Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Duke
Demon Deacons Complete Sweep of Duke with 8-2 Win
4/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 29, 2007
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Behind another strong start from Ben Hunter and some timely hitting by the offense, Wake Forest completed the series sweep of Duke with an 8-2 win Sunday afternoon at Hooks Stadium.
The Demon Deacons pushed four runs across early to support Hunter, who was making the weekend start on short notice. Hunter took the place of normal Sunday starter Charlie Mellies, who was held back due to minor soreness in his elbow. Mellies is coming off Tommy John surgery and is working his way back to full strength.
Wake Forest didn't miss a beat with Hunter on the mound, though, as the former closer turned in his fourth solid outing in as many starts. The Cincinnati native pitched a season-high 6 1/3 innings, this after he threw six frames at Charlotte on Tuesday.
Against Duke, Hunter (5-5) allowed just two runs, one earned, on seven hits. He struck out 10 batters and walked just one. Hunter let just four of the 27 batters he faced get into scoring position, as he held Duke scoreless over the first six innings.
"I actually found out yesterday (that I would pitch on Sunday)," said Hunter. "Chuck (Charlie Mellies) had mentioned that his warm wasn't feeling very well. Coach Bauer asked if I was ready to go since I had started on Tuesday. I felt pretty good after Tuesday, and I felt good yesterday so I told him I was ready to go.
"I think getting ahead of hitters (has been the key). My first two outings I did alright but had to leave the game early because I was deep in counts and getting behind to start. I got ahead of some hitters today, got some strikeouts and got out of innings quicker."
"It was a tough situation for Benny; he didn't find out he was pitching until well after the game yesterday," said head coach Rick Rembielak. "It's not easy to do to get yourself geared up to throw on such short notice. He threw strikes, and he ended up doing a great job. His slider was working, and he stayed with it. Our offense did a good job behind him and made him feel more comfortable."
The Deacon offense was equally as impressive as Hunter, with each starter tallying at least one hit. Brett Linnenkohl and Willy Fox led the attack, driving in three runs and two runs respectively. Linnenkohl finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs, a double and a triple, while Fox went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a home run.
Dustin Hood and Andy Goff had two hits each, and Ben Terry scored twice. Hood and Evan Ocheltree pushed their hitting streaks to six games apiece.
Wake Forest scored four runs combined in the first three innings and didn't look back from there.
The Demon Deacons took advantage of three Duke errors to score a run in the first inning. Linnenkohl led off with a bunt to first base and reached when Nate Freiman mishandled the ball. Duke starter Jonathan Anderson then hit Terry--after Terry was given second life on a dropped foul ball.
Allan Dykstra followed with a chopper to the mound, but Anderson threw wild to second allowing Terry to slide in safely. Fox helped the Deacs cash in on the errors, slapping a single through the left side to plate Terry.
The Deacons used a more conventional method to push two more runs across in the second. Goff and Ocheltree led off with back-to-back singles through the right side and then moved up on Tyler Smith's sacrifice bunt. One out later, Linnenkohl drove both runners in with a triple to the wall in right center.
Wake added a run in the third courtesy of a Fox solo home run. Fox went the other way on a 3-2 pitch from Anderson, driving the ball to rightfield for his fifth homer of the season.
Duke finally got on the board with two runs in the seventh inning, cutting Wake's lead to 4-2. Alex Hassan recorded a one-oust single off Hunter, and Kyle Butler followed by reaching on a Deacon fielding error. Wake Forest then went to reliever Alex Wiesner to face Duke's leading hitter Jimmy Gallagher. Gallagher got the best of Wiesner with a single up the middle to score Hassan.
Fellow freshman Phil Negus then came on for Wiesner and walked Anderson on four pitches. With the bases loaded, Matt Williams drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly to right. Negus ended the rally by getting Freiman to fly out to Ocheltree in right.
Not satisfied with their 4-2 lead, the Deacons padded their margin with four more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Smith led off with a single to chase Anderson. Wake then followed with four straight hits off reliever Andrew Wolcott. Jones reached on a bunt single to the pitcher. Smith scored on the play and Jones advanced to third when Wolcott threw the ball away past the first baseman.
Linnenkohl then doubled to right center to drive in Jones, and Terry followed with an RBI single up the middle. Dykstra made it back-to-back singles to push Terry to second. After Fox grounded into a double play, Hood drove in the fourth run of the inning with a perfectly-placed bunt single down the third base line.
Eric Niesen came on to start the eighth and shut down the Blue Devils the rest of the way. Niesen allowed just one hit and struck two in his two innings of work.
Sunday's win moves Wake Forest to 27-22 overall and 11-13 in the ACC. The Deacons head into the final two conference weekends of the season battling for a spot in the eight-team ACC Tournament. Wake is currently tied with Boston College for the eighth spot and one game back of Miami and NC State for the sixth spot.
Anderson (3-3) took the loss for Duke, who drops to 26-20 overall and 6-18 in the ACC. Anderson pitched six-plus innings, allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits.
Wolcott allowed three runs on six hits in his inning of work.
Leadoff man Gallagher went 4-for-5 with an RBI to lead the Blue Devils' offense.
The Deacon hitters struck out just 11 times total on the weekend, including twice on each Friday and Sunday. Wake had struck out 30+ times in each of its last two weekend series (30 vs. Clemson; 34 at Boston College).
Defensively, Dykstra made an outstanding play in the second. The first baseman dove to his right to snag a chopper headed for rightfield. From his knees, Dykstra then made the toss to Hunter who beat the runner to the first bag by a half-step.
"At this stretch of the season we need to end up getting every win," said Rembielak. "We had three important weekends to go here. With two of them at home we have to end up protecting our own domain. We did that this weekend. It was crucial, setting up a good weekend against Miami which is going to be fighting for a seventh-eighth spot right now. It's going to be an exciting weekend when Miami comes into town."
Wake Forest is back in action on Wednesday with its last non-conference game of the season, a 6 p.m. contest at UNC Greensboro. The Deacons will then be off for nine days due to final exams, returning to the diamond May 11-13 at home against Miami.
