March 24, 2009

Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format

DAVIDSON, N.C. - Weldon Woodall hit a one-out, two-run home run in the top of the 11th to lift Wake Forest to a 13-11 win over Davidson on Tuesday night at Wilson Field.

Wake Forest improves to 11-10 on the season, while Davidson drops to 9-10 on the year.

Offense was the theme of the game. Steven Brooks had a career-high four hits and also drove in a career-best five runs. Bentley Heyman had a career-high three hits, including the first home run of his collegiate career, and also had a career-best four RBIs. Tyler Smith and Ian Tomkins also had multi-hit games for the Deacs, with each player recording two hits. Woodall came in as a pinch hitter late in the game and went 1-for-2 with a homer and two RBIs.

Zach White earned his second win of the season, allowing a run on three hits in two innings of work. Michael Dimock earned his second save of the season, retiring the only batter he faced in the bottom of the 11th inning. Zach Kayne suffered the loss for Davidson, allowing two runs on two hits in two innings pitched.

Wake Forest was able to get clutch hits throughout the game, scoring seven runs with two outs.

The Deacs are now 2-0 on the season in extra innings. Wake defeated Marshall 7-6 in 10 innings earlier in the season.

Wake Forest struck first with a run in the top of the first inning. Brooks led off the inning with a single to center field. Ryan Semeniuk hit a ground ball to Chris FitzPatrick at third, but he threw wildly to first base, allowing Semeniuk to advance all the way to third and scoring Brooks to give Wake Forest a 1-0 lead. The Deacs were unable to score another run as Semeniuk was erased at third on a fielder's choice by Dustin Hood for the first out of the inning. Horkley got Evan Ocheltree and Shane Kroker to ground out for the final two outs of the inning.

Davidson answered with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Zach Kayne led off the inning with a walk and scored on a RBI double by Sam Payne down the right-field line. Payne moved to third after Ocheltree bobbled the ball in right field. A walk to Chase FitzPatrick put runners at the corners with none out. Pat Brady hit the first pitch he saw over the wall in right field to give Davidson a 4-1 lead.

Wake Forest inched closer with a run in the top of the second. Austin Stadler singled to right to lead off the inning. Smith fouled out to left and Tomkins struck out for the first two outs of the inning. Stadler stole second on Tomkins' strikeout. Heyman drew a four-pitch walk with two outs. Brooks singled to center for the second straight bat to score Stadler to cut the Davidson lead to 4-2.

The Demon Deacons retook the lead with four runs in the top of the fourth inning. Stadler drew a walk to lead off the inning and moved to second when Smith roped a single to right. Tomkins popped out to the catcher on a bunt for the first out of the inning. Heyman cleared the bases with a three-run home run, the first of his career, over the wall in left field to give Wake Forest a 5-4 lead. Semeniuk drew a two-out walk and promptly stole second. Hood extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single over the head of the third baseman to score Semeniuk to give the Deacs a 6-4 lead.

Wake Forest mounted a two-out rally, scoring four runs in the fifth after two outs were retired. Smith doubled to the left-center field alley to start the rally and Tomkins drew a two-out walk. Heyman singled to right-center field to score Smith to stretch the lead to 7-4. Brooks followed with his first home run of the season, a towering three-run blast over the wall in left field to make the score 10-4.

After Davidson scored four runs in the first inning, Johnson settled down to hold the Wildcats scoreless over the next four innings. Johnson gave up just three hits over his last four innings.

Wake Forest added another run in the seventh, again after the first two batters in the inning were retired. Tomkins singled through the left side to start the rally and moved to second on a single by Heyman. Brooks drove in his fifth run of the night with a single to left-center field to score Tomkins for Wake's 11th run of the game.

Davidson scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut into Wake Forest's lead. Chase FitzPatrick led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a walk by Brady. Weiss hit a 3-1 pitch over the wall in right-center field for his third home run of the season to make the score 11-7. Drew Gadaire drew a walk and moved to second when Seth Freeman reached on a fielding error by the shortstop. Kayne drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Payne singled to right-center field to score Gadaire and Freeman to trim the lead to 11-9. Payne moved to second on a fielding error by Ocheltree to put runners at second and third with two outs.

The Wildcats tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Will General hit a one-out single through the right side. Kayne flied out to right for the second out of the inning. Payne walked to put runners at first and second with two outs. Graham Chapman, who pinch-ran for General, and Payne each moved up a base on a fielding error by Smith on a failed pickoff attempt. Chase FitzPatrick reached on an infield single to the shortstop to score Chapman to make the score 11-10. Brady singled down the left-field line to score Payne to tie the game. FitzPatrick attempted to score the game-winning run but he was thrown out at home as Hood threw to Tomkins to retire FitzPatrick.

The Demon Deacons retook the lead with two runs in the top of the 11th inning. Kroker singled through the right side with one out. Woodall followed with his fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot over the wall in left-center field to put Wake Forest on top 13-11.

Davidson nearly rallied again in the bottom of the 11th. Jay Honeycutt drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a single to Kayne. White got Payne to strike out swinging for the second out of the inning. Wake Forest brought in Dimock to relieve White. Dimock forced Chase FitzPatrick to foul out to third baseman Carlos Lopez to end the game and give Wake Forest a 13-11 win.

Wake Forest returns to action on Wednesday, March 25, when it plays host to Winthrop at 6 p.m. Live stats of the game and an audio broadcast will be available on WakeForestSports.com.