April 16, 2007

IN THE BATTERS BOX -- Wake Forest will be looking for season series sweeps of High Point and Coastal Carolina in its two upcoming mid-week games. The Demon Deacons travel to Triad-rival High Point on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Panthers. Wake defeated HPU, 6-5, earlier this season at Hooks Stadium. The Deacs will host Coastal Carolina on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Wake Forest earned a 4-3 win over the No. 19-ranked Chanticleers last week in Conway, S.C. The Deacons enter the mid-week 21-18 overall and 8-10 in the ACC. High Point stands at 19-20 overall, while Coastal is 30-7. The Chanticleers took two of three from the Panthers last weekend in High Point.

HIGH POINT INSIDER -- High Point enters Tuesday's contest 19-20 overall and 6-6 in the Big South Conference. The Panthers are coming off a series loss to Coastal Carolina last weekend. The Panthers dropped both games of Saturday's doubleheader after winning the Friday game. High Point has lost six of its last nine games, dating back to March 31. HPU is 12-9 at Williard Stadium in 2007. The Panthers are hitting .305 as a team with 18 home runs. Randy Schwartz is the team's leading hitter with a .380 average. Schwartz also leads the squad with eight homers and 46 RBIs. High Point has a team ERA of 4.71 in 340.0 total innings pitched. Tuesday's starter Tony Flores is tied for the team lead in wins with four. Tim Boleska has four saves and a 3.44 ERA out of the bullpen.

COASTAL CAROLINA INSIDER -- Coastal Carolina is coming off a series win at High Point last weekend. The Chanticleers' doubleheader sweep on Saturday snapped their four-game losing streak. Coastal enters Wednesday's game 30-7 overall and 8-1 in Big South Conference play. The Chanticleers will be playing their seventh road contest in their last eight games. Prior to this stretch, Coastal had played just four away games all season. CCU is 5-5 on the road in 2007. The Chanticleers are hitting .324 as a team and are led by Tommy Baldridge's .410 average. Chris Raber has hit 12 of Coastal Carolina's 41 home runs this season. Raber leads the team with 39 RBIs as well. The pitching staff has a collective ERA of 3.00 in 329.2 innings pitched. Andy De La Garza is 8-1 with a 2.16 ERA, while Bobby Gagg is 7-1 with a 2.37 ERA. Out of the bullpen, David Anderson has eight saves and a 3.03 ERA.

LAST MEETINGS -- Wake Forest has already beaten both High Point and Coastal Carolina once each this season. The Demon Deacons earned a 6-5, walk-off win against the Panthers on March 7. Wake battled back from 2-0 and 5-4 deficits. The score remained tied 5-5 heading into the 10th inning. Evan Ocheltree tripled to lead off the 10th and then scored the winning run on a wild pitch. Austin Jones went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, and Ben Hunter earned the win in relief. Wake Forest picked up a 4-3 win at Coastal Carolina last Wednesday. Hunter earned the win in the first start of his Wake Forest career, and Eric Niesen and Josh Ellis were almost untouchable out of the bullpen. Niesen and Ellis combined for six strikeouts in 2.2 innings to close the door on the one-run victory. Ben Terry had two RBIs, and Brett Linnenkohl scored twice.

ON DECK -- The Deacs return to ACC play this weekend, traveling north to Boston College for a three-game series with the Eagles. Next week, Wake travels to Charlotte and Appalachian State on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

RANKINGS -- Wake Forest and High Point are unranked. Coastal Carolina is ranked No. 21 in the latest Baseball America Top 25 poll.

CLEMSON LEFTOVERS --
-Clemson took two of three from Wake Forest, the last game with the aid of Mother Nature. The Deacons entered the bottom of the ninth on Sunday trailing 5-2 but rallied for two more runs. The tying run was at second base with one out when it began to pour down rain. After a delay of an hour and a half, the umpires called the game giving Clemson a 5-4 victory.
-Wake Forest walked off with a 6-5 win on Saturday. Brett Linnenkohl singled home Tyler Smith from second with the winning run in the ninth. The Deacs had blown a 4-1 lead earlier in the game and fell behind 5-4 in the sixth. Linnenkohl had three hits in the game, and Eric Niesen pitched 3.2 innings of scoreless relief for the win.
-The Demon Deacons struck out 30 times in the series and had just four walks. Every Deacon regular had at least one strikeout, while Ben Terry had two of Wake's four walks. Linnenkohl finished the series 6-for-12 with three runs scored.

LINNENKOHL WINNING BATTLE -- Junior Brett Linnenkohl has been on a tear since returning on April 10 from a minor injury. In five games last week, Linnenkohl hit .500 (10-for-20) with a home run and six runs scored. The Olympia, Wash., native had the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth against Clemson on April 14. He is currently riding a six-game hitting streak that dates back to Wake Forest's March 31 game at North Carolina. During the streak, Linnenkohl is hitting .500 (11-for-22) with a .636 slugging percentage and a .593 on-base percentage.

YES, SEVEN LEFTIES -- The Wake Forest lineup has featured an abnormal number of right-brained players in its lineup of late. The Deacons have featured as many as seven lefthanded-hitting regulars in their starting lineup. Andy Goff, Dustin Hood and Austin Jones are the only recent starters who swing the bat from the right side of the plate. Willy Fox, who has been out with an injured left leg, is normally in the lineup as another righthanded bat.

