Hokies Baseball Falls in Extra Innings

By Casey Richey

April 4, 2009

Both Virginia Tech and Wake Forest came out ready to entertain fans at English Field on a beautiful April day by showcasing their high-powered offenses. Wake Forest slipped by Tech with a 15-14 final in 10 innings. The two teams combined for 29 runs, 24 hits, and 5 errors through the 10 frames. Windy conditions made for a high scoring game as hits that would normally have stayed in the field of play carried over the wall. Seven home runs were hit between the two teams, resulting in the offense-heavy game.

Wake Forest (17-11, 5-9 ACC) capitalized off of timely hitting from its big bats to come back and tie the game in the top of the ninth inning. Evan Ocheltree, OF, connected on the first pitch from relief pitcher Brandon Fisher, r-So., and put the ball over the right field fence for the second time during the game, putting the Demon Deacons back at a tie with the Hokies.

The Demon Deacons would set the pace for the game by putting two on the board in the first half frame by way of a walk, single, and a two run double by Wake Forest catcher Mike Murray. The Hokies would answer in the bottom half of the inning with three runs of their own. Steve Bumbry and Anthony Sosnoskie walked to put two on with two outs for shortstop Ronnie Shaban. Shaban took the first pitch from Wake Forest pitcher Phil Negus over the left centerfield wall for 3-2 Hokies lead.

Murray would add a 2-R home run to his tally for the day, bringing in Dustin Hood from first base in the top of the third inning. The Hokies would tie the game at 4 in the bottom half on a RBI double by Ronnie Shaban with Steve Domecus on second base following a double. Ocheltree's first homerun of the game came in the top of the fourth off of freshman starting pitcher Mathew Price, giving the Demon Deacons a 5-4 lead. Wake Forest added another run in the top of the fifth but the Hokies answered big in the bottom half with three runs driven in by Ronnie Shaban, Mike Kaminski, and Michael Seaborn.

In the bottom of the sixth, Negus was replaced by Joel Ernst and the Hokies took advantage of the pitching change. Matt Blow greeted Ernst with a single and scored on a RBI double by Klint Reed.  Bumbry walked to put 2 on for Steve Domecus. Domecus connected for his fourth home run of the year and put the Hokies up 11-6. Domecus' home run would bring about an early end to Ernst's day and brought Zach White into the game. White escaped further damage by getting out of a bases loaded jam to end the inning.

Wake Forest tied the game in the top of the seventh with five runs. Tyler Smith brought in three runs on one swing of the bat with a 3-R homerun off of Dave Zappacosta. The two runs prior to the home run were scored by Steven Brooks and Shane Kroker. The Hokies would regain the lead in the bottom half of the inning as Reed doubled to lead off the inning. Bumbry bunted him over to third and Domecus plated him on a sacrifice fly, giving the Hokies a 12-11 lead.

The Hokies would subsequently relinquish that lead in the top of the eighth as Wake Forest strung together four singles of Ben Rowen for two runs. Wake Forest now led 13-12 going into the bottom half of the eighth. Kaminski doubled with one out to bring Michael Seaborn to bat. Seaborn took a pitch from White over the fence for a 2-R home run and a 14-13 advantage.

That set the stage for Ocheltree's ninth inning homerun and a tied game. The Hokies were unable to score in the bottom of the ninth and a tenth inning was needed to decide the game. Murray doubled as the second batter in the tenth and final inning. Ryan Semeniuk came in to pinch run for Murray and later scored on Carlos Lopez's RBI single. Semeniuk's run would prove to be the deciding run in a back and forth, high scoring battle. Murray was the catalyst for the Demon Deacons offense. Murray went 5-6, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 2-R HR, and was a triple shy of the cycle.

Virginia Tech (16-12, 3-10 ACC) fell for the second game in a row to Wake Forest. On Friday, the Hokies lost 11-4 to the Demon Deacons and look to improve their pitching performance, allowing an average of 13 runs thus far. The Hokies look to salvage a game from the series as the final game starts at 1 p.m. at English Field. Admission is free.

W- Michael Dimock (3-1)

L- Brandon Fisher (0-2)