May 17, 2008
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Wake Forest wrapped up the regular season with an 11-7 setback at Boston College Saturday afternoon at Commander Shea Field. The Demon Deacons fall to 24-29 overall and 13-16 in the ACC with only their second loss in the last 10 games. The Eagles finish the season 26-27 overall and 9-21 in conference play. The setback had no bearing on Wake Forest's seeding at next week's ACC Tournament. The Deacons finished seventh in the final conference standings. The official seeding information and tournament schedule will be released by the league office on Sunday afternoon. The Deacs looked to be on their way to their second series sweep in as many weekends after jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. However, the Eagles responded with a three-run homer in the bottom of half of the inning to tie the score. Wake re-took the lead in the second, only to see BC tie it in the fifth and take the lead for good in the sixth. The Deacons were able to cut the deficit in half but could not plate the tying run. Starter Brad Kledzik (2-5) suffered the loss for Wake Forest. The junior righthander pitched six innings, allowing six runs, five earned, on nine hits. He struck out four and walked none in his third start of the season. Willy Fox led the Deacs at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Andy Goff and Dustin Hood each had a pair of hits, while Allan Dykstra drove in two runs. Mike Murray extended his hitting streak to 12 games. He has now hit safely in 25 of his past 26 games. Goff extended his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games. Wake Forest scored in the first inning for the fifth straight game, plating three runs with two outs. Willy Fox reached on a one-out single and then stole second. One out later, Murray drove a double to the gap in left center to plate Fox. Hood then singled through the left side, scoring Murray who slid in under the tag. After a walk to Tyler Smith, Goff singled to right to drive in Hood from second.
Boston College responded in its half of the first, taking advantage of two HBPs to tie the score with three runs. After Mike Belfiore and Tony Sanchez were hit with consecutive one-out pitches, Eric Campbell hit the next offering from Kledzik and lofted a three-run homer to leftfield. The Deacons re-claimed the lead with another two-out rally in the second. Eric Williams led off with a walk and then moved to second on a groundout. Fox came through with a two-out double to left to score Williams from second. The Eagles fought back to tie the score again with an unearned run in the fourth. Ryan Akel reached on a leadoff double then advanced to third on a passed ball. One out later, Garrett Smith dumped a bloop single over the drawn-in infield to score Akel. BC took its first lead of the series with two runs in the fifth. Belfiore led off with a single to left, and Sanchez followed by homering to rightfield on Kledzik's next pitch. Wake cut the deficit in half with a run in the seventh. Goff reached on a leadoff single and then stole second. Two outs later, a walk to Ben Terry and a single by Fox loaded the bases. Reliever Steven Cadoret proceeded to hit Dykstra with the next pitch, allowing Goff to score. Boston College put the game out of reach with five runs against reliever Phil Negus in the ninth. After Negus struck out the first two batters of the frame, he issued a walk to Garrett Smith. Consecutive singles from Brandon Ziemann and Barry Butera scored Smith, who slid in ahead of the tag on Butera's base hit. A walk to Belfiore loaded the bases for Sanchez. Sanchez hit the first pitch he saw from Negus to left center for a grand slam, his second homer of the game. The Deacons did not go quietly in the ninth, rallying for two runs. Terry and Fox were issued back-to-back one-out walks, and Dykstra followed with a single to right to score Terry, who was running on the play. With runners at the corners, Nick Asselin struck out Murray but threw the ball in the dirt. Dykstra took second on the wild pitch, and Fox scored when the catcher's throw went into centerfield. Asselin ended the game on the next batter, inducing a groundout. Starter James MacDonald (4-7) earned the win for BC. The righthander went five innings, giving up four runs on five hits with four walks and two strikeouts. Asselin picked up his second save of the season, tossing two innings of relief. The righthander allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits. Sanchez led the Eagles at the plate, going 3-for-4 with six RBIs, three runs, and a pair of homers. Belfiore scored three times, while Wiswall finished with three hits. Wake Forest returns to action next week at the 2008 ACC Tournament. The official seedings and tournament schedule will be released on Sunday afternoon. The Tournament opens on Wednesday, May 21, at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Fla. |
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