Friday, February 14
Winston-Salem, N.C.
2:00 PM
Wake Forest University
1-0
4
vs
3
Seton Hall
0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Seton Hall
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
3
7
1
Wake Forest
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
1
4
7
1
Lanzilli Hits Walk-Off Blast in 4-3 Win over Seton Hall
2/14/2020 6:11:00 PM | Baseball
Wake Forest junior Chris Lanzilli hit a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Chris Lanzilli blasted a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead No. 18 Wake Forest past Seton Hall, 4-3, in the 2020 season-opener on Friday evening at David F. Couch Ballpark.
The Demon Deacons (1-0) and Pirates (0-1) were deadlocked at 3-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth before Lanzilli roped his first-career walk-off home run.
"We really didn't do a good job all day of getting on top of the baseball," head coach Tom Walter said. "Chris went up there with a good approach and was going to get on top of something. He obviously got a good pitch to do it with and elevated it to the right part of the ballpark. That was the only part of the park you could homer to today."
Wake Forest received a strong pitching effort all game. Ryan Cusick started and struck out a career-high 10 batters over 5.2 innings, battling through six hits and six walks to allow two runs.
Tyler Witt followed with 2.1 innings of one-hit ball, conceding an earned run and striking out a pair. Shane Smith made his collegiate debut with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out two to earn the victory on the mound.
In addition to Lanzilli's two-hit game, Brendan Tinsman and William Simoneit added two hits apiece. Simoneit doubled and was also hit by a pitch.
The Deacs also received a handful of big defensive plays. Michael Ludowig threw out a pair of Pirates at home from left field, while Derek Crum made a highlight-reel diving catch in center field in the eighth to keep the score knotted at 3-3.
Wake Forest is back in action with a doubleheader on Saturday against Milwaukee, beginning at 2 p.m.
The Demon Deacons (1-0) and Pirates (0-1) were deadlocked at 3-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth before Lanzilli roped his first-career walk-off home run.
"We really didn't do a good job all day of getting on top of the baseball," head coach Tom Walter said. "Chris went up there with a good approach and was going to get on top of something. He obviously got a good pitch to do it with and elevated it to the right part of the ballpark. That was the only part of the park you could homer to today."
Wake Forest received a strong pitching effort all game. Ryan Cusick started and struck out a career-high 10 batters over 5.2 innings, battling through six hits and six walks to allow two runs.
Tyler Witt followed with 2.1 innings of one-hit ball, conceding an earned run and striking out a pair. Shane Smith made his collegiate debut with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out two to earn the victory on the mound.
In addition to Lanzilli's two-hit game, Brendan Tinsman and William Simoneit added two hits apiece. Simoneit doubled and was also hit by a pitch.
The Deacs also received a handful of big defensive plays. Michael Ludowig threw out a pair of Pirates at home from left field, while Derek Crum made a highlight-reel diving catch in center field in the eighth to keep the score knotted at 3-3.
Wake Forest is back in action with a doubleheader on Saturday against Milwaukee, beginning at 2 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Smith, Shane (1-0)
L: PAYERO, Nick (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: DANA, Casey 1 ; ESPOSITO, Mike 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HUNTZINGER, Jerry 1 ; GROBER, Steve 1 ; HACK, Devin 1
SB: HUNTZINGER, Jerry 2 ; HACK, Devin 1
CS: POKROVSKY, Staus 1
PO: POKROVSKY, Staus 1
Batting:
2B: Simoneit, William 1
HR: Lanzilli, Chris 1
RBI: Turconi, Michael 1 ; Poteet, DJ 1 ; Lanzilli, Chris 1
SH: Crum, Derek 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lanzilli, Chris 1 ; Tinsman, Brendan 1 ; Simoneit, William 1 ; Crum, Derek 1
HBP: Simoneit, William 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
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OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballC/INF
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RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
LHP
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