Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacons Set for 2007 ACC Tournament
5/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 21, 2007
| Wake Forest at the 2007 ACC Tournament | |
| Records: | Demon Deacons (31-25, 14-16) vs. Seminoles (46-9, 24-6), Tigers (36-20, 18-12), Hurricanes (35-20, 17-13) |
| When: | Wed., May 23 - 7:00 p.m. |
| Where: | Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville - Jacksonville, Fla. |
| Pitching Matchup: | WF: LHP Garrett Bullock (4-1, 4.40) |
Game Notes: | |
| Coverage: | Television: Friday - SportSouth, Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic, FSN Florida, Sun Sports; |
IN THE BATTERS BOX -- Wake Forest heads into the postseason for its 34th ACC Tournament appearance. The Demon Deacons' postseason fate came down to the final day of the regular season, but Wake punched its own ticket with a 9-8 defeat of Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Deacs enter the tournament as the eighth seed, finishing with a 14-16 record in conference games. Wake finished its season 31-25 overall, marking the first time the Deacs have posted back-to-back 30-win seasons since 2001-02. Wake Forest is slotted into the Division `A' bracket along with top-seeded Florida State, fourth-seeded Clemson and fifth-seeded Miami. The Deacs kickoff their week against the Seminoles on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
ACC TOURNAMENT INSIDER -- The ACC Baseball Tournament is in the second year of using the eight-team format, adopting the system when the league expanded to 12 members prior to the 2005-06 academic year. This marks the fourth straight season that Wake Forest has entered the tournament as the eighth seed. The Deacs have gone 3-7 during that span with all three wins coming in 2005. Florida State comes in as the top seed in the tournament, finishing as the Atlantic Division champion with a 24-6 record. The Seminoles are coming off a series sweep at Georgia Tech. The sweep followed FSU's only series loss of the season when it dropped two of three games to Clemson May 11-13. Clemson comes in as the fourth seed in the bracket. The Tigers, who finished second in the Atlantic Division, dropped two of three games at NC State last weekend but held on to the fourth spot in the standings. Miami enters the tournament as the fifth seed after finishing third in the Coastal Division. The Hurriances were in seventh place overall entering the final weekend of the regular season but jumped up two spots with a three-game sweep of Duke in Coral Gables. Wake Forest went 2-7 combined against the three teams this season. Six of the nine games were decided by one run. Wake was 1-5 in those contests.
ON DECK -- The Deacons will await word on their NCAA Tournament fate, as the 64-team field will be announced on Monday, May 28, at 12:30 p.m. The selection show will be shown live on ESPN. Regional play is scheduled for June 1-4. Super Regionals will run June 8-11, and the College World Series is set for June 15-25.
VIRGINIA TECH LEFTOVERS --
-Wake Forest took two of three games at Virginia Tech to earn a berth in the ACC Tournament. In the rubber game on Saturday, the Deacons rallied early and took a 9-2 lead into the ninth. Wake had to hold on late as the Hokies rallied for six runs and put the winning run on base before Josh Ellis could get the final out. The 9-8 win was the Deacs' 10th one-run win this season, moving the team to 10-13 in one-run games.
-The Deacons got strong starts from Garrett Bullock and Ben Hunter. Bullock went eight innings on Thursday to lead Wake Forest to a 5-2 victory. The lefty allowed two runs on five hits. He did not allow a hit after the fourth, retiring the final 11 batters he faced. Hunter was equally as impressive on Saturday, earning the win with 6.2 innings of work. Hunter gave up two runs on five hits while striking out eight.
-Willy Fox and Andy Goff led Wake at the plate. Fox hit a team-best .500 (6-for-12) in the series, while Goff hit .400 (4-for-10). Goff hit a three-run homer on Saturday and finished with a team-high four RBIs in the series. Dustin Hood also drove in three runs for the Deacs.
-Wake Forest players and coaches wore maroon t-shirts with the Virginia Tech "VT" logo for batting practice on Thursday and Friday, in remembrance of the tragedy of April 16.
ONE-RUN WARRIORS -- Wake Forest has had a lion's share of one-run games this season, so much so that the Deacs lead the nation in that category. With a 10-13 mark, Wake has the most one-run losses and has played in the most one-run games in the country. That figure also includes a 4-8 record in conference play. No other ACC team has more than seven one-run losses overall and none has played more than 16 one-run games. Additionally, the Deacons have twice the number of one-run conference losses as the next highest teams (Georgia Tech and Maryland).
