April 16, 2009

Wake Forest Game Notes

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest baseball team continues Atlantic Coast Conference play this weekend as it hosts Coastal Division leader and 12th-ranked Georgia Tech in a three-game series at Wake Forest Baseball Park.

Game times for the weekend series are scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. The Friday and Sunday games of the series will be broadcast on 98.1 WBRF-FM, while all three games of the series will be available on WakeForestSports.com.

Wake Forest enters the weekend with a 6-12 record in conference play. The Deacs are fifth in the Atlantic Division and in 11th place overall. Wake is three games out of the eighth and final spot in the ACC Tournament, scheduled for May 20-24 in Durham, N.C. The Demon Deacons dropped two of three games to Boston College last weekend at home.

The series against the Yellow Jackets opens a tough stretch of ACC games to end the season. The Deacs travel to Florida State for a three-game series April 24-26 and visit Maryland May 8-10. Wake closes the season against No. 8 Miami May 14-16 at Wake Forest Baseball Park.

The Demon Deacons are 20-16 overall on the season after splitting a pair of midweek contests. Wake opened the week with a dramatic 8-7 comeback victory over Charlotte. Trailing 7-6 with two outs and none on in the bottom of the ninth, the Deacs scored twice, capped off by Bentley Heyman's pinch-hit single to drive in the game-winning run.

Wake scored two runs in the top of the first against UNC Greensboro on Wednesday night, but the Spartans scored five times in both the third and sixth innings to record a 10-4 win. The Demon Deacons committed four errors in the game, including three costly errors in the sixth that led to five runs.

Senior outfielder Weldon Woodall leads Wake Forest with a .391 batting average on the season. Woodall ranks seventh in the ACC in batting average and is sixth in on-base percentage with a .487 mark. Woodall also leads the team in hits (50), doubles (11) and RBIs (35).

Steven Brooks is batting .318 on the year with three home runs and 23 RBIs. Dustin Hood is swinging the bat at a .305 clip.

Freshman Zach White has been the most effective reliever out of the Wake Forest bullpen. White has made a team-high 16 appearances on the season and has a 4-0 record with a 2.51 ERA and two saves. He has struck out 30 batters in 28 2/3 innings and opponents are hitting .220 off of him. Ryan McGrath has made 13 appearances in relief with a 2-1 record and a 4.72 ERA. Michael Dimock (3-3, 6.69) and Brandon Johnson (0-0, 4.05) have also been called on regularly out of the bullpen.

Georgia Tech enters the weekend with a 23-8-1 overall record and a 10-5-1 mark in ACC play, good for first in the Coastal Division. The Yellow Jackets are ranked in all four of the major college baseball polls, including being ranked 11th by ESPN/USA Today, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America and Rivals.com. The Ramblin Wreck is fifth in the ACC with a .317 batting average and has a 4.89 team ERA, which ranks eighth in the conference. Georgia Tech played Virginia to a series tie last weekend, winning the first game of the series, before falling in the middle game. The two teams played to a 4-4 nine-inning tie in the series finale. The Yellow Jackets won both of their midweek games earlier this week, defeating No. 2 Georgia and Georgia State.

Luke Murton leads the Yellow Jackets at the plate with a .379 mark. He is tied for the team lead with nine home runs and has also driven in 35 runs. Tony Plagman leads the team in RBIs with 41 and is hitting .341 on the year with eight round-trippers. Matt Skole has belted nine homers and is hitting .366 with 31 RBIs. Jeff Rowland has stolen a team-high 13 bases on the year and is hitting .336.

On the mound, Zach Brewster has made a team-high 19 appearances with a 0-1 record and 4.15 ERA. Jack Davies has made 17 appearances on the season and has compiled a 1-0 record with a 2.89 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .194 off of Davies. Mark Pope is the closer for the Yellow Jackets and has seven saves on the season with a 4-1 record and a 10.20 ERA.

Wake Forest will send senior Garrett Bullock (1-0, 5.34) to the mound in the series opener on Friday night, while Georgia Tech will counter with Deck McGuire (5-0, 2.73).

The Deacs have not announced a starter for the second or third game of the series. The Yellow Jackets will throw Zach Von Tersch (5-1, 5.68) in game two of the series and Brandon Cumpton (1-0, 5.33) in the series finale on Sunday.

Georgia Tech holds a 56-30-1 advantage in games played since 1954. The Yellow Jackets have won four straight series against Wake Forest. Wake's last series victory against Georgia Tech came in a two-game sweep on March 15-16, 2002. This weekend will mark Georgia Tech's first visit to Winston-Salem since the 2004 season.

Live stats and a recap of each game of the series will be available on WakeForestSports.com.

Weekend Schedule (Times Eastern and Subject to Change) - Winston-Salem, N.C.
Friday, April 17 - 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 18 - 6 p.m.
Sunday, April 19 - 1 p.m.

Ticket Information
Single-game tickets are $6 and can be purchased on game day or in advance at WakeForestSports.com.

Probable Pitching Matchups (Wake Forest vs. Georgia Tech)
Friday, April 17
LHP Garrett Bullock (Sr., 1-0, 5.34) vs. RHP Deck McGuire (So., 5-0, 2.73)

Saturday, April 18
TBA vs. RHP Zach Von Tersch (Jr., 5-1, 5.68)

Sunday, April 19
TBA vs. RHP Brandon Cumpton (So., 1-0, 5.33)

Records
Wake Forest - 20-16, 6-12 ACC
Georgia Tech - 23-8-1, 10-5-1 ACC

Rankings
Wake Forest - Not Ranked
Georgia Tech - No. 11 (NCBWA/ESPN-USA Today/Rivals), No. 12 (Baseball America)

Radio (WBRF with Stan Cotten and Brock Bowling)
The first and third games of the series on Friday and Sunday will be available on 98.1 WBRF-FM with Stan Cotten and Brock Bowling on the call.

Internet Coverage
An audio broadcast of each game of the three-game series will be available on WakeForestSports. Live stats for each game will also be available.