Feb. 27, 2009

Box Score

Box Score in PDF Format

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Senior Weldon Woodall went 3-for-4 at the plate and tied career highs in runs scored with three and RBIs with four, while freshman Austin Stadler twirled a gem on the mound, picking up his second win in as many outings as Wake Forest defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 11-1 on Friday night at the Wake Forest Baseball Tournament presented by Hampton Inn and Sleep Inn.

With the win, Wake Forest improves to 6-0 on the season, its best start since the 1964 season. Fairleigh Dickinson drops to 0-1 on the year.

Wake Forest was originally going to face Miami (Ohio) on Friday night, but rain in the Winston-Salem area cancelled the second game of the day between William & Mary and Fairleigh Dickinson and the Wake Forest-FDU game was moved up to Friday night.

The schedule for Saturday's games have also been changed. William & Mary and FDU will meet at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. (ET), while Wake Forest and Miami (Ohio) will square off at 1:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. (ET). Live stats for each game will be available at WakeForestSports.com.

The Demon Deacons enjoyed another strong night at the plate, scoring double-digit runs for the fifth time in the first six games of the year. Wake Forest has scored 70 runs so far this season.

Woodall led the Demon Deacon offense with three hits and a career-high tying three runs scored and four RBIs. Shane Kroker had two hits in three at-bats, while sophomore Steven Brooks made his first appearance of the season and went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and one run scored. Dustin Hood was held hitless for the first time this season, but did steal a career-high three bases and score two runs.

Stadler was impressive for a second straight start. The Midlothian, Va., native allowed just one unearned run on two hits in six innings. With the outing, he lowered his earned run average on the season to 0.82. Zach White, Ryan McGrath and Phil Negus each pitched a scoreless inning of relief to close the game.

Wake Forest opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first inning. With one out, Kroker singled to center field and moved to second after a walk by Mike Murray. Evan Ocheltree struck out for the second out of the inning. Woodall reached on a fielding error by the first baseman, which scored Kroker and gave the Deacs an early 1-0 advantage.

FDU answered with a run in the top of the second without benefit of a hit. Jeff Vincent walked to lead off the inning and stole second. He advanced to third on a throwing error by Murray. A ground out by Steven LaForge scored Vincent to even the game.

The Demon Deacons retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Ocheltree led off the inning with a single to right-center field and Woodall followed with his first home run of the year, a two-run shot, over the left-field fence to give Wake a 3-1 lead. After Stadler and Brooks were retired, Carlos Lopez started a two-out rally with a walk. Ryan Semeniuk tripled to left field to score Lopez and make the score 4-1.

Wake added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Brooks led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Carlos Lopez walked, but was thrown out trying to steal second after Semeniuk struck out swinging. With two outs and a runner on third, Hood and Kroker each walked to load the bases. Murray came through with a two-out single to left-center field, scoring Lopez and Hood and giving the Deacs a 6-1 edge.

The Demon Deacons added another run in the seventh. Woodall hit a lead off single and Stadler singled to right to send Woodall to third. After Brooks fouled out to first, Lopez hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Woodall and make the score 7-1.

Wake closed the scoring with four runs in the bottom of the eighth. Hood walked on four pitches to start the inning and Bentley Heyman singled to left field to send Hood to second. After strikeouts by Murray and Ocheltree, Hood advanced to third and Heyman moved to second on a double steal. Woodall singled to right to score Hood and Heyman and extend the lead to 9-1. Tyler Smith followed with a single to right center to move Woodall to third. Smith moved to second on a wild pitch. Woodall and Smith touched home on Brooks' RBI single to left field for the final score of 11-1.

John Meadus suffered the loss for FDU, allowing four runs, three earned on five hits in five innings of work.

Updated Tournament Schedule:
Saturday, February 28
10 a.m. - Fairleigh Dickinson vs. William & Mary
1:30 p.m. - Miami (Ohio) vs. Wake Forest
5 p.m. - William & Mary vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
8:30 p.m. - Miami (Ohio) vs. Wake Forest

Sunday, March 1
11 a.m. - Miami (Ohio) vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
2:30 p.m. - William & Mary vs. Wake Forest