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The Wake Forest baseball team did something it had to do this weekend, and that was win the series against Virginia Tech. The Hokies entered the series with an ACC record of just 5-19, so with a potential NCAA Tournament berth at stake, the Deacs could ill-afford to drop a series against the lowly Hokies, especially with a massive series this coming weekend against Louisville, who is a top-5 team in the country.
The Deacs kicked things off on Friday night with a 12-6 victory. Wake blasted a season-high five home runs, which accounted for 10 of the team's 12 runs.
The Deacs lost 20-13 on Saturday. There's really nothing to say about this one. Teams who score 13 runs in 9 innings shouldn't lose games, but even 19 wouldn't have been enough in this contest. Hitting has not been the issue for the Deacs this season.
The Deacs bounced back on Sunday with a critical 15-5 win. Wake was up 5-0, but Virginia Tech answered things with a 5-run 5th inning. Wake eventually got out of the inning, and then scored at least 2 runs during each of the remaining 4 innings to secure a 15-5 victory. Wake had homeruns from both Will Craig and Kevin Conway, while Nate Mondou raked 3 doubles, and Stuart Fairchild and Johnny Aiello each had two doubles. Craig's performance this weekend continued to boost his resume for ACC Player of the Year.
Wake Forest will play at Marshall on Tuesday, which is another big game for the Deacons. Marshall is currently 30-17 and ranked 58th in Warren Nolan's Index. For reference, the Deacs are ranked 62nd. Wake will then conclude its regular season when it hosts Louisville in a three-game series, with the first game beginning on Thursday at 6 p.m. All games in that series will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Wake Forest should be in decent shape for the NCAA Tournament if the Deacs can win two of the remaining four contests, and then not implode in the ACC Tournament.