Wake Forest University
Notre Dame
Deacs Edged by Irish in Extras, 7-6
3/24/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF) 
Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeBaseball)
NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Notre Dame rallied late and edged Wake Forest in 10 innings, 7-6, at Frank Eck Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Demon Deacons (10-13, 4-4 ACC) jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 6-3, but the Fighting Irish (10-11, 4-4 ACC) fought back each time before winning on a walk-off walk in the bottom of the 10th.
Wake Forest out-hit Notre Dame, 12-8, led by Shane Muntz (3-for-5, homer, three RBIs) and Johnny Aiello (3-for-5, RBI), while Jake Mueller went 2-for-3 with two walks. The Irish took advantage of a pair of Wake Forest errors to score four unearned runs in their comeback effort.
The Deacs jumped out to an early lead thanks to an Aiello RBI single in the first inning, followed by a two-run homer by Muntz and a Christian Long RBI single in the fourth.
Notre Dame scored the next three runs, fueled by a Jake Johnson (3-for-6, five RBIs) two-run single in the fifth and Cole Daily (2-for-2, three walks) RBI single in the sixth following a dropped foul ball, cutting the margin to 4-3.
Wake Forest extended the lead in the eighth. Bobby Seymour hit a deep single to plate Mueller and Muntz added an RBI single to extend the Deacs' advantage to 6-3. The Deacons failed to capitalize further, though. After four-straight singles to start the inning and a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third with two outs, the inning ended thanks to a flyout and foulout.
After two quick groundouts in the bottom of the eighth, Notre Dame loaded the bases on an error and two walks to set up a three-run Johnson triple which tied the game at 6-6.
The Irish had another potential rally in the ninth inning thanks to a Matt Vierling single and stolen base and Alex Kerschner single to put runners on the corners, but Rayne Supple forced a fielder's choice and strikeout to avoid any damage.
Supple couldn't escape again in the 10th. After hitting the leadoff man and a sac bunt, Johnson singled to put runners on the corners and an intentional walk loaded the bases. Another fielder's choice stopped a runner at home, but Daniel Jung drew the game-winning walk with two outs to clinch the series for the Irish.
For Notre Dame, Tommy Vail (3-2) tossed 2.2 scoreless frames in relief to earn the win. Wake Forest starter Morgan McSweeney surrendered just three hits in 5.2 innings with five strikeouts, but also walked five and conceded three runs (two earned). Tyler Witt tossed 1.1 scoreless innings in relief.
Game three of the series is set for Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
