Wake Forest Wraps Up Pool Play Against Miami
5/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 25, 2012
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Wake Forest Game Notes (PDF)
| Miami Game Notes (PDF)
By Steven Wright, Wake Forest Media Relations (@SIDeacons)
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Wake Forest needs one more win to keep its 2012 ACC Tournament Championship hopes alive, as the Demon Deacons will look for that victory against Miami tonight at 7 p.m. at NewBridge Bank Park.
With a win tonight over the Hurricanes, the Demon Deacons would then need NC State to beat North Carolina tomorrow night to secure a spot in Sunday's ACC Championship title game scheduled for noon.
Wake Forest evened its tournament record at 1-1 last night with a 7-3 win behind an impressive outing from right-handed pitcher Jack Fischer. The Hinsdale, Ill., native went a career-best 8.0 innings and struck out a career-high five batters en route to earning his fifth win of the season. At one point, he retired 10 consecutive batters and 13 of 14.
The win was Wake Forest's first in the ACC Baseball Championship since defeating Virginia in the 2008 tournament.
Through two games in the tournament, Mark Rhine and Carlos Lopez have been the best at getting on base. Both players have .750 on base percentages, as Rhine is 3-for-5 with three walks, and Lopez is 2-for-4 with three walks and an HBP.
Grant Shbley leads the way with a pair of RBIs, while Charlie Morgan, Brett Armour and Evan Stephens each have one RBI apiece.
Tonight's pitching matchup will be a rematch from May 13 between Wake Forest's Brian Holmes and Miami's Eric Whaley. In the first meeting, the two pitchers were similarly effective in six innings of work but both received no-decisions. Holmes gave up four hits and two runs (no earned runs) with four strikeouts, while Whaley scattered four hits and gave up two runs, as well.
On the season, Holmes has a team-high seven wins (7-2) and a team-best 2.58 ERA in 76.1 innings of work. He has struck out 74 batters, while holding opponents to a .207 batting average. Whaley is 3-4 on the year with a 2.61 ERA. He has only walked 19 batters and has fanned 55.
Miami lost its first game of the tournament on a walk-off bases loaded walk by NC State. The Hurricanes then rebounded to defeat North Carolina yesterday to move to 1-1 like every other team in Pool B of the ACC Baseball Championship.
Tonight's game will be televised on Fox Sports South and streamed on ESPN3. Mike Hogewood and Nick Belmonte will have the call. You can also listen to the game on 98.1 WBRF and WakeForestSports.com.
