May 25, 2008

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Wake Forest ended the 2008 season on a high note, picking up a 7-4 defeat of Virginia Saturday evening at the ACC Baseball Championship held at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.

The seventh-seeded Demon Deacons finish the year 25-31 overall, including a 13-16 mark during the ACC regular season. The sixth-seeded Cavaliers, who will play in Sunday's ACC title game, fall to 38-20 on the year.

Wake Forest ended a season with a victory for the first time since 1993 (when it posted a final victory at the Carolina Invitational in Chapel Hill) and for just the third time in the past 29 years. The Deacons accomplished the feat in 2008 behind a strong start from Brad Kledzik and a balanced attack at the plate.

Kledzik (3-5) picked up the win with arguably his best outing of the season. The junior righthander went a career-best 7 2/3 innings, allowing four runs, two earned, on seven hits. He struck out four and walked two before leaving with a runner on and two outs in the eighth. The last time Kledzik pitched into the eighth inning came at the 2007 ACC Tournament in Wake's 3-2 defeat of Clemson.

Kledzik held the Cavaliers hitless over the first 3 1/3 innings, but David Adams' one-out double in the fourth broke up his no-hit bid. Kledzik went on to retire 14 of the first 16 batters he faced in the game.

The Deacon bats staked Kledzik to an early 6-0 lead, rallying for four runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Kledzik made the lead stand up before giving way to relievers Ryan McGrath and Matt Hammond.

Hammond picked up his first career save in his last career game. The senior righthander set the Cavaliers down in order in the ninth, recording two strikeouts in the process.

Allan Dykstra led Wake Forest at the plate, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs, two doubles and his 16th home run of the season. Ben Terry also had three RBIs for the Deacs, while Willy Fox drove in a run and scored another.

Tyler Smith and Eric Williams had multi-hit performances. Smith went 2-for-3 with a run and a stolen base, while Williams was a perfect 2-for-2 with a run. Austin Jones scored two runs and stole a base for the Deacs.

Andy Goff singled in the fifth to finish his career on a 13-game hitting streak. A career-best streak, it tied for the team's longest this season.

Mike Murray had a single in the third, going 1-for-2 on the night before being lifted for a pinch hitter. He finished the season hitting safely in 27 of his final 29 games, putting together a pair of 13-game hitting streaks during the stretch.

Senior Brett Linnenkohl played his final game as a Demon Deacon, going 0-for-2 with a walk.

For all the success the Deacs enjoyed at the plate on Saturday, Wake Forest was unable to come up with the big hit early in the game. The Deacons stranded six runners in scoring position over the first three innings. Wake went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position during the stretch.

The Deacs finally came through in the fourth, putting together a four-run rally that was capped by Dykstra's three-run home run. Smith reached on a one-out single, and Jones followed with a walk. After a groundout moved the runners up, Fox beat out an infield single to drive in Smith. Dykstra then lined a 2-2 pitch from UVa starter Jeff Lorick to rightfield for a three-run home run. It was Dykstra's 16th homer of the year and his fourth all-time in ACC Tournament play.

Wake added another two runs against reliever Kevin Arico in the fifth. Goff and Williams led off with back-to-back singles. After a strikeout and a fielder's choice, Terry slapped a single into right to score the runners and give the Deacs a 6-0 lead.

Virginia got on the board with a run in the sixth. Corey Hunt reached on a leadoff single, stole second and then moved to third on a groundout. Adams drove in the run with an RBI groundout to third.

The Deacons were able to get the run back in the seventh. Williams singled with one out, and Nathan Frazier followed by reaching on an error. After Jones walked to load the bases, Terry plated Williams with a sacrifice fly to center.

The Cavaliers cut the deficit to 7-4 with three runs against Kledzik in the eighth. Hunt singled with one out and scored from first on David Coleman's ensuing double to left. Coleman then scored when Adams reached on a Deacon fielding error. One out later, Jarrett Parker singled to left to drive in Adams from second. Reliever Ryan McGrath came on to get the final out of the inning and preserve the Deacons' lead.

Hammond made sure Virginia would not piece together a comeback in the ninth. Hammond pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out Tyler Cannon to end the game.

Lorick (3-3) suffered the loss for Virginia. The lefty pitched 3 2/3 innings, surrendering four runs on seven hits. He struck out three and walked three.

Hunt, who entered the game in the sixth inning, went 2-for-2 with two runs to lead the Cavs at the plate. Adams and Coleman each had an RBI and a run on the night.

The game was originally scheduled to start at 8 p.m., but the first pitch was not thrown until 10:20 p.m. Prior to the Wake-UVa contest, the Florida State-North Carolina game was delayed for over an hour due to lightning. The Deacons and Cavaliers finished up at 1:09 a.m. Virginia must now turnaround and play in the ACC Championship title game against top-seeded Miami on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Wake Forest returns to Winston-Salem on Sunday. The Deacons will then disperse around the country to play in a number of collegiate summers leagues. Check www.WakeForestSports.com for updates on the Deacs throughout the summer.