Wake Forest University
2-1
Northeastern
1-2
Wake Forest Drops First Game of Season in High-Scoring Affair
2/21/2021 6:29:00 PM | Baseball
The Deacs endured its first defeat of 2021 despite 11 runs on Sunday afternoon.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - No. 17 Wake Forest suffered its first loss of the season by a final tally of 14-11 to Northeastern on Sunday afternoon at David F. Couch Ballpark.
The Deacs (2-1) smacked 13 hits in the finale against the Huskies (1-2), highlighted by a pair of home runs off the bats of junior Chris Lanzilli and freshman Brock Wilken, his second of the series.
Designated hitter Michael Turconi tied Lanzilli with a team-high three hits in the third game of the season. Additionally, Turconi batted in a team-high four runs.
Shane Smith went three innings in his first career start. The former closer struck out five Huskies while giving up only one earned run on three hits during the opening third.
Three Demon Deacon pitchers made their Wake Forest debut, with Seton Hall transfer Reed Mascolo and freshmen Teddy McGraw and Seth Keener all taking the mound. The trio combined for two strikeouts across 3.2 innings, with Keener tossing a scoreless top of the ninth to keep the Deacs within striking distance.
The Deacs claimed the series win, 2-1, thanks to wins on Friday and Saturday. Wake Forest outscored Northeastern 28-20 over the course of the weekend.
How It Happened
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Shane Smith opened his first outing in 2021 by striking out five batters, including three straight, in his first two innings of work.
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Northeastern plated one run in the opening frame of the game to gain an early 1-0 advantage.
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Brock Wilken connected on a deep shot to center field for his second home run of the series to give Wake Forest a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second.
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Muntz was brought home after he walked in the inning's second at-bat.
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Northeastern answered with three runs of their own in the third to regain the lead (4-2) after two errors by the Wake Forest defense.
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After a scoreless third inning for the Deacs, Crawford Wade struck out a trio of Huskies as he replaced Smith on the mound.
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After retiring the first two batters, Northeastern reached base on a wild pitch. After an error on the pick-off toss to first, the Huskies' runner advanced to third.
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Shane Smith ended his first appearance of 2021 and first career start with five strikeouts and one earned run in three innings.
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The Huskies added to their lead (5-2) with a homerun in the top of the fifth.
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Wake Forest began to claw their way back after Michael Turconi netted his first hit of the game to score Parker Pilat.
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The Deacs broke through in the bottom of the sixth, scoring six runs on six hits to take their first lead (9-7) of the game since Wilken's home run.
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Turconi and Bennett drove in two runs a piece. Shane Muntz's walk brought home Turconi, his second run of the afternoon.
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Lucas Costello notched his first collegiate hit and RBI in the inning. The Miami, Fla. native added another hit in the
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Northeastern answered with a six-run inning of their own in the top of the seventh, including a grand slam to take hold of the lead (13-9). The Huskies registered another run after a scoreless bottom half by Wake Forest to expand their advantage to 14-9.
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Chris Lanzilli smacked a home run deep over the right field wall to get the Deacs back on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth.
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The homer marked Lanzilli's third hit of the afternoon.
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The Deacs got get the tying run to the plate in the top of ninth with only one out, but a ground out and a pop up ended the scoring threat, giving Northeastern the win, 14-11.
Standout Stat
Shane Muntz finished the series with hits in all three games. The junior catcher went 3-for-9 against the Huskies, driving in a team-best six runs and crossing the plate twice on the weekend. The Phoenixville, Pa. native finished the weekend with an OBP of .571 thanks to four walks and a HBP in addition to his trio of hits.
On Friday night, he scored the team's first runs of the 2021 season with a grand slam, marking his 24th-career home run.
Words from Walter
"Obviously a disappointing loss. Any time you score 11 runs in a college baseball game, you should win, especially with a rested pitching staff. Obviously, not having Antonio Menendez hurt this weekend. It left us a little short. Shane Smith's pitch count hasn't been up as high as those other guys, so that was part of what happened. But the second part, Shane probably could've gotten a little more length if we had played a little defense behind him. The three-run third (inning) they had was two routine ground balls to start the inning that we needed to make plays on. The inning where it was 9-7, we got a little unlucky on the bleeder to right, but then they hit two routine balls after that. It would've gotten us out of the inning in the dugout, 9-9. Obviously, a big difference.
(Cam) Schlitter did a good job on us early. Give credit to their starter. I thought he was the best of their three starters and he did a good job. But I liked our at bats from the sixth inning on. We got the time under the plate and gave ourselves a chance, but again, 11 runs should win, but it didn't."
On Deck
The Deacs continue their home stand on Tuesday, Feb. 23 in a non-conference matchup versus Coastal Carolina at 4:00 p.m on ACC Network Extra.
Next weekend, Wake Forest will begin their 36-game conference slate with a three-game series against Notre Dame at The Couch.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Thomas Balboni (1-0)
L: Adler, Eric (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Corey Diloreto 1
HR: Scott Holzwasser 1 ; Jared Dupere 1
RBI: Scott Holzwasser 5 ; Jared Dupere 3 ; Max Viera 1 ; Corey Diloreto 2 ; Kyle Peterson 2 ; Teddy Beaudet 1
SH: Scott Holzwasser 1 ; Kyle Peterson 1
SF: Corey Diloreto 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Scott Holzwasser 3 ; Ben Malgeri 1 ; Jared Dupere 4 ; Max Viera 1 ; Corey Diloreto 1 ; Kyle Peterson 1 ; Teddy Beaudet 2 ; Spencer Smith 1
SB: Spencer Smith 1
CS: Ian Fair 1
HBP: Ian Fair 1
Batting:
2B: Bennett, Pierce 1
HR: Lanzilli, Chris 1 ; Wilken, Brock 1
RBI: Bennett, Pierce 2 ; Turconi, Michael 4 ; Lanzilli, Chris 1 ; Muntz, Shane 1 ; Wilken, Brock 2 ; Costello, Lucas 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Turconi, Michael 1 ; Lanzilli, Chris 1 ; Muntz, Shane 1 ; Ludowig, Michael 1 ; Wilken, Brock 2 ; Pilat, Parker 1 ; Costello, Lucas 2 ; Crum, Derek 1
HBP: Cecere, Adam 1
