Wake Forest University
Appalachian State
Deacs Welcome Appalachian State for Non-Conference Contest
3/29/2021 6:33:00 PM | Baseball
Wake Forest returns home after a 3-1 week on the road.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - After earning three victories last week, highlighted by their first Atlantic Coast Conference series victory of the season, Wake Forest returns to David F. Couch Ballpark on Tuesday for a non-conference contest against Appalachian State.
Wake Forest (8-9, 4-7 ACC) will look to carry their momentum from a successful weekend in Tallahassee into their seventh non-conference game of the season against the Mountaineers (11-11, 4-2 Sun Belt), who dropped two out of three games against Georgia Southern over the weekend.
First pitch is set for 6 p.m ET. Fans can catch the game on ACC Network Extra, or stream the radio broadcast live through the Wake Forest Athletics app.
Stay tuned to the Demon Deacons social media accounts (@WakeBaseball) for all in-game updates and information.
Bats Beam Bright in Sunshine State
The Deacs' bats came alive in their two victories versus the Seminoles, combining for 20 runs and five HRs on Saturday and Sunday. Brock Wilken (Saturday) and Bobby Seymour (Sunday) each posted two-home run performances to lead the Deacs at the plate. The duo combined for 11 RBIs, as Wilken posted a career-high six on Saturday after a grand slam.
The trio of Lucas Costello, Michael Ludowig and Chris Lanzilli tallied multi-hit performances in each win. Lanzilli blasted his fourth homer of the season following Seymour's first on Sunday as they became the first Demon Deacon teammates in almost two years to hit back-to-back home runs.
Pierce Bennett was unphased on Sunday, driving in a pair of runs after two RBI singles in clutch situations.
Uptick in Offensive Production
The Deacs' successful week against Elon and Florida State mostly due to an uptick in their offensive production compared to their first six games after their 12-day pause.
Last week- (3-1)
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.241 batting average
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8 HRs
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33 hits (8.2 a game)
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25 runs
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22 RBIs
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.455 slg %
First Six Games after Pause
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.163 batting average
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4 HRs
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30 hits (5 a game)
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15 runs
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14 RBI
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.288 slg %
Cusick Throwing K's
Ryan Cusick has posted dominating performances in his last two starts, striking out a combined 22 batters and giving up zero runs in back-to-back appearances.
On Friday night against the red-hot Seminoles, the sophomore gave up a season-low two hits in his five scoreless innings of work while fanning double-digit batters for their third-straight start and the sixth time in his last eight starts. Cusick struck out seven of the first 12 Seminoles he faced.
Cusick was electric against No. 11 Georgia Tech on March 19, striking out 10 batters in six frames. The sophomore only gave up three hits and two walks across his entire start to help Wake Forest post their first win against a ranked opponent since the Deacs defeated No. 12 Louisville 3-2 on March 7, 2020.
Currently, he leads the ACC in strikeouts per nine innings (17.33), while ranking fifth in total strikeouts with 43.
100-Hit Club
Wake Forest is just one of two teams in the nation with four active players that have tallied at least 100 hits during their collegiate careers:
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Bobby Seymour- 184
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Chris Lanzilli- 164
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Michael Ludowig- 117
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Shane Muntz- 115
Seymour is set to become the 28th player in Wake Forest history to join the 200-Hit club as the junior is just 16 base hits away from the mark.
Jake Mueller (2016-19) was the last Deac to reach the mark with 203 base hits.
Michael Turconi is currently 12 hits from joining the 100-hit crew, as the sophomore has recorded 88 hits through 79 career games.
Fanning the Opposition
Led by Rhett Lowder's career-high 10 Ks, Wake Forest fanned a record-setting number of batters in their game versus Coastal Carolina on Feb. 23. Overall, the Deacs struck out 20 batters in 12 innings, the most by a Wake Forest pitching staff since at least 1999. Currently, the 20 strikeouts sit as the third-highest total in a game this season.
The bullpen continued Lowder's momentum into the latter innings:
• 3- Brennen Oxford and Reed Mascolo
• 2- Camden Minacci
• 1- Eric Adler and Cole McNamee
Wilken Off to Historic Pace
Through his first 17 career games, freshman Brock Wilken hit six home runs to lead the Wake Forest bats. His six homers are the most through a Demon Deacons' first 17 games since 2009 when Carlos Lopez hit seven homers in his first 17 contests for Wake Forest.
The Valrico, Fla. native needs 11 more home runs in the Deacs' 28 remaining games to tie the freshman record, which is held by Jamie D'Antona (2001) with 17 homers.
Additionally, current Deacs Brendan Tinsman (10) and Chris Lanzilli (9) sit in the top 10 after their freshman season in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Last Time Out
Wake Forest took two of three in a crucial weekend series against No.17 Florida State in Tallahassee. On Sunday, the Deacs earned their eighth win of the season, and the series clincher by a final tally of 12-10. Bobby Seymour led the Deacs with three hits and five RBIs, including two monster home runs for the second time of his career. Following Seymour's heroics, Chris Lanzilli hit his fourth home run of the season. The trio of Lucas Costello, Pierce Bennett, and Michael Ludowig all recorded multi-hit games in the victory. The Deacs finished with 13 hits as seven different players knocked in a base hit.
Freshman Hunter Furtado earned his first collegiate win, pitching 1.0 relief innings. Rhett Lowder pitched five innings in his fourth career start, allowing just two walks as he struck out five batters in the win. Camden Minacci pitched a scoreless eighth inning, despite entering the game with a runner on base. Eric Adler picked up his fourth save of the season, slamming the door in the ninth inning for the second consecutive game with a pair of strikeouts to secure the victory.
Opponent & Series History
Wake Forest leads the all-time series against the Mountaineers by a tally of 45-15, including an eight-game win streak over the 2015-19 seasons.
During the streak, the Deacs outscored the Mountaineers by a tally of 73-45 and reached double figures in five of those games.
App. State squeaked out a 11-9 victory on Feb. 26, 2020 to break the streak.
Mountaineers Preview
App State heads into the midweek, non-conference battle after a series loss against Georgia Southern. The Mountaineers salvaged the series with a 3-1 win on Sunday, highlighted by a Robby Young homer. Sophomore Noah Hall picked up his fourth win of the season, allowing just one run in six innings.
The Mountaineers started the season hot, winners of five of the first six games against Winthrop, ETSU, and North Carolina A&T. Appalachian State was swept by No.17 ranked East Carolina and UNC Wilmington in back to back series, before taking care of Arkansas State in three straight games.
Leadoff hitter Luke Drumheller leads the team with a .329 average and 19 RBIs on the season. As far as the pitching goes, the three marquee starters Noah Hall, Tyler Tuthill, and Quinton Martinez have combined to throw for 82 strikeouts and just 37 walks.
On Deck
Wake Forest will play four consecutive games on the road, beginning with a three-game series at Louisville on April 2-4 for another ACC road series.
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