GREENSBORO, N.C. – In a game that had a two-hour rain delay, Wake Forest's Pat Blair reached base six times and had two RBI as Wake Forest downed UNCG, 10-2, in nonconference action on Tuesday evening at UNCG Baseball Stadium.
Wake Forest (23-15) wasted no time as it jumped all over UNCG starter Brennen James for three runs in the first inning while the first four batters of the game reached base successfully.
The Demon Deacons' Pat Blair drew a five-pitch walk to start to game and Wake Forest followed up with back-to-back-to-back singles to take an early 3-0 lead. Mac Williamson blooped an RBI single to plate the game's first run. Carlos Lopez followed suit as he connected on a run-scoring single but was thrown out at second trying to stretch the hit into a double. The next batter, Charlie Morgan, collected an RBI via groundout to give the Demon Deacons a lead they would never relinquish.
UNCG (18-17) was held at bay until the fourth inning, when it plated two runs. Senior Thomas Troelstrup started the rally as he roped a double down the left field line. Cambric Moye duplicated his teammate as he plated Troelstrup with an RBI double down the left field line to cut the deficit to two, 3-1. Two batters later, Nick Chapman delivered an RBI single up the middle to make it a 3-2 game in Wake Forest's favor.
Following a Morgan triple to lead off the sixth inning, Jack Carey collected an RBI after he reached on a fielder's choice to push the Wake Forest lead back out to two, 4-2. Three pitches into Blair's fourth at-bat, the skies opened up and halted the game for 119 minutes.
After the lengthy delay, Wake Forest's bats came to life as Blair finished his at-bat with a two-run single to give the Demon Deacons a four-run lead, 6-2.
The offensive explosion from the visiting team didn't stop as it scored two runs in the seventh and eighth innings. With two outs in the seventh, Grant Shambley roped an RBI single to right and Mark Rhine tapped home plate following an UNCG error to make it 8-2.
Wake Forest would score the evening's final two runs in odd fashion as one run scored via catcher's interference and the other scored after the Spartans' Tyler Frazier uncorked a wild pitch, which allowed the pesky Blair to score his second run of the evening.
UNCG's Lloyd Enzor continued to swing a hot bat as he went 3-for-5 on the evening. Kris Richards and Zach Leach extended their respective hitting streaks with singles. Richards reached the 12-game mark with his single to lead off the sixth inning. Leach is staying on pace as his single in the third inning extended his streak to 11 games.
The final four pitchers of the evening for Wake Forest tossed five innings of five-hit shutout ball.
The Spartans' James (2-2) took the loss after he allowed three runs in one inning of work.
Niko Spezial (2-0) of Wake Forest gathered the win as he pitched two innings of one-hit ball and induced a double play in the sixth inning.
The teams combined to use 14 pitchers on the evening as the first pitch was thrown at 6:03 p.m. and the game concluded at 11:14 p.m. as UNCG dropped its fourth straight game.
UNCG returns to action on Friday evening when it squares off in a vital three-game series with Southern Conference foe Davidson. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
AGATE
Wake Forest 10, UNCG 2 (Apr 17, 2012 at Greensboro, N.C.)
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Wake Forest......... 300 003 220 - 10 12 0 (23-15)
UNCG................ 000 200 000 - 2 11 2 (18-17)
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Pitchers: Wake Forest - Connor Kaden; Chris Willson(3); Niko Spezial(5); Nate Jones(7);
Zach White(8); Daniel Marrs(9) and Charlie Morgan; Brett Armour. UNCG - Brennen James;
Adam Boghosian(2); Dominique Vattuone(5); Jonathan Jones(6); Corey Taylor(6); Wes McBride(7);
Tyler Frazier(8); Eric Kalbfleisch(9) and Cambric Moye.
Win-Niko Spezial(2-0) Loss-Brennen James(2-2) T-3:10 A-321
Weather: 80 degrees and partly cloudy
- UNCG -
