College World Series
Wake Forest to Play for National Title after 2-0 Win
6/15/2020 3:28:00 PM | Baseball
This year marks the 65th anniversary of Wake Forest's 1955 College World Series Championship. GoDeacs.com will re-live that journey to the national championship by re-telling the story of each game on the corresponding date.
Wake Forest 2, Oklahoma State 0
OMAHA, Neb. – Wake Forest advanced to the championship game of the 1955 College World Series after beating Oklahoma A&M (now State) 2-0 behind the brilliant pitching of sophomore John Stokoe. Stokoe limited the Aggies (now Cowboys) to just four hits as the Deacons posted their third shutout of the CWS.
The championship game against Western Michigan is set for 9 o'clock on June 16. This will be the third meeting of the CWS between the two teams. Western Michigan won the first game, 9-0, while the Deacons won 10-7 the second time around.
Wake Forest is making its first appearance in the baseball national championship game since falling to Texas in the finals in 1949.
"Wake Forest is now closer to a national title in a major sport than any Big Four team in history," wrote Mac McDuffie in the Raleigh News and Observer.
Stokoe limited A&M to four hits while striking out nine. He found himself in trouble on a couple of occasions, primarily due to Wake Forest's four fielding errors. He pitched himself out of jams in the first, fourth, sixth and seventh innings, stranding two men on base in each frame.
Oklahoma State's leadoff man reached base on an error to open the bottom of the first and Stokoe walked the No. 2 hitter. But he induced the next three hitters to ground out to escape the inning.
Wake Forest scored in the third and sixth innings. The Deacons managed just three hits off lefthander Bobby Garrett. Garrett helped the Deacons by issuing six walks.
Wake Forest broke the ice in the third inning with a single run. George Miller led off and reached on an error. Catcher Linwood Holt walked before Frank McRae sacrificed both runners up a base. Bill Barnes was supposed to lay down a squeeze bunt but the play went awry and Miller but was tagged out at home. Barnes then singled down the third base line to score Holt and give the Deacons a 1-0 lead.
In the sixth, Barnes' ground ball was fielded by second baseman Jim Woolard whose throw to first wound up in the dugout, putting Barnes at second. Barnes moved to third on Jack Bryant's single and scored on Stokoe's infield ground out.
Oklahoma State finished its season with a 27-3 record while Wake Forest improved to 28-7.
Coach Taylor Sanford plans to throw righty Bill Walsh in the finals. Walsh closed the door on a Western Michigan rally on June 14 in his first mound appearance in over two months since suffering an arm injury early in the season. After beating Michigan State 5-4 in the third game of the season, Walsh hurt his arm in his next start against Yale and had not pitched again until Omaha.
Western Michigan is expected to throw lefty Gary Graham who is 7-1 this season. His only appearance in the CWS was beating Arizona 4-1 in the series opener, allowing just four hits.
A crowd of 7,000 is expected for the championship game.
Notes
Wake Forest athletic director Pat Preston did not anticipate being in Omaha as long as he has been. He had promised his six-year-old son Mike a bicycle and June 16 was the day he planned to give it to him. The bike has been hidden in the family's addict. Pat called his wife Libby and told her to give the bicycle to Mike. "I don't know how they are going to get it out of the attic," Pat told the Raleigh News and Observer.
Wake Forest 2, Oklahoma State 0
OMAHA, Neb. – Wake Forest advanced to the championship game of the 1955 College World Series after beating Oklahoma A&M (now State) 2-0 behind the brilliant pitching of sophomore John Stokoe. Stokoe limited the Aggies (now Cowboys) to just four hits as the Deacons posted their third shutout of the CWS.
The championship game against Western Michigan is set for 9 o'clock on June 16. This will be the third meeting of the CWS between the two teams. Western Michigan won the first game, 9-0, while the Deacons won 10-7 the second time around.
Wake Forest is making its first appearance in the baseball national championship game since falling to Texas in the finals in 1949.
"Wake Forest is now closer to a national title in a major sport than any Big Four team in history," wrote Mac McDuffie in the Raleigh News and Observer.
Stokoe limited A&M to four hits while striking out nine. He found himself in trouble on a couple of occasions, primarily due to Wake Forest's four fielding errors. He pitched himself out of jams in the first, fourth, sixth and seventh innings, stranding two men on base in each frame.
Oklahoma State's leadoff man reached base on an error to open the bottom of the first and Stokoe walked the No. 2 hitter. But he induced the next three hitters to ground out to escape the inning.
Wake Forest scored in the third and sixth innings. The Deacons managed just three hits off lefthander Bobby Garrett. Garrett helped the Deacons by issuing six walks.
Wake Forest broke the ice in the third inning with a single run. George Miller led off and reached on an error. Catcher Linwood Holt walked before Frank McRae sacrificed both runners up a base. Bill Barnes was supposed to lay down a squeeze bunt but the play went awry and Miller but was tagged out at home. Barnes then singled down the third base line to score Holt and give the Deacons a 1-0 lead.
In the sixth, Barnes' ground ball was fielded by second baseman Jim Woolard whose throw to first wound up in the dugout, putting Barnes at second. Barnes moved to third on Jack Bryant's single and scored on Stokoe's infield ground out.
Oklahoma State finished its season with a 27-3 record while Wake Forest improved to 28-7.
Coach Taylor Sanford plans to throw righty Bill Walsh in the finals. Walsh closed the door on a Western Michigan rally on June 14 in his first mound appearance in over two months since suffering an arm injury early in the season. After beating Michigan State 5-4 in the third game of the season, Walsh hurt his arm in his next start against Yale and had not pitched again until Omaha.
Western Michigan is expected to throw lefty Gary Graham who is 7-1 this season. His only appearance in the CWS was beating Arizona 4-1 in the series opener, allowing just four hits.
A crowd of 7,000 is expected for the championship game.
Notes
Wake Forest athletic director Pat Preston did not anticipate being in Omaha as long as he has been. He had promised his six-year-old son Mike a bicycle and June 16 was the day he planned to give it to him. The bike has been hidden in the family's addict. Pat called his wife Libby and told her to give the bicycle to Mike. "I don't know how they are going to get it out of the attic," Pat told the Raleigh News and Observer.
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Coach Jake Dickert Postgame Press Conference vs. NC State (Sept. 11, 2025)
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