Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacon Baseball Monday Report Card
3/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 27, 2006
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The No. 24 Wake Forest baseball team hits the road for a non-conference match up with Southern Conference foe Davidson Tuesday night. First pitch at Wilson Field is scheduled for 6 p.m. The Demon Deacons are 19-7 overall and 5-4 in the ACC, while the Wildcats are 10-13 and 1-5 in the SoCon.
Freshman Tyler Smith (0-1) will get the nod for Wake Forest. Smith, who started on Sunday against No. 21 Virginia, tossed just 1.0 inning and was charged with five earned runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out one. Smith had not allowed a run in 12.2 innings of work entering the game.
Wake Forest split its two games last week, blanking High Point 7-0 before dropping two of three in Charlottesville. Davidson was swept by Furman extending its losing streak to eight games.
The Wildcats will counter with Brant West (3-3, 6.91). The southpaw has made six starts for Davidson, including Friday's 19-2 loss to Furman. In that outing, West went 3.0 innings and surrendered seven earned runs on 10 hits.
DEACON TIDBITS --
- The Demon Deacons blanked High Point, 7-0, on March 22 for their third shutout of the 2006 season. Wake Forest did not register a single shutout in 2004 or 2005. In fact, the Deacons have not had three shutouts in a single season since the 2000 season.
- Sophomore closer Ben Hunter has been nearly perfect this season. The right-hander, who leads the ACC with eight saves, has not allowed an earned run in his 14 appearances. Hunter has struck out 27 in 21.2 innings. In fact, he has allowed just 10 hits all year and opponents are batting just .139 against him. Hunter is a perfect 8-for-8 in save opportunities.
- Senior setup-man Kyle Young has excelled since moving back into the bullpen on February 21. The right-handed hurler is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in 26.0 innings of work. Young has struck out 14 over his 11 appearances.
- Junior All-American Matt Antonelli has had quite a power surge in 2006. The third basemen entered this season with seven career home runs, five of which came in 2005, but Antonelli has smacked seven over the Demon Deacons first 26 games. In fact, six of the seven homers have been hit to the opposite field.
- Junior Josh Ellis struggled in his first two appearances this season. In a start against Charlotte and a relief appearance against UNC Wilmington, Ellis was 0-2 with a 14.14 ERA. Ellis has since changed his arm angle and been absolutely dominant. Over his last 13 appearances, all out of the Wake Forest bullpen, he has posted a 1.26 ERA in 14.1 innings. Opponents are batting just .226 against him over the stretch and he has struck out 20 against only four walks.
- Freshman Allan Dykstra is making quite a name for himself early in his Wake Forest career. The first baseman is second on the Deacons in home runs (7) and tied for the team lead in RBI (22). Dykstra is on pace for 17 home runs and 51 RBI (averaged over a 56-game regular season). The 17 home runs would tie the single-season freshman record set by Jamie D'Antona in 2001 and the 51 RBI would rank as the fourth-most ever by a freshman.
- The Wake Forest offense went silent in their three-game series at No. 21 Virginia. The Demon Deacons managed just seven runs the entire weekend and batted only .204. Wake Forest did not register a single home run and just three extra-base hits in the three games.
- Sophomore pitcher Eric Niesen capped off a stellar week with a dominating start against the Cavaliers. After posting three strikeouts in 1.2 hitless innings of shutout relief against the Panthers on March 22, the southpaw picked up the victory in his first start of the season in Saturday's 3-2 victory over No. 21 Virginia. He tossed 5.0 shutout innings. Niesen did not allow a single Cavalier into scoring position. He yielded just two hits, both singles, including one that barely rolled past the mound. Niesen struck out a career-high seven and did not walk a single batter. He had only thrown 57 pitches over the five innings, but was forced to leave the game after ripping his left middle fingernail. He only pitched out of a multiple ball count on three occasions. In fact, Virginia only had one at-bat over the first five innings with a three-ball count. For the week, Niesen worked 6.2 shutout innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks.
AT THIS POINT IN PREVIOUS YEARS --
Thru Three ACC Series2006 19-7 5-42005 10-12 4-52004 11-18 1-82003 19-7 6-22002 22-5 6-22001 18-7 6-32000 20-9 5-41999 18-10 4-51998 18-11 3-6
INJURY UPDATE -- Freshman starting pitcher Garrett Bullock is still recovering from, but will likely return this weekend against Virginia Tech... redshirt senior starting pitcher Justin Keadle continues to rehab from off-season surgery, but is expected to return against Virginia Tech... junior starting pitcher Charlie Mellies remains out with a elbow injury... sophomore starting outfielder Brett Linnenkohl is sidelined with an injured hamstring and is scheduled to return for the series at NC State (April 7-9)... sophomore pitcher Matt Hammond is out for the year after breaking his right hand... freshman Cory Hindel will redshirt the season following elbow surgery last fall.
ON DECK -- After this week's non-conference tilt with Davidson, Wake Forest returns home this weekend with a three-game series against Virginia Tech (March 31-April 2).
WAKE FOREST CAREER STATS AGAINST DAVIDSON --
Player Avg. G-GS AB R H 2B HR RBI SBGrant Achilles .000 1-0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0-0Matt Antonelli .500 3-3 10 2 5 2 0 3 2-4Brendan Enick .400 1-1 5 0 2 1 0 0 0-0Andy Goff .286 2-2 7 3 2 1 0 0 0-0Brett Linnenkohl .222 2-2 9 2 2 0 0 1 0-0Dan Rosaia .000 1-1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0-0Brian Shust .000 2-2 8 1 0 0 0 0 0-0Casey Sterk .364 5-3 11 4 4 1 0 0 0-0
Player ERA W-L G-GS CG SV IP H R-ER BB-SOKip Byrum 20.25 0-0 1-0 0 0 1.1 3 3-3 0-0Josh Ellis 16.20 0-1 1-1 0 0 5.0 9 9-9 5-4Matt Hammond 0.00 0-0 1-0 0 0 2.1 1 0-0 0-2Charlie Mellies 4.50 0-1 1-1 0 0 6.0 8 5-3 1-3Eric Niesen 10.38 0-0 2-1 0 0 4.1 4 7-5 3-4Sean Souders 13.50 0-0 1-0 0 0 0.2 1 1-1 2-0Kyle Young 2.45 1-1 3-1 0 0 7.1 10 7-2 3-4
HITTING STREAKS -- Entering this week, two players have a hitting streak of at least three games.
Player Statistics During StreakDan Rosaia (3) .500 (5-for-10, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI)Andy Goff (3) .250 (3-for-12, 1 R, 2 RBI)
DEACONS AT THEIR BEST AGAINST THE BEST -- With Wake Forest's 3-2 victory over No. 21 Virginia on March 25, the Deacons picked up their fourth over a team in the top 25 this season. Wake Forest had also defeated two top five and three top 10 teams in the same season for the first time since 2002.
