April 17, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest hits the road this weekend for a three-game ACC series at the University of Virginia. The Demon Deacons enter the series at 14-22 overall and 6-11 in conference play. Wake is currently seventh in the league standings, while UVa sits in fourth. The Deacons are coming off a mid-week split of two games. Wake Forest fell, 9-3, at Davidson on Tuesday before picking up a 10-8 defeat of Winthrop on Wednesday. The No. 16-ranked Cavaliers come in at 29-10 overall and 11-7 in the ACC. Virginia picked up a sweep at Maryland last weekend before suffering an 8-3 home loss to No. 19 Coastal Carolina on Tuesday.

Quickie Notes
Mike Murray and Weldon Woodall are each riding nine-game hitting streaks ... Dustin Hood ranks 11th in the ACC with a .383 average in conference games only ... Allan Dykstra set the school's career record for HBPs with his 43rd plunking on Wednesday ... Evan Ocheltree is three triples away from tying the Wake Forest career record of 13 ... Wednesday's three homer barrage against Winthrop was Wake's most roundtrippers in a game since March 8 vs. Clemson ... Ben Hunter has allowed two earned runs or less in each of his last four outings ... Wake Forest is ranked ninth nationally in Strength of Schedule, according to WarrenNolan.com.

Virginia Insider
Virginia comes in to the weekend having won five of its past six games, dating back to April 8. The stretch follows a season-high four-game losing streak. The Cavaliers are ranked No. 16 in the latest NCBWA Top 30 Poll. UVa is also ranked No. 19 in the latest ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll. As a team, Virginia is hitting .303, which ranks fourth in the ACC. Dan Grovatt leads the squad with a .364 average. Jeremy Farrell has a team-best seven home runs and 38 RBIs. Greg Miclat leads the ACC with 23 stolen bases. On the mound, the Cavaliers are third in the ACC with a team ERA of 3.36. Friday's starter Pat McAnaney leads with a 2.04 ERA. McAnaney also leads the ACC with 71 strikeouts, an average of 11.15 per game. Closer Michael Schwimer is tops in the conference with 10 saves.

On Deck
Wake Forest will play a pair of non-conference road games during the upcoming mid-week. The Deacons will be at Elon on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and at Coastal Carolina on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Wake travels to Atlanta next weekend for a three-game ACC series with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Wake-UVa in 2007 -- Wake Forest took two of three games from Virginia, who was ranked No. 4 in the country at the time, on March 9-11 in Winston-Salem. The Deacons won 8-3 on Friday, lost 15-3 on Saturday and then took the series with a walk-off 7-6 win on Sunday.

Willy Fox played a major role in each of the two wins. Fox hit two home runs on Friday, including the two-run go-ahead shot off Sean Doolittle and a three-run bomb in the seventh inning. On Sunday, Fox singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Deacons the series. On the weekend, Fox hit .692 (9-for-13) with six RBIs. He finished with a slugging percentage of 1.231. Fox was named the ACC Player of the Week the Monday following the series.

Allan Dykstra had four hits in the series, including two home runs on Sunday. Dykstra's three-run jack in the seventh inning re-claimed the lead for the Deacs. Tyler Smith hit .375 with two doubles in two games over the weekend.

On the mound, Josh Ellis shined out of the bullpen. Ellis pitched on Friday and Sunday, throwing a combined 3.2 innings. He did not surrender a run, extending his scoreless innings streak at the time to 13.2. Ellis gave up just two hits on the weekend while striking out five Cavaliers.

Joel Ernst was solid out of the pen on Saturday, giving up two unearned runs in 3.2 innings of work. Brad Kledzik earned his second win of the season on Friday.

Deacs' Previous Appearance at Davenport Field
No. 21 Virginia took two of three games from No. 24 Wake Forest March 24-26, 2006. The Cavaliers took the series opener, 3-2, holding the Deacons to just five hits. Brad Kledzik was charged with the loss. He tossed five innings and limited Virginia to three runs, all earned, on six hits. Kledzik struck out five, but also walked four.

Wake Forest came back with a 3-2 win of its own on Saturday. Eric Niesen tossed five shutout innings, Evan Ocheltree added a two-run triple and Ben Hunter picked up his eighth save of the season to lead the Deacons. Niesen allowed just two hits before leaving the game after ripping open his middle fingernail. Niesen did not allow a single Cavalier to reach scoring position. Hunter struck out three batters in 2.2 innings for the save. UVa starter Jacob Thompson took the loss for the home squad.

Virginia took the series with a 10-2 victory on Sunday. The Cavaliers exploded for five runs in the first inning against starter Tyler Smith. Andy Goff led Wake at the plate, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a double. However, the Deacons' first four hitters went a combined 1-for-16 on the day.

Individual Career Stats vs. UVa
Garrett Bullock has made just one appearance against the Cavaliers, a 2007 start ... Bullock allowed two runs on eight hits in five innings of work ... Allan Dykstra hit Virginia well last season, going 4-for-13 with five RBIs and four runs in the series ... However, Dykstra went 0-for-11 in the 2006 series in Charlottesville ... Willy Fox had an outstanding series last season against UVa, hitting .692 (9-13) with six RBIs, two homers and three runs ... Fox slugged 1.231 and reached base at a clip of .714 in the series ... Andy Goff has hit well against the Cavaliers but missed the 2007 series with an injury ... In six career games, Goff has hit .429 (9-21) with six RBIs, five runs and an OBP of .478 ... Ben Hunter is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two career appearances against Virginia ... Brett Linnenkohl has hit .292 in six career games against UVa ... Linnenkohl has scored eight runs and tallied four RBIs ... Ben Terry had a hit in his only at-bat against the Cavaliers last season.

Deacons' Last Time Out
Wake Forest fell at Davidson, 9-3, on Tuesday before downing Winthrop, 10-8, at home on Wednesday. Against Davidson, the Deacons took an early 1-0 lead before the Wildcats tied it in the third and took a 4-1 lead in the fourth--a deficit that Wake could not overcome.

Mike Murray led the Deacs at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and his fourth home run of the season. Tyler Smith was also 2-for-4, while Allan Dykstra drove in a run for Wake Forest. Starter Mark Adzick took the loss on the mound. The freshman lefty pitched four innings, allowing four runs on three hits with six strikeouts and six walks.

In Wednesday's victory, Wake took three different leads over the first six innings, only to see Winthrop battle back to a tie each time. When the Deacons took their fourth lead of the game, it stuck. Wake plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh, added an insurance run in the eighth and then held the Eagles to just one run over the final two innings.

The Deacs got home runs from Dykstra, Willy Fox and Weldon Woodall. Dykstra had a solo shot in the second, Woodall hit a two-run homer in the fifth and Fox followed with a solo homer in the eighth.

Reliever Alex Wiesner picked up the win, pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Phil Negus earned his first career save.