Wake Forest University
Charlotte
Deacons Tally Walk-Off Win Over Charlotte
3/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF) 
Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeBaseball)
Keegan Maronpot recorded his fourth RBI of the night in the bottom of the ninth as Wake Forest earned a walk-off victory over Charlotte, 6-5, on Tuesday night at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Maronpot was the star at the plate for Wake Forest (14-9), driving in four of the six Demon Deacon runs, including his first home run of the season. He knocked runs in during four plate appearances, also tallying two RBI groundouts and a sacrifice fly in addition to his solo blast.
After the Deacons tied the game at 5-5 in the seventh on Maronpot's sac fly, Ben Breazeale led off the ninth inning with a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Joey Rodriguez, and then took third on a wild pitch. Maronpot stepped to the plate with runners at first and third and one out and delivered a high chopper, on which the 49ers (11-10) unsuccessfully attempted to turn a double play. This allowed pinch runner Drew Freedman to sprint home from third for the winning run and give the Deacs their first walk-off win of the season.
Aiding Maronpot at the plate, Breazeale recorded three hits and scored two runs, while also drawing a leadoff walk in the ninth which eventually became the winning run after Freedman pinch ran.
Once again, Wake Forest received strong work from the bullpen, as five relievers combined to toss 8.0 innings of five-hit, two-run ball to go along with eight strikeouts. Right-hander John McCarren was especially effective, firing 3.0 innings of shutout ball from the second through fourth innings.
Donnie Sellers (3-1) earned the win for the second straight game with a perfect top of the ninth, while Chris Farish tossed a perfect eighth inning and Garrett Kelly struck out three in 1.1 scoreless frames.
Charlotte opened the scoring in the top of the first, scoring on an RBI double that brought home two runs. The 49ers loaded the bases again in the second and tacked on another run on an RBI single before a double play ended the frame.
However, Wake Forest answered back in the bottom half, plating two runs on a Gavin Sheets double and Maronpot RBI groundout followed by a Johnny Aiello RBI double.
After Charlotte added two runs in the top of the sixth on a two-out, two-run homer from Reese Hampton, the Demon Deacons answered in the bottom half on Maronpot's leadoff bomb and Nate Mondou's two-out RBI double to cut the 49ers lead back to a run after six.
Kelly pitched out of trouble in the seventh, getting two strikeouts with two runners on to escape the jam. The Deacons responded with another rally, tying the game on a Maronpot sac fly.
Sheets went 2-for-4 with a walk. Kevin Conway walked twice as the Demon Deacons drew seven total walks on offense.
Up next, Wake Forest will play host to Duke for a three-game ACC series, starting on Friday at 6 p.m. at David F. Couch Ballpark.
