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Baseball
Wake Forest Outlasts Virginia in Regular Season Finale
May 19, 2018
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest (25-30, 13-17) scored runs in all but one turn at the plate in a 18-12 victory over Virginia (28-24, 12-18) on the final day of the regular season. The Cavaliers will be the No. 10 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament in Durham, N.C.
The Cavaliers will be in Pool C with N.C. State and Florida State. Dates and game times for the tournament will be announced on Sunday (May 20).
Virginia erased a six-run deficit in the top of the sixth after erupting for five runs. The inning was capped by a pinch-hit, three-run home run by Jack Weiller (Waccabuc, N.Y.), his third-straight at bat with a home run. Prior to yesterday, he hadn’t had a home run in his previous 23 career at bats. The junior just missed a bid for a fourth-straight at bat with a homer after hitting the wall in right field in the top of the eighth. He finished the weekend 4-for-5 with three runs scored, three home runs and seven RBI.
As it did all afternoon, Wake Forest responded with a two-run bottom of the sixth to open up a 12-9 lead. The Cavaliers made one last effort, scoring three runs over its final two turns at the plate but weren’t able to tie the game or take a lead at any junction of the contest. The Demon Deacons put the game out of reach with a five-run eighth inning.
The Cavaliers amassed a season-high, 17 hits compared to 16 by the Demon Deacons. A total of 10 different Virginia hitters recorded a hit on the afternoon. Junior Jake McCarthy (Scranton, Pa.) matched a career-high with four base knocks, including three in his first three turns at the plate. He was 4-for-6 with three RBIs in the contest.
Caleb Knight (Checotah, Okla.), Justin Novak (Tokyo, Japan) and Cameron Comer (Powell, Ohio) rounded out the five multi-hit efforts put forth by Virginia hitters. To kick-off the scoring in Virginia’s five-run sixth inning, junior Andy Weber (Aurora, Ohio) belted his team-high, fifth home run of the season. The long ball was the second of the series.
Wake Forest scored seven runs between the first and second innings and hit a season-high five home runs. The Demon Deacons will be the No. 9 seed next week in Durham.
Additional Notes
– The combined 33 hits were the most combined in a game this year for Virginia. The previous high was 25 against Boston College on March 18 which was eclipsed in the sixth inning.
– Official time of the game was four hours and 48 minutes, the longest nine-inning game in Virginia baseball history, eclipsing the four hour, 32-minute mark set earlier this season against Virginia Tech on April 8.
– The Cavaliers used a season-high nine pitchers while Wake trotted out eight different arms.
– Freshman Alex Tappen (Lower Gwyneed, Pa.) extended his hit streak to nine games with a single