Wake Forest University
Appalachian State
Wake Forest Blasts Six Home Runs, Beats App State 15-7
3/30/2021 10:28:00 PM | Baseball
The six Demon Deacon home runs are the most hit in a game since 2017.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest rode the momentum of six home runs and scoreless appearances by three relief pitchers to defeat in-state foe Appalachian State 15-7 Tuesday night at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Wake Forest (9-9, 4-7 ACC) took the lead in the first inning and never looked back, scoring a season-high 15 runs on 12 hits. Freshman Brock Wilken led the Deacs at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two home runs while scoring three runs. The third baseman has hit four home runs in his last three games and leads the Deacs with eight for the season.
The Deacs showed tremendous patience at the plate, drawing 12 walks, the most free passes Wake Forest has earned since walking 15 times against Florida State on April 28, 2019.
Cole McNamee earned the win in relief, keeping Appalachian State (11-12, 4-2 Sun Belt) off the scoreboard in 1.1 innings of work after relieving starter Reed Mascolo in the fourth inning. Freshman Crawford Wade and Teddy McGraw also threw scoreless frames to help keep the Mountaineers at bay.
How It Happened
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Reed Mascolo took the mound for the Deacs, pitching a perfect first inning while striking out his first batter of the game to end the inning.
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Wake Forest added a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to take an early 2-0 after loading the bases with walks to Lucas Costello and Michael Turconi and a single from Chris Lanzilli.
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The first two Mountaineers reached base in the second after a single and a walk. Mascolo came back and retired three straight batters, highlighted by back-to-back strikeouts to increase his game total to three.
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The Deacs again added a pair of runs after loading the bases with one out in the second to take a 4-0 lead.
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Shane Muntz knocked in a leadoff single to center field, followed by walks to Costello and Turconi.
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Mascolo started the third with a strikeout, his fourth of the game. After walking the next batter, the right-hander induced a groundout as the Deacs ended the inning with a double play.
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Turconi took the out by himself at second before throwing the batter out at first.
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The Deacs pushed their lead to 7-0 after back-to-back-to-back solo home runs from Brock Wilken (seventh), Muntz (third) and Ludowig (first).
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This marked the first time since March 26, 1991 that the Deacs matched this feat.
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Appalachian State got on the scoreboard in the fourth, making it a 7-2 game. The Mountaineers knocked in three hits, including a double. Cole McNamee took over for Mascolo with two outs in the third and ended the inning with one pitch, forcing a ground out.
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Brock Wilken hit his second solo home run of the day to increase Wake Forest's lead to 8-2.
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The home run marked his fourth in the last three games and the eighth of his freshman season.
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McNamee tossed a perfect fifth inning on the mound for the Deacs, including his first strikeout of the night.
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Michael Turconi walked onto base with two outs in the fifth, but nothing was doing as the Mountaineers induced the third out of the frame the following batter.
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Crawford Wade replaced McNamee in the top of the sixth and forced App State into three straight fly outs to leave the sixth unscatched.
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The Deacs increased their lead to 11-2 thanks to their fifth home run of the night from Adam Cecere, who brought home Bobby Seymour (walk) and Wilken (single).
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Teddy McGraw entered the game and pitched a hitless seventh inning. McGraw fanned one Appalachian State batter to keep the score 11-2.
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To leadoff the bottom half of the inning, Costello knocked in his first hit of the night.
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The Mountaineers chipped into the Deacs' lead (11-5) with a three-run home run in the eighth. Seth Keener replaced McGraw to begin the inning.
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The Deacs would strike back with a grand slam off the bat of Lucas Costello in the bottom half of the inning.
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Ludowig began the eighth with a double, his third extra-base hit of the night, and moved to third after a Muntz deep fly ball to center. Cecere and Parker Pilat were walked to load the bases with one out.
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Reese Robinson would enter in the ninth inning and finish the game, dancing around some Mountaineer hits and walks while giving up two runs for the final score line of 15-7.
In the Spotlight
Brock Wilken, Michael Ludowig and Shane Muntz hit back-to-back-to-back solo home runs in the fourth inning. It was the first time the Deacs hit three consecutive home runs since Wake Forest accomplished this feat against Division II C.W. Post on March 26, 1991.
Adding in an additional home run from Wilken and roundtrippers from Adam Cecere and Lucas Costello, the Deacs hit six home runs in a game for the first time since Wake Forest raked six balls out of the park against USC on February 24, 2017.
Words from Walter
"Obviously a solid win. I thought Shane Muntz swung the bat really well today. He's an important piece to what we're trying to do here, so it was good to see him swing the bat well. It was good to see Michael Ludowig continue to swing the bat well. I think those are two big pieces to our club. I think once we get (Pierce) Bennett and (Brendan) Tinsman back in there we'll be pretty close to full strength. Hopefully we can start to fire on all cylinders here headed into April.
On the mound, Reed Mascolo's first three innings were pretty good. Cole McNamee threw the ball really well. It was good to see Crawford Wade and Teddy McGraw come in and get a zero. I think those are two guys that can be important pieces for us down the stretch. So it was good to see them go in there and have some success. The best thing about tonight was that we were able to rest our four main bullpen pieces that have been getting a lot of work. Oxford, Furtado, Alder, and Minacci didn't have to pitch tonight which was huge headed into the weekend.
Those guys have been getting a ton of work. It's good to see us start to get extra base hits. The back-to-back-to-back set up the game for us to win and be able to pitch some guys that hadn't thrown a whole lot, and get the guys rest that needed rest. So it was a good team win."
On Deck
The Deacs head back on the road for another ACC series, taking on No. 7 Louisville for three games on April 2-4.
The first two games of the set can be seen on ACC Network Extra, while the third and final game will be aired on ESPN2 at 12:30 p.m.
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