Wake Forest University
Kent State
Deacons Complete Sweep of Kent State
2/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 18, 2007
Winston-Salem, N.C. - Wake Forest completed a three-game weekend sweep of Kent State with an 8-6 victory on a blustery Sunday afternoon at Hooks Stadium. The Deacons improved to 3-0 on the season while Kent State dropped to 0-3.
Sunday's win was marked by the return of Garrett Bullock. The sophomore left-hander made only five appearances last year, and none after April 2, because of double pneumonia and a tricep injury. Bullock earned the win for five solid innings. He allowed just one run on five hits, struck out two and walked one.
"It felt amazing to get back out there. I felt like a part of me had been missing," Bullock said. "Today's game was something I had been preparing for since last April. To get out of the first inning with no runs was a sigh of relief."
Just as they did in the first two games of the series, the Deacons took command early. Wake Forest plated two runs in the first inning on a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch. In the second, Brett Linnenkohl's RBI triple scored Eric Williams. A few batters later, Willy Fox doubled in Ben Terry.
Evan Ocheltree led off the third inning with a solo homer, his second of the series. Austin Jones and Andy Goff followed with back-to-back doubles. Later, Terry's RBI groundout gave the Deacons a big 7-0 lead.
That chased Kent State starter Stephen Davis (0-1) from the contest. One of the highly-touted freshmen in all of college baseball this year, Davis lasted just two-plus innings, allowing seven Deacon runs on seven hits and four walks.
The Deacons mustered just one run off the Flashes' bullpen when Linnenkohl homered in the fifth.
Kent State made it interesting in the late innings, scoring one in the fifth, three in the sixth and two in the seventh. But Deacon relivers Josh Ellis and Ben Hunter closed the door with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief. They combined to strike out four of the seven batters they faced. Hunter picked up his second save of the year.
A wind chill factor hovering in the mid-20's did not prevent 388 diehard fans from cheering on the Deacons to the weekend sweep. Wake Forest hasn't been 3-0 since the 2001 and the 1998 seasons. Both times the Deacons went on to win the ACC Championship. Wake Forest assistant coach Jon Palmieri (1996-99) and Kent State assistant coaches Scott Daeley (1998-99) and Jamie Athas (2000-01) played on those championship squads.
The Deacons host Appalachian State on Tuesday at Hooks Stadium. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. The weather forecast appears to be much more comfortable for Tuesday's contest with a projected afternoon high of 55 degrees.