MURRAY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF STARTING ROLE -- After playing sparingly early in the season, freshman Michael Murray has been a stalwart in the Demon Deacon lineup of late. Murray has started 13 straight games, 10 as the DH and three as the catcher. Prior to that stretch, Murray had started just six of Wake's first 26 games. The catalyst for Murray's insertion into the lineup was his pinch-hit single in the Deacons' March 25 game against NC State. Since that day, Murray has had a hit in 12 of his last 14 games. He has batted .250 with two home runs and nine RBIs during the 14-game stretch.

TERRY IS CENTER OF ATTENTION -- Junior Ben Terry has been one of Wake Forest's hottest hitters recently. In the Deacons' last eight game, beginning with the Friday game at Maryland, Terry has hit .400 (10-for-25) with seven RBIs and 10 runs scored. He has had a hit in seven of the eight games, including a 4-for-4 performance against Maryland on April 6.  The Cincinnati native has gotten on base at a clip of .583 during the stretch, with five walks and six HBPs. Terry has started each of the past 11 games and has taken over the job in centerfield.

CURRENT HITTING STREAKS -- Sophomore Allan Dykstra has Wake Forest's longest active hitting streak at eight games. The streak began on April 6 at Maryland. Juniors Brett Linnenkohl and Ben Terry each are riding six-game hitting streaks, while freshman Michael Murray is in the midst of a four-game hitting streak. Murray has had a hit in 12 of his last 14 games.

Player Statistics During Streak
Allan Dykstra (8) .313 (10-for-32), 5 R, 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 5 BB, .531 SLG, .395 OBP
Brett Linnenkohl (6) .500 (11-for-22), 6 R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, .636 SLG, .593 OBP
Ben Terry (6) .353 (6-for-17), 7 R, 2B, 6 RBI, 5 BB, .577 OBP
Michael Murray (4) .313 (5-for-16) 1 R, HR, 5 RBI, .500 SLG

UNCG & COASTAL CAROLINA LEFTOVERS --
-The Demon Deacons earned two wins during the mid-week, routing UNC Greensboro, 14-3, at home on Tuesday and then picking up a 4-3 win at No. 19 Coastal Carolina on Wednesday. The pair of victories extended Wake Forest's winning streak to five games.
-Against UNCG, Wake pounded out 14 hits and held the Spartans to just one run over the final eight innings. Tyler Smith and Brett Linnenkohl both homered to lead the Deacons. Smith, who went 2-for-4 with career-highs of three RBIs and three runs scored, hit the game-tying two-run homer in the second inning. Linnenkohl hit a solo shot in the fourth. Evan Ocheltree scored a career-high four runs, and Andy Goff drove in three runs. Ben Terry scored three times and added two RBIs.
-The pitching staff led Wake Forest to 4-3 win at Coastal Carolina. Ben Hunter pitched five innings to earn a win in the first start of his Wake Forest career. Eric Niesen and Josh Ellis were almost untouchable at the back end of the bullpen. Niesen and Ellis combined to strike out six batters in 2.2 innings of work. Ellis picked up his sixth save of the year, stranding the tying run at third in the ninth inning.

HUNTER FROM  CLOSER TO STARTER -- Junior Ben Hunter made a solid debut as Wake Forest's newest starting pitcher on April 11 at Coastal Carolina. Making the first start of his Wake Forest career, Hunter earned the win by holding the Chanticleers to two runs on six hits in five innings of work. Hunter earned All-American honors as the Demon Deacons' closer last season and came into 2007 as a Preseason All-American by multiple publications. However, Hunter's early struggles out of the bullpen thrusted him into the role of a starter. This is not new territory for Hunter, though, as he started 13 games as a freshman at Furman in 2005. He went 6-3 as a starter for the Paladins. His best outing came against Jacksonville State when Hunter pitched eight innings, allowing two unearned runs on five hits. He struck out eight and walked just one in the March 19 victory.

MELLIES MAKES RETURN -- Fourth-year junior Charlie Mellies made his first appearance in over a year at Maryland on Sunday, April 8. Mellies was sidelined due to Tommy John surgery and went 386 days between appearances. He had the surgery on April 14, 2006, and had not pitched in a game since. His last appearance came on March 18, 2006, when he helped Wake Forest defeat Boston College. Mellies was 4-1 with a 3.50 ERA at the time. Against Maryland on Sunday, Mellies earned the win with a scheduled two innings of work. He allowed just one hit and walked two. He threw 31 pitches on the day. With Mellies now in Wake's weekend rotation, junior Eric Niesen has been shifted to the bullpen, giving the Deacons a top-notch lefty out of the pen.

BULLOCK KNOWS HOW TO PICK `EM -- Sophomore Garrett Bullock has mastered the art of the pickoff move. In 11 appearances this season, the lefty has picked 10 runners off first base. He leads the ACC in that category and has 10 of Wake's 13 pickoffs this season (Brad Kledzik, Phil Negus and Alex Wiesner have the other three). Bullock has picked off two runners in a game on two occasions--March 11 vs. Virginia and March 24 vs. NC State. In both games, Bullock recorded a pickoff in both the first and second innings. As a result of his crafty moves to first, opponents have had just four steal attempts while Bullock's on the mound. Two of those attempts have been successful--UNC Wilmington's Jesse Haney on March 11 and Maryland A.J. Casario on April 7.