/
.
Virginia Fights Back But Falls To Wake Forest Again, 15-8
Story Links
March 5, 2005
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The University of Virginia baseball team dropped a 15-8 decision to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the second contest of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference at WFU’s Gene Hooks Stadium. The Cavaliers found themselves down 14-0 through six innings of play before mounting a late rally to cut the lead to 14-8 in the eighth inning. But that would be as close as UVa would get as Wake Forest posted the seven-run victory to take a two games to none lead in the three-game ACC series.
“You are only as good as your starting pitching and in our first two ACC games we haven’t gotten quality starts from our number one and two starters who have given us quality starts all year,” said UVa head coach Brian O’Connor. “We’ve fallen behind in each ballgame of the series…and it’s tough to win ballgames in this league on the road. Our guys continued to battle and they didn’t give up. Tomorrow we need to come out and get off to a good start.”
Wake Forest scored four runs right off the bat in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 4-0 lead. The Demon Deacons’ Brendan Enick drove in the first run of the game when his RBI-single plated Matt Antonelli to make it 1-0. Two batters later with the bases loaded, Andy Goff’s three-run double down the right field line emptied the bases and gave Wake Forest a 4-0 lead.
The Demon Deacons extended their lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the second inning. WFU’s Ryder Mathias and Goff posted a pair of RBI-singles around a bases loaded hit by pitch on Enick to add three more runs to Wake Forest’s total. UVa’s Tim Henry helped the Cavaliers get out of a huge jam when his diving catch in center field with two outs and the bases loaded ended the side and prevented the Demon Deacons from scoring any more runs.
Wake Forest kept the runs coming and extended its lead to 9-0 in the bottom of the third inning when Mathias drove in two runs with a double to right-center field. Again, the Virginia defense made a big defensive stop to end the inning and prevented more runs from being scored when Matt Street made a catch at the wall to end the side.
The Demon Deacons pushed their lead to 12-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning by tacking on three more runs. WFU’s Matt Miller singled up the middle to reach base before he scored a run two batters later on a RBI sacrifice fly to center field by Casey Sterk. Antonelli then drove in a pair of runs with an RBI-single down the left field line to score Goff and Brett Linnenkohl.
Wake Forest stretched its lead to 13-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning when the Demon Deacons’ Miller drove in Mathias with an RBI-single up the middle. One inning later, WFU made it a 14-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth when the Demon Deacons added another run after a UVa fielding error. The inning was the sixth consecutive inning which WFU posted a run.
In the top of the seventh inning, Virginia finally got on the scoreboard and cut Wake Forest’s lead to 14-2 by scoring a pair of runs. Sean Doolittle led off the side with a double to center field and Ryan Hudson walked before Brandon Guyer drove them both in to score a run with a two-run RBI-double down the left field line.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Cavaliers made a strong charge and scored six runs and batted through the lineup to get back into the game at 14-8. UVa’s Henry and Joe Florio hit back-to-back singles and Doolittle walked to load the bases with one out before Hudson drove in a pair of runs to make it a 14-4 ballgame with a two-run double. In UVa’s next at-bat, Guyer was hit by a pitch to load the bases and one batter later, Anthony Martinez walked with the bases loaded to score Doolittle to make it 14-5. Patrick Wingfield then cut the Wake Forest lead to 14-7 when he connected on a two-run RBI-single to drive in Hudson and Guyer, trimming Demon Deacons’ lead in half. Two batters later, Henry singled through the left side to drive in Martinez to make it a 14-8 contest.
But in the bottom of the eighth inning, Wake Forest stopped Virginia’s streak of eight unanswered runs by scoring a run of its own when J.B. Tucker’s groundout plated Antonelli from third and pushed WFU’s lead to 15-8.
UVa starting pitcher Matt Avery (2-2) took the loss after he went just 1.1 innings before being relieved by Scott Morgenthaler. Avery allowed seven runs on five hits and struck out two batters. The Cavaliers also turned to the trio of Michael Schwimer, Ryan Ouellette and Pat McAnaney out of the bullpen.
WFU starting pitcher Josh Ellis (2-1) picked up the win and went 7.1 innings. Ellis allowed four runs on six hits and struck out one batter.
With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 8-5 overall, 0-2 in the ACC. The win improves Wake Forest’s record to 7-7 overall, 2-0 in the conference. The victory secures the weekend series for the Demon Deacons as they take a two games to none lead in the three-game series.
The Cavaliers and Demon Deacons will return to action on Sunday, March 6th when UVa and WFU play the third and final contest of the three game series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM at Gene Hooks Stadium.
— UVa —