May 19, 2005 BLACKSBURG, Va. - After just over a two-hour rain delay, Virginia Tech rallied past Wake Forest, 6-3, thanks in part to a four-run seventh inning in ACC baseball action from English Field Thursday night. With the loss, the Demon Deacons drop to 24-27 overall and 11-17 in the ACC, while the Hokies improve to 22-26 overall and 6-18 in the conference. With the game tied at 2-2, the Hokies took a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning with four runs. After Wake Forest starting pitcher Brian Bach got the leadoff batter of the inning out, David Londrey snuck a single through the left side before Nate Parks reached with an infield single. Sheldon Adams followed with a single to centerfield scoring Londrey. Junior Casey Sterk bobbled the ball allowing Parks and Adams to both move into scoring position. With the infield in, Matt Hacker slapped a two-run single past a diving Ingold to make the score, 5-2. Billy Marn pushed the Virginia Tech lead to 6-2 with an RBI single. Hokies reliever Nick Bowers allowed one run in the ninth inning, but struckout four and walked none in 2.2 innings of work. Bower improved to 2-4 on the season. Bach would leave after the seventh inning. The senior tossed 7.0 innings and was charged with six earned runs on 11 hits. He induced 12 ground ball outs, but dropped to 2-3 on the season despite pitching at least seven innings for the fourth time in his six starts in ACC play. He struckout four and did not walk a batter. Bach has not walked a single batter in 18.2 innings of work.
Sophomore Matt Antonelli led the Deacs at the plate going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, while senior Ben Ingold went 2-for-3 with an RBI single and two walks. Junior Casey Sterk added two hits and redshirt sophomore Brendan Enick added a two-run home run -- his fifth of the season.
The Demon Deacons had golden scoring opportunities in each of the first three innings with leadoff doubles, but were not able to get onto the scoreboard until the top of the fourth inning. After redshirt senior Ryder Mathias doubled to open the inning, Enick blasted a two-run blast over the left field wall giving the Deacs a 2-0 lead. Bach was cruising until the Hokies mounted a threat in the bottom of the sixth inning. Adams led off the inning with a single to right field, then raced to third base on Hacker's double that stayed just inside the first base bag. Bach then got Bryan Thomas to hit a fly ball to centerfield, but Sterk -- who was playing centerfield for the injured Matt Miller -- misjudged the fly ball and Thomas ended up with a two-run triple tying the score, 2-2. Bach did limit the damage as he retired the next three Virginia Tech batters on ground outs, stranding Thomas -- the go-ahead run -- at third base. Virginia Tech starter Ryan Kennedy scattered eight hits over 6.1 innings and did not factor into the decision. The southpaw allowed two earned runs with four walks and four strikeouts. Wake Forest returns to action Saturday with the second game of the three-game series with the Hokies. First-pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sophomore Josh Ellis will take the mound for the Demon Deacons. |
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