March 16, 2001

Games 19-21
#25 Wake Forest (14-4) Boshamer Stadium
at North Carolina (15-4) Chapel Hill, NC
Radio: None
Live Stats: Check here

March 16 3:00 p.m.
March 17 1:30 p.m.
March 18 1:30 p.m.

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Deacons Visit UNC For Weekend Series
Wake Forest (14-4) returns to conference play with a three-game weekend set in Chapel Hill against the Tar Heels.

The Deacons come into the series with a 2-1 ACC record after taking two of three from Duke at home last weekend. It is the opening ACC series for North Carolina.

After winning nine straight games, Wake Forest has dropped two of its last three including last Sunday,s game against Duke and Wednesday,s 10-9 loss at Virginia Commonwealth.

Scouting the Tar Heels
The Tar Heels (15-4) played just one mid-week contest, a 12-9 win at Coastal Carolina.

The Tar Heels have shown the ability to light up the scoreboard, putting up no fewer than seven runs in its last five games. The Heels and Deacs have already had three common opponents. The ACC rivals have both defeated James Madison, High Point and Appalachian State.

As a team, UNC is hitting .297, led by outfielder Ralph Roberts who is batting .355 with 17 RBI.

The Heels lead the ACC in stolen bases with 32. Sophomore Adam Greenberg has been the most successful with 11 thefts in 12 attempts. WFU-UNC: The Series History

Last season, the Deacons went a perfect 4-0 against North Carolina, including a regular season sweep of the Tar Heels at Hooks Stadium and a dramatic, 13-inning 8-7 win in the ACC tournament at Knights Stadium in Fort Mill, SC.

The unblemished record in 2000 puts the all-time series (dating back to 1954) at 71-61-1 in favor of UNC.

Since George Greer took the reins as Wake Forest,s head coach in 1988, the Demon Deacons hold a 25-22 edge in the series. The Deacons have not been quite as sucessful in Chapel Hill, however, sporting a 7-11 mark in Boshamer Stadium since 1988.

Wake Forest On the Airwaves
Wake Forest's next radio game will be March 21 at East Carolina. Visit www.wakeforestsports.com and follow the links to catch all the action. The Wake Forest/ISP Sports Radio Network is scheduled to begin its coverage of Deacon baseball on March 23 with the Clemson series at Hooks Stadium. The broadcast schedule features at least nine regular season games including the entire Virginia and Georgia Tech series. In addition, Stan Cotten will call the action as the Demon Deacons march through the postseason.

Sullivan Can Do It All
Observers of Wake Forest baseball already knew Cory Sullivan had a ton of ability. That,s why he was a third team All-American in 2000, his first season at Wake Forest out of Cypress JC in California.

Sullivan proved he could hit for average (.374 last year), hit for power (10 home runs in 78 career games), run well (28 stolen bases in just over one season) and could hold his own in center field.

The second team preseason All-American has been the leadoff hitter for the Deacons in every game over the last two seasons and recently, he,s shown a new element in his game.

Cory Sullivan can pitch. The senior from Pittsburgh came on to pitch against Duke on Saturday. He threw a scoreless eighth inning, gave up one hit and struck out one. With first team All-ACC pitcher Scott Siemon and Ryan Braun out with injuries, Sullivan,s time on the mound may be limited but in the meantime, the Deacons have added another lefty to the staff.

Last year, Wake Forest successfully used Danny Borrell as a pitcher, first baseman and designated hitter. It worked so well that Borrell was chosen in the second round by the New York Yankees in June.

License To Drive
Like Corey Feldman and Corey Haim in the 80's, Wake Forest seniors Corey Slavik and Cory Sullivan have a been quite a talented duo as of late.

In the team's last five games, Sullivan is hitting .524 (11-of-21) with a home run and five RBI. Slavik has drilled three home runs, brought home six runs and is hitting at a .455 clip (10-of-22).

Bush In The Wake Forest Record Books
Bush led the team with 36 appearances last season and is well on his way to becoming Wake Forest,s all-time leader in that category. He has taken the hill 85 times in a Deacon uniform entering the UNC series, second place in Wake Forest history. He is one appearances away from tying Frank Humber for number one all-time.

Meanwhile, Bush is also climbing the all-time saves chart. He has 14 career saves, good for fourth place. Keith Ksansnak holds the all-time lead with 17.

Burning Bush
Junior closer Dave Bush (2-0, 2.74 ERA, 5 SV) has been on fire to start the season. His ERA was a near-perfect 0.69 ERA through eight appearances with three saves.

But, Bush has proved to be human as evidenced by the loss at VCU on Wednesday, his first of the year. Against UNO, Bushgave up four earned runs in five innings of work in two games. He saw his ERA "balloon °/°° to 2.50, still an outstanding mark, good for seventh in the ACC. Bush did set a new career-best for strikeouts, with eight against UNO on Saturday. His 11.74 strikeouts per nine innings lead the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Earlier in the year, Bush enjoyed a streak of four outings, spanning 6.1 innings, without allowing a hit. On February 12, Bush was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week.

Over the summer, Bush overwhelmed the highly-regarded competition in the Cape Cod League and was named to the league,s All-Star team that played at Fenway Park against a Team USA select team.

New Sensations
It hasn,t taken long for the Class of 2004 to make its presence felt. Several of the freshmen have been instrumental in Wake Forest,s early success.

First baseman Jamie D,Antona began his college career on a 15-game hitting streak that snapped on Sunday vs. Duke.

Nonetheless, D,Antona has quickly become one of the most dangerous threats in the Deacon order, leading or tying for the team lead in average, hits, multi-hit games, doubles, home runs, runs batted in and on-base percentage. He ranks second in the ACC in doubles.

Josh Hansen has started 14 of 18 games, typically batting third in the order as the DH, hitting at a .327 clip (18-of-55) with four home runs, 17 RBI and five doubles. Hansen lead the teams witha .673 slugging percentage.

The Deacons have also received contributions from Winston-Salem freshman Steve LeFaivre primarily as a pinch-hitter though he has started four games at DH.

LeFaivre was a major factor in Wake's 7-run comeback at VCU, going 2-for-2 with a home run, double and three RBI.

The rookie talent is also on the mound where Kyle Sleeth has started five games with a 3-1 record and a 3.62 ERA. His wins came against Penn State, Liberty and New Orleans, three tournament teams last year. The loss was a 3-2 decision at top-ranked Rice.

Adam Hanson has been outstanding in the early going in a setup role for closer Dave Bush. Hanson is has ten appearances and is among the ACC leaders with a 2.08 ERA through 21.2 innings.