March 15, 2003

Box Score

College Park, Md. -- The 14th-ranked Wake Forest baseball team improved to 2-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 12-2 win at Maryland on Saturday. The Deacs played long ball and scored their 12 runs in batches of three.

Wake Forest (12-5, 2-0 ACC) scored three runs in the third inning, three in the fifth, three in the seventh and three more in the ninth.

Senior first baseman Jeff Ruziecki hit a pair of home runs, his first and second of year. Ryan Johnson drilled his sixth of the season and Jamie D'Antona hit his fifth. D'Antona finished the day 4-for-5 with three RBI.

Ruziecki and D'Antona hit back-to-back home runs to put the icing on the cake on the ninth inning. It was the fourth time this year Wake Forest batters have hit consecutive homers.

Sophomore Tim Morley (2-0) turned in another solid performance, going seven innings allowing just two runs on eight hits with six strikeouts. Morley caught four Maryland batters looking. Junior Indy Wilkinson finished the game with two scoreless innings of relief.

The Deacon offense had a hit parade, totaling 19 hits on the day. Wake Forest knocked Maryland starter Chris Clem (1-2) out of the game in the sixth inning after touching him up for six runs on 14 hits.

In addition to D'Antona's four hits, Johnson and Steven Malinowski each had three. Ryan Hubbard doubled twice and Ruziecki, Steve LeFaivre and Ben Ingold each chipped in two.

Wake Forest sits in a tie with Florida State for first place early in the ACC schedule at 2-0. The Deacons and Terrapins will meet for game three of the series on Sunday afternoon at Shipley Field at 1-0.