Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Hosts Unbeaten Winthrop on Tuesday
3/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 1, 2010
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest continues its non-conference schedule on Tuesday when it hosts unbeaten Winthrop at Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m. (ET).
Admission to the game and all home midweek contests during the 2010 season is free of charge.
The Demon Deacons are 3-6 on the season after dropping three of four games to Kent State over the weekend.
Senior catcher Mike Murray led the Demon Deacons against Kent State, hitting .400 over the four-game series with five RBIs and four runs scored. Redshirt junior outfielder Ryan Semeniuk hit .375 with a homer, two RBIs and five runs scored in the four games against the Golden Flashes.
Semeniuk leads the Deacs on the season with a .395 batting average and is also tied for the team lead in home runs (2) and RBIs (8). The Charlotte, N.C., native brings a career-long, nine-game hitting streak into Tuesday's game against Winthrop. Murray is batting .300 on the year with a team-high tying eight RBIs, while junior outfielder Steven Brooks is hitting at a .290 clip with a homer, three RBIs and a team-high four stolen bases.
On the mound, senior southpaw Alex Wiesner is scheduled to start for the Demon Deacons. Wiesner, who will be making his first appearance of the 2010 season, was 0-1 with a 12.54 ERA in 15 appearances in 2009. Sophomore RHP Michael Dimock (0-1, 1 save, 3.18 ERA), redshirt senior RHP Joel Ernst (0-0, 1 save, 3.86 ERA) and sophomore LHP Zach White (0-0, 4.50) lead the Demon Deacons out of the bullpen.
Winthrop carries a 7-0 record into Tuesday's contest. The Eagles, who are receiving votes in both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll and the ESPN/USA Today poll, are coming off a three-game weekend sweep of Wagner. Offensively, Winthrop is hitting at a .386 clip and averaging over 10 runs a game with 71 runs in the first seven games of 2010. The Eagle pitching staff has compiled a 3.71 ERA thus far on the season.
The Eagles have four players with at least 20 at-bats hitting over .400 on the season. Chas Crane leads Winthrop with a .462 batting average and also has a homer and six RBIs. Matt Pierpont is batting .455 on the season with a team-leading two home runs and 10 RBIs. Matt Thielepape is hitting .433 with a team-high five doubles and also has driven in five runs.
Redshirt sophomore RHP Dom Patterozzi is scheduled to get the start for Winthrop. Patterozzi has an 0-0 record with a 21.60 ERA in one start on the season. Patterozzi allowed four runs on four hits and three walks in 1.2 innings in his first start of the season. NCBWA preseason All-American Tyler Mizenko leads the Winthrop bullpen. Mizenko has two saves on the year for the Eagles and has a 2.70 ERA on 3.1 innings.
Wake Forest has a narrow 6-5 advantage in the all-time series against Winthrop. The Demon Deacons have won three straight in the series, including a season sweep of the Eagles in 2009.
Live stats and a recap of Tuesday's game will be available on WakeForestSports.com. Fans can also get in-game updates by following the Wake Forest baseball Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/WFUBaseball.
