Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Pepperdine
Deacons Split Doubleheader with Pepperdine
2/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 23, 2008
MALIBU, Calif. - Wake Forest and Pepperdine split a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Eddy D. Field Stadium on the Pepperdine campus. The Waves took the opener 3-2 behind a strong pitching performance from Brett Hunter. The Deacons claimed a 13-9 win in the nightcap as they compiled 15 hits.
In game two, the Waves put their first three runs on the board without the benefit of a hit. Pepperdine tallied twice in the bottom of the first. Deacon starter Garrett Bullock hit leadoff hitter Bryce Mendonca and walked Brown to put runners on first and second. An errant pickoff throw at first allowed Mendonca to score and Brown moved all the way to third. An infield ground out by Chase d'Arnaud scored Brown.
In the second, Bullock hit Travis Tartamella to start the inning. Tartamella moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a fielder's choice by Mendonca to give the Waves a 3-0 lead.
Wake Forest added a solo run in the third when Ian Tomkins led off the inning with a solo homer to left to make the score 3-2. The Deacons tied the game in the fourth when Fox opened the frame with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on Hood's sinking line drive to center.
The Waves scored five times in the fourth to take an 8-3 lead, the big blow being a three-run homer by d'Arnaud.
The Deacons bounced back with four runs in the top of the fifth to pull within one at 8-7. With one out, Ben Terry reached on an error by the shortstop. Consecutive singles by Brooks and Allan Dykstra loaded the bases. Willy Fox was hit by a pitch square in the back to force in one run. Designated hitter Weldon Woodall then singled to drive in two more runs and Fox would eventually score on a wild pitch.
Wake Forest tied the game in the sixth. Tomkins opened the frame with an infield single and scored on a double to the left-center gap by Terry.
The Deacons took a 12-8 lead in the eighth when Tomkins led off with a double to right. Austin Jones pinch-ran and moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single to left by Terry. A walk to Brooks and an infield single by Dykstra loaded the bases. Fox greeted reliever Tyler Hess with a sharp single to right to drive in Terry and Brooks to give Wake Forest an 11-8 advantage. The Deacons went up 12-8 on Hood's sacrifice fly that scored Dykstra.
Trent Diedrich hit a solo homer to left off reliever Brad Kledzik in the eighth to cut Wake's margin to 12-9. The Deacons added an insurance run in the ninth when Tomkins was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame. After stealing second, he moved to third on an infield ground out by Andy Goff and scored on a wild pitch.
Phil Negus earned the win for the Deacons with 3.2 innings of one-hit relief. Brad Kledzik finished the game, allowing just one hit over the final two innings.
Nathan Newman was saddled with the loss for Pepperdine.
Pepperdine's Brett Hunter outdueled Wake Forest's Ben Hunter in game one as the Waves posted a 3-2 win. Pepperdine right fielder Donald Brown drove in a pair of runs with a double in the fourth inning to give the Waves the season-opening victory.
Allan Dykstra led the Deacons with three of their four hits on the afternoon.
After giving up a one-out walk to Wake's Steven Brooks and a base hit to Allan Dykstra in the first, Pepperdine's Brett Hunter retired the next eight batters until Dykstra led off the fourth with a single to right. After Willy Fox was hit by a pitch, Brett Linnenkohl moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt. Dustin Hood fouled off four pitches before singling to left to drive in Dykstra and give the Deacons a 1-0 lead. With Fox on third, Hood took off for second, drawing a pickoff throw to first. Fox was able to beat the relay throw home to put Wake ahead 2-0.
Ben Hunter pitched of a jam in the second. After allowing three consecutive soft base hits, he fanned the bottom two hitters in the order in second baseman Denny Duron and David Harris.
The Waves took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth. A walk and a base hit put runners on second a third. A single by centerfielder Bryce Mendonca scored one before Brown doubled down the rightfield line to drive in two and give Pepperdine a 3-2 advantage.
Ben Hunter went five innings for the Deacons, scattering seven hits while striking out five and walking three. Brett Hunter, with a consistent 97 mile per hour fastball, went six innings for the Waves, allowing just four hits and fanning six while walking one. Pepperdine's Nick Gaudi earned the save by pitching a scoreless seventh inning.
Wake Forest and Pepperdine are slated to finish the series with a doubleheader starting at 1:30 p.m. EST but there is an 80 percent chance of rain in Malibu on Sunday.
