Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
High Point
Demon Deacon Baseball Hammers High Point, 19-13
5/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 17, 2005
HIGH POINT, N.C. - Wake Forest scored in every inning with the exception of the first in a 19-13 rout of High Point in non-conference baseball action from George Erath Field Tuesday afternoon. With the victory, the Demon Deacons snap their three game losing streak and improve to 24-26 overall, while the Panthers drop to 18-34.
The Deacs wrapped out 19 hits on the afternoon as every starter had at least one hit and seven different Demon Deacons had at least two RBI. In fact, every starter but one had at least two hits. Redshirt junior Grant Achilles had a career best four hits going 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI. Freshman Brett Linnenkohl went 2-for-4 with three runs scored, five RBI and a three-run home run. Ryder Mathias continued his offensive tear after a 2-for-4 effort with three runs scored and three RBI, including his 11th home run of the season. Mathias has now blasted eight home runs in his last nine games.
Senior J.B. Tucker went 1-for-5 with his team-leading 13th home run -- a two-run blast in the sixth inning. Tucker leads Wake Forest in batting average (.338), home runs and RBI (59).
Wake Forest freshman Matt Hammond (3-6) picked up the victory. The right-handed hurler worked 4.2 innings out of the Demon Deacon bullpen and allowed seven earned runs on 10 hits. He struckout four and walked two. Freshman Eric Niesen started the game and tossed 3.0 innings and allowed four earned runs on five hits. The southpaw walked four and fanned three. Junior Kyle Young tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.
After the Panthers grabbed a 5-4 lead, the Demon Deacons exploded for nine runs in the top of the fourth inning. Wake Forest would send 14 batters to the plate and seven registered singles. Mathias and Linnenkohl each had two-run singles, while Brendan Enick, Casey Sterk, Achilles and Ben Ingold had RBI singles. Ingold drove in an earlier run in the inning with a fielder's choice.
The Deacs would race away with single runs in the fifth, seventh and eighth, as well as three runs in the sixth.
Nick Thompson was charged with the loss for the Panthers. The right-handed hurler allowed 13 runs on 10 hits in 4.0 innings of work.
The Demon Deacons grabbed a 3-0 lead with a two out rally in the second inning. Achilles walked, then freshman Andy Goff followed with a single. With runners on first and second, Linnenkohl belted his fourth home run of the season deep over the right field wall.
The Panthers answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the second inning. Bobby Brown plated Randy Schwartz with a sacrifice fly making the score 3-1. Schwartz reached base after drawing a leadoff walk.
Niesen ran into some more control problems in the bottom of the third inning. After retiring High Point's leadoff hitter, Niesen allowed a seeing-eye single sandwiched around a couple of walks to lead the bases. Schwartz brought the Panthers within two runs, 4-2, with an infield single, then Renta followed with a two-run single tying the score, 4-4. Schwartz advanced to second on the single, but when Achilles bobbled the ball in right field Schwartz scampered to third. Holtzman then singled in Schwartz giving the Panthers a 5-4 lead on the unearned run.
Wake Forest returns to action this weekend with their final ACC series of the 2005 regular season. The Demon Deacons travel to Blacksburg, Va. to face the Virginia Tech Hokies. The scheduled for the weekend is as follows: Thur. (7 pm), Fri. (7 pm) and Sat. (1 pm). Currently in eighth place, Wake Forest must win one more game this weekend than Virginia does against Duke to secure a top seven seed and avoid the single elimination play-in bracket for the 2005 ACC Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla.
-- WakeForestSports.com --
