Hunter Leads Wake Forest Past Brown, 4-2, in NCAA Regional Tournament
Deacons will play loser of Texas-UC Irvine on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT

June 2, 2007

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ROUND ROCK, Texas - Converted reliever Ben Hunter continued his brilliance as a starter for Wake Forest, pitching the Demon Deacons past Brown, 4-2, in the NCAA Regional Tournament Saturday afternoon at The Dell Diamond.

Hunter (8-6) led the Deacons to victory, allowing just one run in a career-long eight innings of work. The righthander tied his career-high with 10 strikeouts in his eighth start of the season.

Wake Forest spotted Hunter two runs in the first inning but didn't score again until the ninth. Hunter made the runs hold up, though, as he allowed just a run in the third inning before giving way to relievers Eric Niesen and Josh Ellis in the ninth.

The win advances the Deacs (34-28) in the loser's bracket and eliminates Ivy League champion Brown (27-21). Wake will now face the loser of tonight's game between top-seeded Texas and second-seeded UC Irvine on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT. The winner of that game will advance to the Regional championship on Sunday at 6 p.m. CT. If the Deacons advance that far, they would need to win on Sunday evening and then again on Monday afternoon to make the Super Regionals.

Against Brown, the Wake Forest offense put out just enough to win. The Deacs left 10 on base and were 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Wake got on the board first with two runs in the top of the first. Ben Terry led off with a single through the left side, putting the ball just past a diving Robert Papenhouse at third. After Dustin Hood sacrificed Terry to second, Brown starter James Cramphin hit Allan Dykstra with an 0-2 pitch. Willy Fox followed with his first hit of the postseason, doubling over the centerfielder's head to drive in Terry. Tyler Smith followed with an RBI groundout to give Wake Forest the early 2-0 lead.

The Bears cut the deficit in half with a run in the third. Papenhouse led off with a double past Terry in center. One out later, Steve Daniels reached on a bunt single, just beating out Hunter's throw to first. Ryan Murphy then hit a slow grounder to Dykstra at first. Dykstra didn't have a play on Papenhouse at the plate, but no one was covering first, allowing Murphy to reach. With one run already in and runners at the corners, Hunter was able to get an inning-ending double play before another run could score.

Wake missed scoring opportunities in both the fourth and fifth innings, as the Deacs put a runner at third with one out in each frame. In the fourth, Evan Ocheltree hit a one-out triple off the rightfield wall. The Deacs then called for the squeeze play with Andy Goff at the plate. Goff got the bunt down, but Cramphin fielded it and made a shovel-pass to home to get Ocheltree by a step.

In the fifth, Terry hit a leadoff double and then moved to third on Hood's groundout. Cramphin struck out Dykstra looking, and Fox was erased on a sliding catch by rightfielder Dan Shapiro to end the inning.

The Deacons threatened again in the seventh with Austin Jones at third and two outs. However, Wake stranded the runner again, as Cramphin pitched his way out of the inning, getting Dykstra to pop out on a 2-2 pitch.

Wake Forest was finally able to produce in the ninth, plating two unearned runs without the virtue of a hit. Ocheltree reached on a throwing error by shortstop Matt Nuzzo to lead off. He then moved to second on Goff's sacrifice bunt with two strikes. One out later, reliever Will Weidig hit Terry with his first and only pitch of the game.

New reliever Peter Moskal followed suit, hitting Hood with his first pitch to load the bases. Brown then went to its third reliever, Anthony Vita, to face Dykstra. Dykstra coaxed a 3-2 walk out of Vita to drive in Ocheltree with an unearned insurance run. After Vita threw one ball to Fox, the Bears went to their fifth pitcher of the inning in Alex Silverman. Silverman proved to be no better, throwing three more balls to walk Fox and bring in another run and give the Deacs a 4-1 lead.

The Deacons would need the insurance runs, as Brown scored once in the ninth. Wake went to lefty reliever Eric Niesen to start the inning. Niesen got a quick out and then was relieved by closer Josh Ellis. Jeff Dietz greeted Ellis by hitting the first pitch he saw for a solo home run to straightaway center. Ellis recovered to strikeout the next two hitters to end the ballgame.

Hunter earned the win for Wake Forest, moving him to 5-1 as a starter. In eight starts since April 11, Hunter has a 2.52 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 50 innings pitched.

Ocheltree and Terry had multi-hit games to lead the Deacon offense. Ocheltree finished 3-for-4 with a run, and Terry went 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Terry extended his hitting streak to eight games with his first-inning single and was also hit by two pitches to bring his team-leading total to 25 this season.

The Deacs were hit by four pitches on the day to bring their team total to 112, which is tied for first in the nation with San Jose State.

Fox went 1-for-4 with two RBIs to break out of an 0-for-15 slump that dated back to May 19 at Virginia Tech.

Cramphin (6-4) took the loss for Brown despite turning in a stellar outing. The righthander pitched 8 2/3 innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits. Cramphin struck out four and walked one before being relieved with two outs in the ninth.

Murphy led the Bears offense, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.

The Deacs will now send RHP Brad Kledzik (4-4, 4.85) to the mound on Sunday afternoon against the loser of Texas and UC Irvine. Should Wake advance past that game, RHP Charlie Mellies (1-2, 5.06) would likely start the nightcap for the Deacs.