Wake Forest Sweeps Virginia In ACC Series Following 7-6 Victory
Story Links
March 6, 2005
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The University of Virginia baseball team jumped out to an early 6-0 through two innings of play, but it wasn’t enough as Wake Forest rallied for seven unanswered runs to pull out a 7-6 comeback win over the Cavaliers in the third contest of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at WFU’s Gene Hooks Stadium. Wake Forest earned a three-game sweep over UVa after also winning 11-8 on Friday and 15-8 on Saturday.
“This entire weekend was a tough weekend for our team on the road. We are also battling a little bit of adversity right now with some key injuries to our team,” said UVa head baseball coach Brian O’Connor. “The reality of this weekend is, it’s difficult to win in the ACC unless you get quality starting pitching. That’s what we didn’t get this weekend and that has been a trademark of our program. We just need to stay positive and get back out there and play on Tuesday (against Longwood). That is what is great about the game of baseball. You get to go right back out there and square it away.”
Virginia got off to a great start and took its first lead of the series and made it a 1-0 ballgame in the top of the first when Tim Henry led the game off with a walk before scoring three batters later on a fielder’s choice RBI by Sean Doolittle.
Like it had done in the two first games of the series despite losing both contests, UVa posted another big scoring inning and tacked on five more runs in the top of the second inning to build a 6-0 lead. Brandon Guyer and Ryan Hudson connected on back-to-back singles to lead off the side before Kyle Werman drove in Guyer with an RBI bunt-single to make it 2-0. After a single by Henry, Matt Street drove in Hudson with an RBI sacrifice fly to right field to make it a 3-0 contest. In Virginia’s next at-bat, Ryan Zimmerman drilled a two-run double to left-center field to drive in Werman and Henry to stretch the Cavaliers’ lead to 5-0. Zimmerman then scored a run himself one batter later on Doolittle’s RBI-single to put UVa in front 6-0.
Wake Forest got on the scoreboard and made it a 6-1 ballgame in the bottom of the third inning when Ben Ingold hit a solo home run to right field. But one inning later, the Demon Deacons got right back into the ballgame and took their first lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when WFU scored six runs in the side, capped off by a two-run double down the left field line by Brett Linnenkohl before Matt Antonelli hit a three-run home run to right field. Antonelli’s hit and the run he scored eventually proved to be the game-winners as the Demon Deacons held the Cavaliers scoreless the rest of the way.
UVa starting pitcher Jeff Kamrath (2-2) took the loss and went 3.1 innings and allowed seven runs on eight hits and struck out one batter. Virginia’s closer Casey Lambert entered the game in the fourth inning and put in a very solid effort in relief duty by throwing 4.2 scoreless innings and struck out a game-high five batters.
WFU starting pitcher Matt Hammond (1-3) picked up his first win of the season and went 6.0 innings and allowed six runs (two earned) on six hits and struck out three batters. Eric Niesen posted his first save after going 3.0 scoreless innings and struck out two batters.
With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 8-6 overall, 0-3 in the ACC. The victory improves Wake Forest’s record to 8-7 overall, 3-0 in the conference. Wake Forest won the weekend series three games to none.
The Cavaliers will return to home action when Virginia returns to Charlottesville to begin a 10-game home stand from March 8-23. The home stand begins with a non-conference game against the Longwood Lancers on Tuesday, March 8th. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 PM at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium.
— UVa —