Wake Forest University
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest Baseball Gets Past Virginia Tech, 7-3
4/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 1, 2006
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest junior All-American Matt Antonelli went 4-for-4 with two solo home runs and four runs scored to lead the Demon Deacons past Virginia Tech, 7-3, in the second game of their ACC series Saturday afternoon at Hooks Stadium. Wake Forest improves to 22-7 overall and 7-4 in the ACC, while the Hokies drop to 10-16 and 1-10.
After the Hokies plated an unearned run in the top of the first inning, Antonelli opened the Deacons' half of the first with a single. The third baseman has led off each of his three games at the top of the lineup with a hit. Antonelli came around to score on freshman Allan Dykstra's RBI double.
Wake Forest pushed its lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the third inning. Antonelli spearheaded the rally with another leadoff single. Freshman Dustin Hood followed with a bunt single. After Dykstra walked, redshirt junior Brendan Enick made it 2-1 with a sacrifice fly scoring Antonelli. Junior Brian Shust then laced an RBI double to the right field wall giving the Demon Deacons a 3-1 advantage.
Wake Forest starting pitcher Eric Niesen kept the Deacon lead at 3-1 until the top of the fifth inning. Warren Schaeffer doubled down the left field line and came in on Bryan Thomas' RBI double. Sean O'Brien then legged out an infield single to put Hokies on the corners with no outs and the Wake Forest lead already trimmed to one run.
Senior Kyle Young replaced Niesen and got Jose Cueto to line out then induced Matt Foley into an inning-ending double play.
In the fifth inning, Antonelli opened the frame with a hit for the third straight at bat. This time, he hammered a 2-0 pitch over the right field wall giving the Deacs a 4-2 lead.
Virginia Tech again drew within a run, 4-3, in the top of the sixth inning on Schaeffer's RBI single and had the tying run in scoring position, but Young worked out of the jam.
Young retired the Hokies 1-2-3 in the seventh and the Deacons plated two insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on freshman Evan Ocheltree's RBI double and sophomore Austin Jones sacrifice fly.
Antonelli closed the book on his four-hit day with another solo home run to right field in the bottom of the eighth. The blast was his 10th of the season, eighth to the opposite field. He is now tied with Dykstra for tops on the team and ACC in home runs.
Young (3-0) picked up the victory in relief. The right-handed hurler pitched 3.0 innings and allowed one earned run on two hits. He struck out and walked one.
Demon Deacon closer Ben Hunter worked 2.0 scoreless innings of relief for his ACC-leading ninth save of the season. The righty struck out three and did not issue a walk. Hunter extended his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 25.1.
Antonelli and Dykstra have given the Hokies fits over the first two games of the series. Antonelli is hitting .778 (7-for-9) with a double, three home runs and five RBI, while Dykstra is batting .833 (5-for-6) with three doubles, a homer and three RBI. Dykstra, who went 4-for-4 yesterday, was 1-for-2 with an RBI double and three walks.
In addition to Antonelli and Dykstra, five other Demon Deacons had hits. Shust went 2-for-5 with a run scored and RBI double. Shust has had two hits in four consecutive games. Enick went 1-for-4 with a run scored and RBI, while Ocheltree went 1-for-3 with an RBI double. Jones and Hood each added hits as well.
Niesen tossed 4.0+ innings and allowed just one earned run, but did not factor in the decision. The sophomore allowed six hits and issued four walks, but also struck out six. Niesen was fanned 13 over his last 9.0+ innings of work.
David Cross (1-4) was charged with the loss for Virginia Tech. The righty gave up three earned runs on six hits over 2.1 innings. He walked one and struck out one. Randy Buffington pitched well out of the Hokie bullpen. He tossed 3.0 innings and allowed one earned run on one hit. Schaeffer, Thomas, O'Brien and Billy Marn had two hits for Virginia Tech.
Wake Forest returns to action tomorrow afternoon with the final game of the three-game series. Redshirt senior Justin Keadle will get the start for the Deacons. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
-- WakeForestSports.com --
