 75 pitches on the afternoon and 52 for strikes. Mellies lowered his earned run average on the season from 5.19 to 3.45.
Brendan Enick led the Deacs at the dish going 3-for-3 with a run scored and three RBI, while J.B. Tucker, Ryder Mathias and Casey Sterk all added a pair of hits apiece. Matt Antonelli and Tucker each drove in pair, while Sterk, Mathias and Andy Goff had RBIs.
ENICK PICKS UP NUMBER OF FIRSTS... redshirt sophomore Brendan Enick put together quite an afternoon in Tuesday's 11-4 rout of Appalachian State. The designated hitter went 3-for-3 with a run scored and three RBI. Enick picked up his first career hit, extra base hit and RBI all on the same play as he drilled an RBI double to center field.
NEW FACE AT SHORTSTOP ... senior shortstop Ben Ingold was in uniform, but did not play on Tuesday afternoon. It was the first game that Ingold failed to start at shortstop for the Demon Deacons since Feb. 12, 2003 at Elon -- snapping a streak of 108 consecutive starts at shortstop. Ingold has seen action in 165 games over his four-year Demon Deacon career. The Durham, N.C. native had started 164 of those 165 games played.
TWIN KILLINGS... the Demon Deacons have already turned nine double plays in their eight games this season. Wake Forest has had a pair of double plays in four of their eight games this season.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES... In the Deacons first seven games (1-6) they scored just 27 runs, but they had plenty of chances to drive in more. The Deacons stranded 72 runners in that stretch. They batted just .145 (11-for-76) with runners in scoring position.
MELLIES MAKES FIRST CAREER START... sophomore Charlie Mellies has served as one of the most consistent middle-inning relievers for the Demon Deacons the past two seasons, but the right-handed hurler made his first career start on Feb. 15 against Davidson. Mellies tossed a then career-high 6.0 innings and allowed just three earned runs with three strikeouts and one walk.
ANTONELLI A LOCK IN LINEUP... sophomore Matt Antonelli has started all 58 games of his Wake Forest career at third base. The last time someone other than Antonelli started at third base was when Jamie D'Antona started against Virginia in the ACC Tournament on May 23, 2003.
MILLER MISSES FIRST GAME... senior outfielder Matt Miller had started each of the first 53 games of his Demon Deacon career in center field, but failed to start in the home opener on Tuesday against Davidson. The Manteca, Calif., native was out of action with flu-like symptoms.
YOUNG MOVES INTO CLOSER'S ROLE... after serving as one of the more consistent starting pitchers for the Demon Deacons the past two years, junior Kyle Young will now act as the Deacs closer. Young, who made 18 starts in 2003 and 2004, adopted the role when Justin Keadle was lost for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
KEADLE GONE FOR SEASON... senior Justin Keadle was the Deacs most consistent starter in 2004 and then was named a Cape Cod League All-Star this summer, but will be out of action in 2005 after undergoing Tommy John surgery this past fall. Keadle, who will return in 2006, will most likely start throwing in mid-February.
A NUMBER OF DEMON DEACONS MAKE CAREER DEBUTS... freshmen Andy Goff, Matt Hammond, Brett Linnenkohl and Eric Niesen all made their respective career debuts for the Deacs this past weekend at the Winthrop Coca-Cola Classic. Beyond this quartet, redshirt-freshman Andrew Knox made his first appearance for the Deacs. Redshirt-junior Grant Achilles made his first career start, while senior Brian Bach made his first appearance after missing most of the 2004 season after tearing his rotator cuff.
ACC PRESEASON POLL... In a preseason poll of the ACC coaches, Wake Forest was picked to finish eighth in the conference. Miami was the top pick in the conference with eight first place votes and a total of 118 points. Georgia Tech (93) and Florida State (89) stand in third and fourth place, respectively. Both teams advanced to the Super Regionals of the 2004 NCAA Baseball Championship. Clemson claims fifth place with 80 points, while Virginia places sixth with 63 points. NC State stands in seventh place with 55 points, followed by the Deacons and Maryland in ninth with 30 points. Duke and Virginia Tech share tenth place with 27 points apiece.
