Wake Forest University
Davidson
Wake Forest Posts 10-0 Shutout of Davidson
4/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 30, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest's Charlie Mellies, Matt Hammond and Brad Kledzik combined on a four-hit shutout to lead the Demon Deacons to a 10-0 rout of Davidson Wednesday afternoon at Hooks Stadium.
With the win, the Deacons move to 19-27 overall. The Wildcats drop to 10-29 with their fifth straight defeat. Wake Forest and Davidson split the 2008 season series with each squad picking up a home victory.
On Wednesday, Wake got great pitching and great hitting to cruise to the easy win. Early on, however, it looked as though the Deacons might struggle coming through with runners on base. Wake scored a run in each the second and third innings but left the bases loaded on both occasions. The Deacs left 12 runners on base for the game, eight of which came during the first four innings.
However, the offense came alive in the fifth and did not stop until the game was well out of reach. Wake Forest scored two in the fifth, three in the sixth, two more in the seventh and one for good measure in the eighth.
Starter Mellies (2-5) earned the win, stifling the Wildcats over five innings. The senior righthander kept the Deacons in the game while waiting for the bats to get it going. He allowed just two hits with six strikeouts and no walks. Mellies let just one runner reach scoring position, and he retired each of the final six batters he faced.
Kledzik picked up his fourth save of the year with three innings of relief. He gave up one hit, a two-out infield single in the ninth, while striking out three.
Hammond pitched a scoreless sixth inning, working himself out of a jam after two runners reached base with one out.
At the plate, five Deacons turned in multi-hit performances. Dustin Hood led the way, going 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI. Steven Brooks, Allan Dykstra, Andy Goff and Evan Ocheltree each tallied a pair of base hits on the day.
Ocheltree drove in three runs, two of which came on a fifth-inning home run, his fifth of the season. Brooks and Mike Murray had two RBIs apiece, while Ocheltree and Dykstra scored twice each.
Willy Fox had his 10-game hitting streak come to an end, going 0-for-3 before being pinch hit for in the seventh inning. Courtney Morgan recorded his first collegiate hit in the second inning.
Defensively, Dykstra had a nifty play at first base in the fourth inning. As he was preparing to field a grounder just past the bag, the ball hit the base and unexpectedly popped up to his right. Dykstra knocked the cue shot down with his bare hand, picked it up and tagged out the runner just in time.
Hood and Goff also combined on a nice play in the sixth. With runners at first and second, Hood made a diving backhanded stop on a hard grounder up the middle. From the ground, the shortstop made the flip to second baseman Goff. Goff stretched off the bag and caught the ball with his bare hand to get the force out.
Wake Forest plated a run in the second inning to open the scoring. Ocheltree led off with a single and moved to second on the play when the centerfielder mishandled the ball. One out later, consecutive singles from Morgan and Brooks drove in Ocheltree.
The Deacons added another run in the third. Dykstra was issued a leadoff walk, and Hood singled one out later to put runners at the corners. Ocheltree cashed the run in with a sacrifice fly to left. Wake proceeded to load the bases with two outs, but Davidson reliever Andy Bass got a popout to end the inning.
Wake Forest pushed two runs across in the fifth courtesy of Ocheltree's homer. Hood led off with a single, and Ocheltree followed with a two-run home run. Ocheltree pulled a 2-2 pitch from lefty reliever Mac Hunter to right center for his fifth homer of the season. Andy Goff then doubled to chase Hunter and bring on righthander Bobby Demuro. Demuro got the Wildcats out of the inning, stranding Goff at third.
The Deacs continued their scoring barrage with three runs in the sixth. Fox and Dykstra started the inning with back-to-back four-pitch walks. After the pair moved up on stolen bases, Murray laced a double to left center to drive in both runners. Murray came around to score an unearned run when the Wildcat third baseman threw the ball away on Goff's would-be inning-ending grounder.
The seventh inning saw Wake Forest plate two unearned runs. Brooks reached on a leadoff single through the left side and promptly stole second. He then scored when Ben Terry reached on a fielding error by the second baseman. Terry came around to score on Hood's two-out single to right, giving the Deacs a 9-0 advantage.
Wake pushed one more run across in the eighth. Eric Williams led off with a double to right and moved to third on a wild pitch. Williams then scored on Brooks' RBI fielder's choice.
The Wildcats put a runner on with two outs in the ninth but could not piece together the requisite 10-run rally.
Davidson used seven pitchers on the day, each of which gave up at least one run. Starter Ian Horkley (0-6) suffered the loss despite allowing just one of the 10 runs on the day. The righthander pitched two innings, giving up an earned run on four hits.
Wake Forest will be off for the next eight days for final exams. The Deacons will return to action on Friday, May 9, when they host the Duke Blue Devils in game one of a three-game series at Hooks Stadium.