DEACS & MOTHER NATURE ALL SQUARE -- Although the Demon Deacons ultimately won their way into the ACC Tournament, Mother Nature provided a measure of insurance. Wake Forest and Boston College were battling for the eighth and final spot in the tournament heading into last weekend. The Eagles were set to host Virginia in a three-game series, but heavy rains in the Northeast forced the teams to play just two games. Coming into the final day of the regular season, Wake did not control its own destiny as it needed at least one more BC loss. However, the Eagles and Cavaliers could only play one game of their scheduled doubleheader, putting the Deacs back in control. Wake took care of business by defeating Virginia Tech 9-8, thus eliminating Boston College. One could say Mother Nature owed Wake Forest after rain forced the premature ending to its 5-4 loss to Clemson on April 15, when the Deacs had the tying run on second with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
WAKE STRONG IN THE RPI -- Wake Forest has remained strong in the national RPI and Strength of Schedule ratings. Through the games of May 20, WarrenNolan.com had the Deacons ranked 26th in the RPI and fourth in the Strength of Schedule. BoydsWorld.com ranked Wake 23rd in the RPI, as of the games through May 20. The NCAA listed the Deacs as 25th in the RPI in its latest rankings following the games of May 13.
DEACS GET DEGREES -- The Deacons' four senior players, Josh Ellis, Dan Rosaia, Sean Souders and Kirby Wedekind, all received their degrees in Wake Forest's Commencement ceremonies on Monday morning. Ellis earned a degree in political science, Rosaia in psychology, Souders in mathematical business and Wedekind in English.
FORMER DEAC ANTONELLI HAS QUITE A DAY -- Former Deacon All-American third baseman Matt Antonelli had quite a day for the Single-A Lake Elsinore Storm last Friday. Antonelli, who was drafted by the Padres in the first round of the 2006 Amateur Draft, went 6-for-8 with five runs scored and three RBIs in his team's 30-0 defeat of the Lancaster JetHawks on May 18. Antonelli hit leadoff and played second base in the game. Through 40 games this season, Antonelli has hit .325 with five home runs, 24 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.
CURRENT HITTING STREAKS -- Junior Willy Fox leads the Deacons with a six-game hitting streak. Fellow junior Andy Goff is not far behind with a five-game hitting streak. Junior Brett Linnenkohl saw his 10-game hitting streak come to an end on Friday, May 18, at Virginia Tech. Linnenkohl had a hit in 20 of 21 games, dating back to March 31 at North Carolina. Sophomore Allan Dykstra has reached base safely in 53 of 56 games this season.
Player Statistics During Streak
Willy Fox (6) .393 (11-for-28), 4 R, 2B, 3 RBI, .429 SLG, .414 OBP
Andy Goff (5) .412 (7-for-17), 3 R, HR, 5 RBI, .588 SLG, .500 OBP
HUNTER IMPRESSIVE AS STARTER -- Junior Ben Hunter has been solid in each of his six starts this season. The Deacons' All-American closer in 2006, Hunter made the transition to a starting role in mid-April. He has made six starts, three coming against ranked opponents (Coastal Carolina twice and Charlotte) and three against ACC competition. Hunter has gone 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA as a starter. He has struck out 37 batters and walked 15 in 36.0 innings pitched. More importantly, Wake Forest is 5-1 in games that Hunter has started. In contrast, Hunter is 3-5 with a 6.91 ERA in 20 relief appearances in 2007. Hunter earned All-American honors as the Demon Deacons' closer last season and came into 2007 as a Preseason All-American by multiple publications. However, Hunter's early struggles out of the bullpen thrusted him into the role of a starter. This is not new territory for Hunter, though, as he went 6-3 in 13 starts as a freshman at Furman in 2005.
MR. CLUTCH, Tyler Smith -- Sophomore Tyler Smith has proven to be one of Wake Forest's most clutch hitters this season. In his first at-bat of the year, Smith hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th to cap a 9-7 comeback win against Charlotte on February 27. Smith was also in the middle of Wake's walk-off win against Gardner-Webb on March 6, hitting an RBI single to plate the first run of the ninth-inning rally. Smith scored the winning run against Clemson on April 14, enducing a leadoff walk and then scoring on Brett Linnenkohl's game-winning single. Smith was at it again against Miami May 11-13. He hit the game-tying, three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth on Friday. Smith then scored the winning run on Austin Jones' walk-off homer on Saturday.
WAKE WALKING-OFF TALL -- Wake Forest has had a knack for getting the big hit late in games this season. The Deacons' 12-10 defeat of Miami on Saturday, May 12, was Wake's eighth walk-off win of the year. The Demon Deacons have also walked-off against Kent State, Charlotte, Gardner-Webb, High Point, Virginia, Clemson and Duke. Wake Forest also won in its last at-bat on the road at San Diego and Charlotte. The Deacs have been on the wrong end of walk-off rallies four times this season, including setbacks at San Diego, Florida State and twice at Boston College.
