Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Appalachian State
Deacons Fall to Appalachian State, 18-8
2/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 27, 2008
Appalachian State spoiled Wake Forest's baseball home opener on Wednesday afternoon as the Mountaineers scored an 18-8 win in wind-blown Hooks Stadium on the Wake Forest campus.
The loss leaves Wake Forest at 1-3 on the season while Appalachian State improved to 3-2.
The Mountaineers struck for six runs in the top of the first, knocking Wake Forest starter Matt Hammond out after just one-third of an inning. Appalachian utilized three walks, a hit batter and three singles to take a 6-0 lead before the Deacons came to bat.
Wake answered with three runs in the bottom of the first. Steven Brooks singled with one out and Allan Dykstra drew a walk before Willy Fox tripled in both runners. Fox would score on a wild pitch to cut Wake's deficit to three.
Wake Forest reliever Joel Ernst pitched a pair of scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fourth. Consecutive singles and a pair of walks plated one run before ASU's Isaac Harrow came through with a two-run single. David Towarnicky also drove in a run with a fielder's choice as ASU took a 10-3 lead.
Appalachian added three runs in the fifth on consecutive doubles by Wes Hobson, David Rubinstein and Andrew Franco with Rubinstein and Franco collecting RBIs. Isaac Harrow finished the inning with a run-scoring single.
Allan Dykstra led off the Deacon fifth with a solo homer, his first of the season. Brett Linnenkohl singled, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring on an infield grounder by Evan Ocheltree to pull Wake to 13-5.
ASU scored two more runs in the sixth as Jason Rook legged out a bunt single with one out. A passed ball and a wild pitch moved him to third before Rand Smith's single up the middle plated Rook. Smith moved to third on a pair of wild pitches and scored on a fielder's choice by Hobson.
Rubinstein added a two-run single in the seventh as the Mountaineers scored three times to increase their lead to 18-5.
Dykstra slammed his second homer of the game in the seventh, scoring Brooks who had singled to open the frame. Wake Forest added its final run in the bottom of the eighth as Michael Murray singled and moved to third on a single by Andy Goff. Murray scored on Ben Terry's infield ground out.
Hammond (0-1) took the loss while ASU starter Aubrey Edens improved to 1-0. Edens held the Deacons to seven hits over five innings.
Eight Wake Forest pitchers yielded 18 hits on the afternoon. The Deacon defense contributed three double plays but also committed three errors.
Wake Forest will travel to Dothan, Ala. this weekend for the Screentech Wiregrass Classic. The Deacons will face Kennesaw State Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. and meet Troy in a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 3:00. Wake concludes the tournament with an 11:00 a.m. contest vs. Penn State on Sunday.
