Cavalier Baseball Suffers 7-6 Loss at Wake Forest in Series Finale
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March 11, 2007
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Beau Seabury (Mount Vernon, Wash.) went 4-for-5 and Sean Doolittle (Tabernacle, N.J.) and Brandon Guyer (Herndon, Va.) each homered, but it wasn’t enough for the Cavaliers as they fell 7-6 at Wake Forest in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Hooks Stadium. The loss drops the Cavaliers’ record to 16-3 (1-2 ACC), while the Demon Deacons improve to 11-5 (2-1 ACC).
“This is a very disappointing loss,” head coach Brian O’Connor said. “Any time you have the lead late the game and you lose, it is hard to swallow. I thought we competed hard and Matt Packer had his best outing of the season. You have to better at the end of games than we were today to win on the road.”
Seabury led the Cavaliers offensively with his 4-for-5 performance. Brandon Marsh (Alpharetta, Ga.) went 3-for-4 and Guyer went 3-for-5.
Packer went six-plus innings, allowing three runs, two earned on six hits, while striking out seven.
Ben Hunter (3-2) got the win for Wake Forest, while Casey Lambert (Harrisonburg, Va.) took the loss.
Wake Forest took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Allan Dykstra hit a solo home run to right field.
The Cavaliers took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third with a pair of runs. Greg Miclat (Concord, N.C.) led off the inning with a single before Marsh and Doolittle both walked to load the bases. Miclat scored to tie the game on David Adams’ (Margate, Fla.) sacrifice fly to center. With two outs, Seabury’s flare to center dropped in to drive in Marsh.
The Demon Deacons tied the game, 2-2, with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Willy Fox reached on a one-out single up the middle. He moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on an error. Evan Ocheltree drove in Fox with a two-out infield single.
Virginia retook the lead in the top of the sixth. Tim Henry (Fairfield, Conn.) walked and Marsh singled to put two runners on with two outs. Doolittle then delivered with a 3-run homer over the right field wall to give the Cavaliers a 5-2 lead. It was Doolittle’s third home run of the season.
Wake Forest came back to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh with four runs. Tyler Smith led off with a double to center field. Pinch-hitter Ben Terry drove him in with an RBI single to cut the UVa advantage to 5-3. Eric Williams followed with a single and both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Brett Linnenkohl. With two outs in the inning, Dykstra hit his second homer of the game, a three-run home run to give the Demon Deacons the lead, 6-5.
Virginia rallied to tie the game in the top of the ninth. With one-out, Guyer took a 2-2 delivery from Ben Hunter over the left field fence for his first home run of the season to tie the game at 6-6.
Wake Forest answered with the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth. Williams led off with a walk. He was out at second on a fielder’s choice that allowed Linnenkohl to reach. Austin Jones singled to put two runners on base. After Dykstra struck out, Fox delivered a game-winning RBI single up the middle to score Williams.
The Cavaliers return home Tuesday for a mid-week game against Niagara. First pitch at Davenport Field is slated for 4 p.m.