Wake Forest University
4-6
Charlotte
8-7
Deacs Secure Midweek Victory over Charlotte
3/16/2021 8:27:00 PM | Baseball
Wake Forest opens four-game home stand with a 4-3 victory.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest baseball team triumphed in a tightly contested midweek contest on Tuesday, riding the arms of six Demon Deacon pitchers to a 4-1 victory over Charlotte at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Wake Forest (4-6, 1-4 ACC) had four different batters drive in runs in four different innings to push the Deacs into the lead. The Demon Deacon pitching staff held Charlotte (8-7) at bay, limiting the 49ers to just three hits while striking out nine batters.
Shane Muntz secured his second multi-hit game of the season. His sixth inning home run over the left field fence, his second of the season, gave the Deacs a three-run lead heading into the final three frames.
Bobby Seymour hit a double for the third-straight game this season. The St. John, Ind. native's RBI-double would plate the first run of the game, as freshman Brock Wilken came all the way around from first to score.
Reed Mascolo kept the 49ers scoreless in his first collegiate start, tossing a pair of strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Brennen Oxford, Cole McNamee, Hunter Furtado and Camden Minacci helped maintain the lead out of the Demon Deacon bullpen. McNamee would earn the win with his four strikeouts in two innings of work.
Freshman Eric Adler earned his first career save in the bottom of the ninth, pitching a scoreless final frame with one strikeout to secure the victory.
How It Happened
-
After Charlotte knocked a one-out single, Reed Mascolo retired the next two 49er batters to end the opening inning of his first career start.
-
Brock Wilken, batting in the three hole, singled to right field to get on base with two outs. The Deacs plated a run after Bobby Seymour's RBI double to hold a 1-0 lead heading into the second frame.
-
Mascolo came back on the mound and struck out two batters, both looking, to keep the 49ers off the scoreboard.
-
Adam Cecere and Cole McNamee both reached base after being walked in Wake Forest's second appearance at the plate. James Broderick laid down a bunt to move the pair into scoring position with one out. Pierce Bennett scored Cecere with an RBI-single up the middle to increase Wake Forest's lead to 2-0. A double-play ended the inning.
-
Mascolo allowed a single to open up the third, but quickly responded after forcing a fly-out for the first out of the frame. Brennan Oxford hit the mound and stranded the runner at first, retiring the next two batters to keep the score at 2-0.
-
Oxford recorded a perfect, three-up, three-down inning in the top of the fourth to keep Charlotte off the scoreboard.
-
Shane Muntz singled off a hard-hit ball to third base in the fourth inning and advanced into scoring position after a passed ball. Charlotte retired the next pair of batters to end the threat to keep Wake Forest's lead at 2-0.
-
Charlotte scored their only run of the game with one out in the top of the fifth to cut into the Deacs' lead (2-1). Cole McNamee struck out the next Charlotte hitter to end the frame.
-
McNamee returned to the bump in the sixth and pitched a perfect inning, retiring Charlotte with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out to keep the score 2-1.
-
Shane Muntz blasted his second home run of the season to left field in the bottom of the sixth to extend Wake Forest's lead to 3-1.
-
The game remained scoreless over the next two innings as Hunter Furtado and Camden Minacci strung together close-to-perfect frames, allowing zero hits while walking one batter.
-
Lucas Costello's second base hit of the day added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh, increasing the Deacs' lead to 4-1. Costello stole his second career base to join Muntz (single) in scoring position, but the Deacs were unable to plate the pair.
-
Eric Adler came in and shut down the 49ers as Wake Forest picked up its first midweek victory of the season, 4-1.
In the Spotlight
Lucas Costello entered the game as a defensive substitute in the top of the fifth, and proceeded to have a banner day at the plate and on the basepaths. The freshman went two-for-two at the dish with a double and an RBI-single, while also snagging his first career stolen base in the sixth inning. Costello added his second stolen base of the day in the eighth inning.
Through nine games, the Miami, Fla. native is batting .333 with three runs and five RBIs.
Words from Walter
"Obviously pleased with the way we pitched today. I thought Reed Mascolo threw the ball well. He was locating his fastball. He was able to throw his slider when he was behind in the count. (Brennen) Oxford came in behind him and I thought threw really well for five outs and then maybe just ran out of gas.Then Cole McNamee came in and got a big strikeout in a situation with second and third with nobody out. (He) executed a really good fastball in and got a big strikeout and ended up getting us out of that inning with only one run, which was obviously huge. Then the rest of the game, we were hoping to get it to (Hunter) Furtado, (Camden) Minacci and (Eric) Adler, hoping to get six out of everybody else and then have Furtado in the seventh, Minacci in the eighth and Adler in the ninth, and that's kind of the way it worked out. It was scripted."
On Deck
Wake Forest will continue their home stand with their third ACC series of the season against Georgia Tech on March 19-21. The trio of contests can be seen on ACC Network Extra or heard through the radio broadcast streamed live through the Wake Forest Athletics app.
The Deacs will then play four-straight on the road, beginning with a midweek contest at Elon before returning to the sunshine state to play three games against Florida State.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook |
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McNamee, Cole (2-0)
L: Austin Marozas (1-1)
S: Adler, Eric (1)
Batting:
2B: Jack Dragum 1
RBI: Craig Keuchel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jack Dragum 1
Batting:
2B: Seymour, Bobby 1 ; Costello, Lucas 1
HR: Muntz, Shane 1
RBI: Seymour, Bobby 1 ; Muntz, Shane 1 ; Costello, Lucas 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1
SH: Broderick, James 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilken, Brock 2 ; Muntz, Shane 1 ; Cecere, Adam 1
SB: Costello, Lucas 2 ; McNamee, Cole 1