COACH'S CORNER... Rembielak arrives in Winston-Salem after an 11-year stint with Kent State of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). He is the all-time winningest coach of any sport in Golden Flashes history with a career record of 373-251-1 (.597). Against other MAC teams, Rembielak sports an even more impressive record of 200-100 (.667). Rembielak won four Mid-American Conference regular season championships and three MAC tournament titles, including this past season's 2004 Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Golden Flashes have made 12 consecutive appearances in the MAC Tournament. Dating back to 1992, when post-season play was reinstated, Kent State is the only MAC team to appear in every tournament. Rembielak was named the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year three times (1996, 2000 and 2003). In 1996, the Golden Flashes won the conference regular-season title with a 21-7 league record and a 30-20-1 overall mark. In 2001, Kent State won three games on the final day of the MAC Tournament to claim the title. The Golden Flashes then advanced to the NCAA Regional where they knocked off Ohio State and Delaware to as finish runner-up to Mississippi State University -- just one game shy of the NCAA Super Regionals. Since Rembielak came to Kent State, 51 Golden Flashes have signed pro contracts, including 30 pitchers. A total of 13 former Flashes were active at some level of professional baseball during 2002. During Rembielak's coaching tenure, Kent State hurlers have been named MAC Pitcher of the Year seven times (1990, 1992-96, 2003), and MAC Player of the Year and MAC Freshman of the Year twice. In 2001, standout John VanBenschoten became the Golden Flashes' second MAC Player of the Year following Mike Gulan, who won the award in 1992. VanBenschoten was selected eighth overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2001 MLB Amateur Draft.
TOUGH SCHEDULE AWAITS WAKE FOREST IN 2005... After facing then defending national champion Rice in 2004, the Wake Forest baseball program has set another challenging slate for the 2005 season. The Deacs' rigorous 2005 schedule includes 15 games against six teams ranked in the ESPN/Sports Weekly top 25. Wake Forest will play two games against No. 25 Winthrop (Feb. 10, 12), one game against No. 10 Texas A&M (Feb. 20), three against No. 6 Miami (Apr. 15-17), three against No. 11 North Carolina (Mar. 4), three against Georgia Tech (Feb. 18, Feb. 23, May 14-16) and three against Clemson (May 20-22). The Deacs are also scheduled to play 12 teams for a total of 26 games against teams ranked in the Baseball America preseason top 40. In addition, Wake Forest will be playing 24 games against teams that played in the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
WHAT RETURNS IN 2005... Wake Forest returns 21 letterwinners and six position starters, including first basemen Ryder Mathias (.269, 3 HR, 22 RBI), shortstop Ben Ingold (.361, 3 HR, 41 RBI), third basemen Matt Antonelli (.305, 2 HR, 37 RBI), center fielder Matt Miller (.264, 3 HR, 24 RBI), left fielder Casey Sterk (.256, 4 HR, 28 RBI) and catcher J.B. Tucker (.252, 5 HR, 34 RBI). The Deacs also return senior starting pitcher Tim Morley (3-6, 7.18 ERA), junior closer Kyle Young (4-6, 7.29 ERA), sophomore starting pitcher Josh Ellis (1-3, 10.24 ERA) and a pair of sophomore relief pitchers in Charlie Mellies (3-3, 5.89 ERA) and Sean Souders (0-1, 9.24 ERA).
At bats 61% (1097 of 1802)
Hits 60% (313 of 525)
Runs 62% (225 of 363)
Doubles 69% (53 of 77)
Triples 71% (10 of 14)
Home Runs 47% (20 of 43)
Runs Batted In 60% (192 of 322)
Stolen Bases 66% (45 of 68)
Appearances 77% (122 of 159)
Starts 74% (37 of 50)
Innings 73% (323.0 of 440.0)
Wins 82% (14 of 17)
Strikeouts 69% (197 of 285)
Games 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 20051 0-1 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-1 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-1 0-12 0-2 1-1 2-0 2-0 0-2 2-0 1-1 1-1 0-2 1-13 0-3 2-1 3-0 2-1 1-2 3-0 2-1 2-1 0-3 1-24 0-4 3-1 4-0 3-1 2-2 4-0 3-1 3-1 1-3 1-35 1-4 4-1 5-0 4-1 3-2 4-1 4-1 4-1 2-3 1-46 2-4 5-1 5-1 4-2 4-2 4-2 5-1 5-1 3-3 1-57 3-4 6-1 6-1 4-3 5-2 5-2 6-1 5-2 4-3 1-68 3-5 7-1 6-2 5-3 6-2 6-2 7-1 5-3 5-3 2-69 3-6 8-1 7-2 6-3 7-2 7-2 8-1 6-3 6-3 --10 3-7 9-1 7-3 7-3 8-2 8-2 9-1 7-3 6-4 --
RECRUITING TIDBITS... First-year Wake Forest baseball coach Rick Rembielak has received six National Letters of Intent from recruits to play for the Demon Deacons in the spring of 2006.
Garrett Bullock LHP L/L 6-3 210 Greenville, NCAllan Dykstra 1B L/R 6-5 198 San Diego, CAJoel Ernst RHP R/R 6-4 185 Loveland, OHCory Hindel C R/R 5-10 185 Tallmadge, OHBrad Kledzik RHP R/R 6-5 220 Fairfax Station, VAEvan Ocheltree OF L/L 6-3 185 Richmond, VA
