Gavin Sheets Breaks Out In Big Way, With Three Homers

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Gavin Sheets began his junior season in a bit of a slump, going 2-for-19 over Wake Forest’s first five games as the Demon Deacons struggled to get untracked.

Apparently, the hulking first baseman was saving his production for one huge night.

Sheets homered three times and tied a school record with nine RBIs, as Wake Forest pounded Southern California ace Mitch Hart and rolled to a 15-5 victory over the visiting Trojans on Friday night.

“Coming into this week I felt really good,” said Sheets, who tied a Demon Deacons record previously set by Warren Sawkiw in 1990 and Paul Reinisch in 1989. “I was hoping a big step would be taken tonight and I feel pretty good now. This is the first time I’ve ever (hit three home runs). It’s a pretty good feeling.”

Stuart Fairchild and Johnny Aiello also homered as the Demon Deacons tagged Hart, a preseason BA Top 100 College draft prospect, for nine hits and nine runs in 3.2 innings. Hart also walked six and threw two wild pitches.

Sheets got the scoring started when he banged a two-run double the opposite way off the wall in left-center in the first inning. He launched a three-run homer to right-center in the second and added another three-run homer down the right field line in the seventh.

His third and final shot came in the eighth, when he blasted a Brock Larson offering nearly 400 feet to the left of the scoreboard. With that solo shot Sheets tied the school RBI record and became the first Demon Deacon with three home runs in game since Allan Dykstra in 2006.

“I don’t even know how to explain tonight,” Sheets said. “It’s a feeling that you have very few times.”

Sheets, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound Baltimore native, is the son of former Orioles slugger Larry Sheets and was drafted by the Braves in the 37th round out of high school. He was a third-team All-ACC selection as a sophomore and came into his junior season expected to replace Will Craig as Wake Forest’s primary power source.

His slow opening to the year was irritating, but his coaches were confident it was just a matter of time before he exploded.

“I mean with Gavin you knew eventually it was going to come,” Demon Deacons coach Tom Walter said. “I think they’ve been pitching around him a little bit and he’s been pressing. He said before the game today the real Gavin Sheets showed up this morning, and he was right.”

Hart was the primary victim of Sheets’ outburst, although he struggled throughout the entire Wake Forest lineup. The USC junior righthander needed 106 pitches to get just 11 outs before being pulled with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning. He sat just 86-90 mph with his fastball, topping out at 92, and struggled mightily to command his slider.

With neither his velocity nor his control sharp, Wake Forest pounced on him immediately and led 9-0 by the time Hart departed in the fourth.

“I think we just saw it really well tonight,” Sheets said. “More than anything we just saw the ball from him and swung the bats well.”

Parker Dunshee made the lead stand up easily for the Demon Deacons. The senior righthander, a 14th-round pick of the Cubs last year, took a shutout into the fifth and finished with nine hits and four runs allowed over 5.2 innings of work with nine strikeouts and one walk.

Jonathan Pryor finished a triple shy of the cycle and Logan Harvey scored three times for Wake Forest. Frankie Rios hit a two-run homer and Brandon Perez went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs to lead the Trojans.

The three-game series continues Saturday. RHP Brad Wegman is scheduled to start for USC against RHP Connor Johnstone for Wake Forest.