Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Visit High Point Tuesday Night
3/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 11, 2008
Wake Forest, coming off an ACC series win over Clemson, will head back to the diamond on Tuesday night, March 11, with a visit to High Point University. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. at George S. Erath Field.
The Deacons took the first two games from 17th-ranked Clemson, winning 13-11 on Saturday and claiming Sunday's first game 5-3. The Tigers came back from an 11-4 deficit to win the series finale 12-11.
Wake Forest (7-5 overall, 2-1 ACC) will send freshman Brandon Johnson to the mound against the Panthers. Johnson (0-0, 0.00) will be making his first collegiate start. The Clemmons, N.C. (Davie County HS) native has thrown three scoreless innings, all in relief, this season. In his last outing on March 2, Johnson allowed two hits and fanned one in two innings of work in a 15-4 win over Penn State.
Wake Forest's offense pounded out 31 hits in the three-game series vs. Clemson while Deacon pitchers fanned 26 hitters. In Friday's 13-11 win, four Wake Forest pitchers combined to strikeout 15 Clemson hitters. The 15 strikeouts were the most by a Demon Deacon pitching staff since Wake fanned 17 New Orleans hitters on March 3, 2001.
Offensively, Wake Forest is hitting .312 on the year led by junior Allan Dykstra who leads the team with a .390 average. Dykstra is third in the ACC with four home runs while leading the league with 19 runs scored and ranking second in walks (15) and on-base percentage (.576). First baseman Evan Ocheltree is tied for the ACC lead with 17 RBI and two triples. Outfielder Brett Linnenkohl is the league leader with 12 stolen bases while DH Willy Fox is tied for second with seven.
High Point is 3-9 on the season after losing a pair of games at Charlotte over the weekend. The Panthers have dropped eight straight games since starting the season at 3-1. HPU will start RHP Zach Scott (0-2, 8.53), a 6-3 junior. Scott yielded seven hits and seven runs in 5.2 innings in a start against Appalachian State on March 5.
After Tuesday's game, the Deacons will return home to host Charlotte at Hooks Stadium at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12.
