Deacs Pick Up Ranked Win over Georgia Tech

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest baseball dominated on the mound, riding a strong start from Ryan Cusick to a 6-2 win over No. 11 Georgia Tech.

The Sudbury, Mass. native fanned ten batters in six frames, his fifth time in seven starts striking out at least ten batters. The sophomore only gave up three hits and two walks across his entire start.

Wake Forest (5-6, 2-4 ACC) drove in an early run in the first inning, with Pierce Bennett taking advantage of a Yellow Jacket error to score the game's first run. The Deacs would tack on two more runs in the fourth inning on an Adam Cecere single and a Parker Pilat sacrifice fly.

Shane Muntz earned two RBIs by way of a bases-loaded walk in the 7th and 8th inning, sandwiched in between a Brock Wilken RBI-double to push Wake Forest's lead to 6-2.

Georgia Tech (9-6, 6-4 ACC) was able to get within one run in the top of the seventh, but could not pull even thanks to scoreless innings from Camden Minacci and Eric Adler out of the bullpen.

How It Happened

In his first action since Feb. 27, Ryan Cusick came out firing, pitching a perfect inning in the first frame of the contest.
Wake Forest opened up the scoring in their first appearance at the plate as Pierce Bennett (leadoff double) scored off a Yellow Jacket error to take a 1-0 lead heading into the second inning.
After allowing a leadoff single, Cusick retired the next three Yellow Jackets (two strikeouts and a ground out) to end the top half of the second.
Cole McNamee reached base after a leadoff walk to begin the Deacs' second offensive appearance. McNamee reached second with one out, but Wake Forest was unable to take advantage of the scoring threat to keep the contest 1-0.
Cusick retired the first two batters of the top half of the third. Georgia Tech responded by adding a pair of base runners (walk and single), but Cusick forced a fly out to keep the Yellow Jackets scoreless.
Cusick upped his strikeout total to six after fanning a pair of Georgia Tech batters in the top of the fourth.
The Deacs added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth after loading the bases with zero outs to extend their lead to 3-0, highlighted by an Adam Cecere RBI single to score Bobby Seymour (in-field single). Shane Muntz (hit by pitch) crossed home thanks to a Parker Pilat SAC fly to center field.
After walking the opening batter, Cusick continued to make quick work on the mound as the sophomore retired the next trio of batters (strikeouts, pop up and fly out) and to keep Wake Forest in front by a tally of 3-0.
Cusick reached double-digit strikeouts in the game after striking out the side in the top of the sixth as the Deacs continued to hold on by a score of 3-0.
Chris Lanzilli knocked in a double in the bottom of the sixth, marking the fourth double of Lanzilli's season.
The Yellow Jackets made it a one-run game in the top of the seventh, plating two runs off a pair of hits. With one out, Camden Minacci was called upon to relieve Hunter Furtado and induced consecutive ground outs to preserve Wake Forest's lead (3-2).
The Deacs added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh, increasing their lead to 4-2 after Shane Muntz was walked with the bases loaded .
- Pierce Bennett (single), Brock Wilken (double) and Bobby Seymour (intentional walk) all reached base in the inning.
Minacci pitched a perfect half inning in the eighth, retiring the Yellow Jackets with a ground out, strike out and fly out to keep the Deacs up 4-2.
Adam Cecere (walk) and Pierce Bennett (hit by pitch) gave the Deacs two base runners for Brock Wilken's double down the left field line, plating Cecere from second. After Georgia Tech intentionally walked Bobby Seymour, Shane Muntz earned a walk the hard way to score Bennett and give Wake Forest a 6-2 lead.
Eric Adler took the mound for the top of the ninth and pitched a perfect inning to secure the win.

In the Spotlight
Ryan Cusick earned his first win since 2019 thanks to his 10 Ks in six innings. The sophomore has struck out at least 10 batters in five of his last seven starts dating back to 2020.

Friday marked the Deacs first win over a ranked opponent since Wake Forest defeated No. 12 Louisville 3-2 on March 7, 2020.

Words from Walter
"Great win. Ryan Cusick, you can't pitch a whole lot better than that. Just super impressed. Missing two starts, and coming out of it and to pitch like that in a big Friday game where we needed to win was super impressive. He was just a warrior all night, he kept coming after them with his fastball. He was landing his curveball a lot better today than he had before the pause, and just super impressed with him. Can't pitch any better than that.

I thought our bullpen obviously did a great job. Really happy with Cam Minacci, comes into a big situation, gets us five outs to keep the game where it is. Really happy with our offense, we did just enough. Obviously (Brant) Hurter, their starter, is really good and is going to be a high draft pick himself. So we knew offense would be tough to come by, and we did just enough offensively, and I think the difference today was we were willing to walk. We had some big walks in big situations, and were able to put together just enough innings to win a ballgame."

On Deck
Wake Forest continues the series against Georgia Tech tomorrow at David F. Couch Ballpark. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.

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Team Stats

Brock Wilken

Pierce Bennett

Bobby Seymour

Chris Lanzilli

Players Mentioned

Eric Adler

Pierce Bennett

Adam Cecere

Ryan Cusick

Hunter Furtado

Chris Lanzilli

Cole McNamee

Camden Minacci

Shane Muntz

Parker Pilat

Bobby Seymour

Brock Wilken

Players Mentioned

Eric Adler

Pierce Bennett

Adam Cecere

Ryan Cusick

Hunter Furtado

Chris Lanzilli

Cole McNamee

Camden Minacci

Shane Muntz

Parker Pilat

Bobby Seymour

Brock Wilken

Wake Forest Athletics