March 11, 2009

Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest rallied in the ninth inning, but fell a run short, falling to Elon 5-4 on Wednesday night at the Wake Forest Baseball Park.

Wake Forest drops to 7-5 on the season, while Elon improves to 8-4 with the victory.

Evan Ocheltree hit his fourth home run of the season in the game, a pinch hit two-run homer in the top of the ninth to bring Wake Forest within a run. Ian Tomkins had two hits in the contest for the Deacs. Carlos Lopez reached base all four times he was at the plate, going 1-for-1 and drawing a career-high three walks. Mike Murray and Weldon Woodall each had an RBI for Wake Forest.

Elon's J.D. Reichenbach picked up his first win of the season, throwing 5 1/3 innings and allowing two runs on four hits. Mark Adzick dropped to 0-1 on the season, allowing three runs, with only one run earned, on two hits in 1 1/3 innings. Thomas Girdwood gave up two runs in the ninth but held on for his fourth save of the season.

Alex Wiesner and Michael Dimock threw well in relief for Wake Forest. Wiesner threw two scoreless innings and struck out three batters, while Dimock threw a scoreless ninth inning.

Elon opened the game with a run in the top of the first inning. Cory Harrilchak led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Harry Austin. A single to right field by Bennett Davis scored Harrilchak to give the Phoenix a 1-0 lead.

Wake Forest answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the first inning. Micah Jarrett led off the inning with a walk but was retired on a rundown on an attempted steal. Dustin Hood followed with a one-out walk. Murray doubled to the right-center field alley and Hood just beat the relay throw to tie the game at one. Murray advanced to third on the throw to the plate. Woodall brought in Murray on a sacrifice fly to right to give Wake Forest a 2-1 lead.

Elon retook the lead with three runs in the top of the fourth. Hilt reached on a one-out walk and stole second. Greg Annarummo hit a bloop single to shallow center to put runners on first and third with one out. Scott Riddle hit a check-swing ground ball back to the mound. Adzick threw wildly to second, allowing Hilt to score to tie the game at two. Neal Pritchard doubled to right field to score Annarummo to give the Phoenix a 3-2 lead. A ground out to second by Harrilchak scored Riddle for Elon's fourth run of the game.

Wake Forest had a chance to trim into the Elon lead in the bottom of the fifth. Lopez led off the inning with a single, but was retired on a fielder's choice to third. Tomkins reached on an infield single between third and short. Kroker was picked off at second for the second out of the inning. With a runner at first and one out, Tyler Smith hit a double down the right field line to put runners at second and third with two outs. Jarrett walked to load the bases. Hood grounded into a fielder's choice to the shortstop to end the inning and keep Elon's lead at 4-2.

Elon added a run in the top of the sixth. With one out, Zeth Stone reached on an infield single up the middle and moved to second on a throwing error by Kroker. Pritchard doubled down the right field line to score Stone and extend the lead to 5-2.

Wake Forest attempted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, scoring twice. Lopez led off the inning with a walk. After Kroker flied out to right, Ocheltree hit a pinch hit, two-run homer over the right-center field fence to trim Elon's lead to 5-4. However, Smith and Jarrett flied out to the left fielder to end the game and give the Phoenix a 5-4 win.

Wake Forest is back in action on Friday, March 13, traveling to Clemson for the first game of a three-game series. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. on Friday.