Wake Forest University
Elon
Elon Outslugs Wake Forest, 17-12
3/31/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 31, 2010
Box Score | Box Score (PDF) 
| Updated Season Stats
ELON, N.C. - Alex Swim went 3-for-4 with five RBIs, while Mike Melillo added four RBIs to lead Elon to a 17-12 win over Wake Forest on Wednesday night at Latham Park.
Wake Forest falls to 9-18 with the loss, while Elon improves to 16-10 with the victory.
Swim and Melillo led the Phoenix offense. Swim drove in five runs on three hits and also scored three times. Melillo went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and hit his third home run of the season. Justin Hilt homered for the second time this season and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
Mac Williamson blasted a pair of home runs in the loss to bring his season total to three. The redshirt freshman became the first Wake Forest player to hit two home runs in a game this season and the first since Carlos Lopez homered twice against Maryland on May 9, 2009. Williamson finished the game with a career-high four RBIs on a career-high tying three hits. Steven Brooks tied a career-high with four hits, scored three runs, stole two bases and added an RBI in the loss. Lopez finished the game 2-for-5 with two RBIs, while Mark Rhine also had two hits.
Ken Ferrer (3-1) earned the win in relief, allowing a run on two hits in 2.2 innings with a strikeout and a walk. Wake Forest starter Brandon Johnson (0-4) suffered the loss, giving up eight runs, seven earned, on four hits in 1.2 innings.
Joel Ernst pitched well out of the bullpen for the Demon Deacons, throwing 2.0 scoreless innings and allowing just one hit.
Elon grabbed an early lead with a run in the bottom of the first. Hilt led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run over the left center field fence to put the Phoenix in front 1-0.
Wake Forest took its first lead of the game with four runs in the top of the second. Lopez reached on a fielding error by the third baseman to start the inning and came around to score on a home run by Williamson over the scoreboard in left-center field to put the Deacs in front 2-1. The homer for Williamson was his second of the year. Matt Conway then doubled over the head of the center fielder. With one out, Mike Lubanski singled to center to move Conway to third. Rhine grounded a double down the left field line to plate Conway for the third Wake Forest run of the inning. A ground out to short by Pat Blair scored Lubanski from third to make the score 4-1.
The Phoenix regained the lead, putting seven runs up in the bottom of the second. After the first batter of the inning was retired, Matt Hinson singled and Seth Canipe and Matt Kirchner drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Ben Scott struck out swinging for the second out of the inning. Hilt drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch to score Hinson and make the score 4-2. Swim tied the game with a single up the middle to score Canipe and Kirchner and send Hilt to second. Melillo was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Ryan Adams cleared the bases with a double to the right-center field gap to put Elon in front 7-4. Adams scored the final run of the inning from second on a fielding error by Shane Kroker on a ground ball off the bat of Neal Pritchard.
Elon tacked on five more runs in the bottom of the third. Kirchner led off the inning with an infield single and moved to second when Scott was hit by a pitch. A walk to Hilt loaded the bases with nobody out. Swim lined a single to right to score Kirchner and Scott. Melillio cleared the bases with a three-run homer, his third of the season, off the scoreboard in left center field to make the score 13-4.
Wake Forest got a run back in the top of the fourth. Kroker walked to start the inning and moved to second on a stolen base. Lubanski struck out looking for the first out of the inning. Rhine placed a single into left-center field to move Kroker to third. Blair drove in Kroker from third on a fielder's choice groundout to short with Rhine being retired at second on the play.
The Demon Deacons added three more runs in the top of the fifth. Brooks lined a double to the left-center field gap to lead off the inning and came in to score on a double to right center by Lopez. Williamson singled through the right side to advance Lopez to third. A passed ball moved Williamson to second to put two runners in scoring position. Austin Stadler, who pinch hit for Conway after he had to leave the game due to fouling a ball off his leg, grounded out to short to score Lopez. Kroker plated Williamson with a ground out to short to make the score 13-8.
The Phoenix stretched the lead to six with a run in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Swin drew a walk and came around to score on a double down the left field line by Melillo to extend the lead to 14-8.
Wake Forest plated its ninth run of the game in the top of the sixth. Blair reached on a walk to start the inning. Semeniuk fouled out to first for the first out of the inning. Brooks attempted to bunt for a base hit, but Blair was thrown out at second for the second out of the inning. Lopez roped a double down the left field line to score Brooks from first.
Elon answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Scott singled through the right side to score Pritchard from third. Hilt reached on an infield single that plated Hinson. Swim singled to left field to score Kirchner for Elon's 17th run of the game.
Wake Forest trimmed the lead to five with three runs in the top of the eighth. Semeniuk led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a stolen base. Brooks chopped a single up the middle for his fourth hit of the game, scoring Semeniuk from second. After Lopez flied out to left for the first out of the inning, Williamson launched a two-run homer to left field for his second homer of the game, cutting the lead to 17-12.
Wake Forest continues Atlantic Coast Conference play this weekend, traveling to Miami for a three-game series with the 15th-ranked Hurricanes. Game times are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Saturday's game will be televised by CSS.
For all of the latest information on Wake Forest baseball, please log on to www.WakeForestSports.com or, for up-to-the minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account @WFUBaseball or www.twitter.com/WFUBaseball.
