April 12, 2009

Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the bottom of the eighth as the Demon Deacons defeated Boston College 5-3 to claim the final game of the three-game series on a beautiful Easter Sunday afternoon at Wake Forest Baseball Park.

Wake Forest moves to 19-15 on the season and 6-12 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, while Boston College drops to 22-12 and 9-7 in league play.

With the game tied at two in the bottom of the eighth, the Demon Deacons put together a three-run game-winning rally. Shane Kroker led off the inning with his third hit of the game, a single to right-center field. Hood moved Kroker to second with a sacrifice bunt. Mike Murray walked to put runners at first and second with one out. Weldon Woodall singled to center field to score Kroker and give the Deacs a 3-2 lead. Tyler Smith drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Evan Ocheltree hit a ground ball to short, which was booted by the shortstop, allowing Ryan Semeniuk, who pinch ran for Murray and Micah Jarrett, who pinch ran for Woodall, to score to stretch the lead to 5-2.

Boston College did not go quietly in the ninth. Mike Belfiore led off the inning with a solo home run, his second of the day and ninth of the season, to cut the lead to 5-3. Barry Butera and Garret Smith followed with consecutive fly outs. Harry Darling brought the tying run to the plate by hitting a single to center. J.B. MacDonald, who pitched the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, came in to pinch run for Darling. Before Brad Zapenas had a chance to do any damage at the plate, Zach White picked off MacDonald at first to end the game and give Wake Forest the win.

Kroker led Wake Forest at the plate with three hits in four at-bats and also scored two runs. Steven Brooks, Hood, Woodall and Ocheltree each had one RBI in the game.

Hood's sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning was the 27th in his career. The 27 sacrifice bunts in a career is the most in Wake Forest history, besting the previous record of 26 held by Jason Aquilante (1998-2001).

Belfiore went 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored to lead BC. Robbie Anston and Zapenas also had two hits for the Eagles.

White earned the victory in relief to improve to 4-0 on the season. White gave up a run on two hits in 1 1/3 innings. Kevin Moran suffered the loss for Boston College to drop to 3-2 on the season. Moran allowed a run on two hits in 2/3 of an inning.

Both starters pitched well but didn't factor into the decision. Demon Deacon starter Brad Kledzik threw four innings, surrendering a run on five hits. Pat Dean started for the Eagles and pitched six innings, giving up a run on four hits.

Mark Adzick threw extremely well in relief for Wake Forest. Adzick threw a season-high 3 1/3 innings and allowed a run on four hits. Ryan McGrath threw a scoreless 1/3 of an inning with one strikeout.

Boston College had a good scoring chance in the first inning. Anston led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a stolen base. Matt Hamlet struck out swinging for the first out of the inning. Tony Sanchez singled to left to advance Anston to third and Sanchez moved to second when the throw from left field went towards home plate. Mickey Wiswall hit a ground ball to third and Dustin Hood threw home to retire Anston for the second out of the inning. Belfiore flied out to left to end the threat.

The Eagles took a 1-0 lead with a run in the top of the fourth. With one out, Belfiore hit his first home run of the game down the left-field line to give Boston College a 1-0 advantage.

Boston College doubled its lead with a run in the fifth. Mike Sudol led off the inning with a single and moved to third when Zapenas singled through the right side. Sudol scored when Anston grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

Wake Forest got on the scoreboard with a run in the bottom of the sixth. Kroker hit a one-out double down the left-field line. Hood doubled into the left-center field alley to score Kroker to cut the lead to 2-1. Hood moved to third when Murray grounded out to first. Woodall hit a fly ball to deep right-center field but the BC right fielder made the catch against the wall to end the inning.

BC almost got the run back in the top of the seventh. Smith hit a one-out single to center, but was retired at second when Sudol grounded into a fielder's choice. Sudol moved to second when Bentley Heyman's throw to try to retire Sudol at first was wild and went into the Wake Forest dugout. Zapenas hit a two-out single to left field, but Woodall's throw home was in time to retire Sudol at the plate to keep the score at 2-1.

The Deacs tied the game with a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh. Heyman started the rally with a single through the right side. Austin Stadler singled to center to advance Heyman to third. Brooks hit a double to right-center field to score Heyman to tie the game. Stadler attempted to score what would have been the go-ahead run but Zapenas' relay throw home was in time to retire Stadler to end the inning and keep the game tied.

Wake Forest closes its six-game home stand on Tuesday, April 14, when it hosts Charlotte at 6 p.m.