Seminoles stop Sleeth and the Demon Deacons
by Drew Hankin
Wake Forest ace Kyle Sleeth came in to Dick Howser Stadium looking to break the NCAA record for consecutive wins on Friday night. Florida State made a statement from the very beginning of the game - 'Not in our house'. Seminole hitters jumped all over Sleeth in the bottom of the first inning and picked up three runs in front of season-high 4,516 fans.
The story of the night wasn't Sleeth, but Seminole starter Trent Peterson (6-0), who picked up his sixth win of the season, going 8.0 innings while giving up only three runs on six hits and one walk, while striking out seven batters. Before Peterson was pulled following the 8th inning, he had retired the last ten in a row, and sixteen out of seventeen batters. Daniel Hodges pitched the ninth for FSU, and had his streak of 33.2 innings without giving up a run snapped when the Deacons picked up two runs. To his credit, Hodges did strike out the side.
In the bottom of the 1st, Stephen Drew wasted no time in proving that Sleeth was human after all, with a single through the right side. Eddy Martinez-Esteve then reached on a fielder's choice, and Drew moved to second on a fielding error by the Deacon thirdbaseman, before McQuade singled to left-center to load the bases with no outs. Tony Richie then made it 2-0 with a double to left-center that scored Drew and Martinez-Esteve. Jerrod Brown then grounded out to second which scored McQuade and made it a 3-0 game.
An inning later, the Seminoles picked up another run when Drew doubled to right with two outs, and scored on a single by Martinez-Esteve.
Wake Forest pulled to within in one run in the top of the 3rd when leftfielder Ryan Hubbard reached on an infield single and rightfielder Ryan Johnson walked before Jamie D'Antona homered for the 10th time this season that made it 4-3 in favor of the Noles.
FSU added to their lead in the next inning when Richie led off with a single to right, moved to second when Brown walked, to third on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Chris Hart, and scored on a ground ball to second by Derrick Smith. A single through the left-side brought home Brown and gave the Noles a 6-3 lead.
Peterson and Sleeth both settled down and turned in scoreless innings until the bottom of the 8th when the Noles picked up another run. Balkcom led off that inning with a single to center and and moved to second on a bunt single by Matt Sauls. After both runners advanced on a passed ball, Martinez-Esteve drew a walk to load the bases, and McQuade drew another one to force in Balkcom to make it 7-3.
Wake Forest touched up Hodges a bit in the bottom of the 9th when firstbaseman Jeff Riziecki singled to right field and moved to second on a balk. Secondbaseman Chris Getz then singled to right before shortstop Ben Ingold singled home Getz to cut the Florida State lead to 7-4. Centerfielder Adam Bourassa then singled to left to score Getz before Hubbard struck out swinging to end the game.
Florida State improved to 29-5 and 7-3 in the ACC while the Demon Deacons fell to 20-8 and 6-3 in conference play. The same two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7:00 with Matt Lynch (6-2, 3.74) on the mound for FSU against Tim Morley (2-1, 4.45) for Wake.
Section B Online Player of the Game:
Trent Peterson (8.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K)
