April 23, 2008

Wake Forest Takes Down No. 15 Coastal Carolina, 8-7

CONWAY, S.C. - Allan Dykstra hit his 12th home run of the season and Wake Forest held off a furious ninth-inning rally to pick up an 8-7 defeat of No. 15-ranked Coastal Carolina Wednesday evening at Watson Stadium.

With the win, the Demon Deacons move to 16-25 overall. The Chanticleers, who had their 10-game winning streak snapped, drop to 34-8 on the year.

Dykstra staked the Deacons to a 2-0 lead in the first inning with his second homer in as many night. After Coastal countered with a run in the bottom of the first, the Wake pitching staff held the Chants with just one run over the next seven innings.

Trailing 8-2 heading into the ninth inning, Coastal put together a furious two-out rally that ultimately came up short. After Brad Kledzik retired the first two hitters in order, the next seven hitters reached base to pull the Chanticleers to within one.

No. 2 Tar Heels Top High Point For 11th Straight

CARY, N.C. - Tim Federowicz drove in a game-high three runs on a double and a triple to highlight No. 2 North Carolina's 10-5 win over High Point Wednesday at Cary's USA Baseball National Training Complex. The Tar Heels (36-7) extended their longest winning streak since 2002 to 11 games with the victory over the Panthers (16-24).

Federowicz was 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the second and a two-run triple in the seventh. Chad Flack and Kyle Seager also added two hits each and combined to score five of Carolina's 10 runs. Freshman Brett Thomas made his first career start at designated hitter and came through with his first career RBI on a fourth-inning single.

Right-hander Colin Bates (4-0) faced the minimum and struck out two over 2 1/3 innings to earn the win in relief of righty Mike Facchinei, who fanned four and allowed four runs (one earned) on five hits over 4 2/3. Left-hander Brian Moran worked a scoreless eighth, and Nate Striz allowed one unearned run in the ninth.

Clemson Tops Presbyterian 12-7 at Fluor Field Wednesday

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Clemson tallied 15 hits and Craig Gullickson pitched 3.1 scoreless innings to lead the Tigers to a 12-7 victory over Presbyterian on Wednesday night in front of 5,019 fans at Fluor Field. It was the Tigers' second game ever played at Fluor Field. Clemson improved to 21-20-1, while the Blue Hose dropped to 12-27.

Ben Paulsen led Clemson's offensive attack with three hits and four RBIs, including a two-run double in the third inning. Chris Epps went 2-for-4 and added three RBIs as well.

Every Blue Hose starter collected at least one hit, as the team totaled 17 in the contest. Jared Combs led Presbyterian offensively with a two-run homer.

Gullickson (4-2) pitched 3.1 scoreless innings of relief, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out two to earn the win for the Tigers.

No. 1 Miami Falls to FIU, 6-3

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Florida International scored a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth as the Golden Panthers held on to defeat No. 1 Miami, 6-3, Wednesday night at Mark Light Field. The Hurricanes (33-5) were held off the board until the seventh inning while the Golden Panthers (14-29) recorded a run in the third, three in the sixth and two more in the ninth to secure the three-run victory.

Jemile Weeks hit his ninth homer of the season and went 1-for-4 for the Hurricanes, who put together just six hits. Miami used six different pitchers with Anthony Nalepa (2-1) suffering the loss in his first career start. Nalepa allowied one run on three hits in four innings of work before giving way to Rene Guerra in the fifth. Guerra, P.J. Fisher, Alex Koronis, Michael Rudman and Kyle Bellamy combined to allow five runs over the final five innings.

Cavaliers' Rally Falls Short vs. William and Mary, 6-5

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The No. 16 Virginia baseball team fell behind early and could not quite recover in dropping a 6-5 decision to William and Mary Wednesday night at Davenport Field. After spotting the Tribe leads of 3-0 and 6-3, Virginia fell just short in its late rally.

David Adams (Jr., Margate, Fla.), David Coleman (Fr., Richmond, Va.) and John Barr (Fr., Ivyland, Pa.) each racked up two hits as UVa finished with eight on the night. Franco Valdes (So., Miami, Fla.) added a two-run double for the Cavaliers.

Ben Guez had three hits and two RBI, while Tyler Stampone homered and knocked home two to lead the Tribe offense, which came into the game with the fourth-highest batting average (.342) in the nation.

Jeff Lorick (So., Duluth, Ga.) was credited with the loss for Virginia and fell to 3-2 after starting and going 4.0 innings while allowing five runs (four earned), seven hits and a walk with two strikeouts.

Maryland Drops Wednesday Afternoon Matchup at Towson

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Dan Benick drove in two of Maryland's three runs and hit his second home run of the season in a Wednesday afternoon baseball game at Towson, won by the host Tigers, 12-3.

The Tigers (22-19) scored four runs in each of the first two innings thanks to a three-run home run and a two-run home run from catcher Jason Stifler.

Maryland starting pitcher Brett Harman (Westminster, Md./Westminster) nearly got out of the first inning with only one run allowed, but Stifler homered to left-center field with two outs. The Tigers added a fourth run on an Aaron Gabriellian RBI triple.

Harman was relieved by Tim Kearney (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) in the bottom of the second inning. However, Stifler hit a two-out, three-run home run to put Towson up 8-0.

The Terps (25-19) didn't get their first base runner until the top of the sixth inning when Benick (Glen Lyon, Pa./Nanticoke) homered to left off Austin Hurd.

UNC Greensboro 8, NC State 7 (10 inn.)

More to follow...

Duke 8, Davidson 7

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