Wake Forest Drops Non-Conference Game at Liberty 8-4

LYNCHBURG, Va. - Wake Forest dropped a non-conference matchup on Wednesday evening to Liberty by a final score of 8-4 at Liberty Baseball Stadium in Lynchburg, Va.

The Deacs (10-12, 5-9 ACC) outhit the Flames (18-8, 8-3 ASUN) in the midweek contest, with six of their 10 hits coming as doubles, but ultimately Liberty's fast start was too much to overcome.

After Wake Forest secured a 1-0 lead following a RBI double from Bobby Seymour to open the game, Liberty scored five-straight to take a 5-1 lead after two innings. A base knock from Chris Lanzilli in the third scored Wake Forest's second run of the game before Liberty answered with a run in the fourth and their final two runs in the sixth. The Deacs dug into the lead in the eighth, plating a pair of runs behind a double from Adam Cecere.

Lucas Costello, Seymour and Lanzilli led the Deacs at the plate with two hits each, as the trio registered half of Wake Forest's extra base hits. Shane Muntz added a two-bagger to lead off the sixth, while Brock Wilken doubled to center field with one out in the ninth.

Six Deacs took to the mound in the midweek contest as Cole McNamee made his first start since his freshman season. Brennen Oxford threw 2.1 innings and struck out a team-best two batters. Behind the arms of Oxford and Teddy McGraw, the Deacs allowed no hits in the three consecutive frames.

Additionally, the freshmen duo of Camden Minacci and Hunter Furtado tossed 1.1 innings and only gave up one hit a piece.

How It Happened

A RBI double that launched over the right field wall from Bobby Seymour scored Lucas Costello with one out to give Wake Forest an early 1-0 lead after the opening half inning.
- Costello started off the game with a single up the middle. He proceeded to steal second and advance to third on a wild pitch. Michael Turconi (walk) and Seymour were stranded as the Flames retired the next two Deacs.
Liberty overtook the lead in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs with two outs after loading the bases.
- McNamee ended the threat with a fly out to Adam Cecere in shallow left field.
The Flames added three runs to the lead (5-2) behind four hits, including a pair of RBI triples.
A single from Chris Lanzilli with two outs in the third plated Brock Wilken (fielding error) to make it a 5-2 game.
Brennen Oxford, who took over the pitching duties with one out in the second, tossed a perfect third inning, including his second strikeout.
Brendan Tinsman knocked in a leadoff single to open the fourth. After Tinsman advanced to second on a wild pitch, Liberty ended the inning with a double play following a diving catch in center field.
A sac fly with one out added to Liberty's lead (6-2) in the fourth. Teddy McGraw was called upon following the run and induced the final out of the inning with a pop up to Pierce Bennett.
Brock Wilken drew a two-out walk in the fifth and advanced to third following Seymour's second hit of the night. Liberty forced a ground out to end the inning and keep their 6-2 lead.
McGraw recorded a perfect frame, forcing a pair of fly outs and a ground out in his first full inning of work.
Shane Muntz doubled to begin the top half of the sixth, but nothing was doing for the Deacs as the next three batters were retired.
Liberty tacked on a pair of runs in the next half inning, extending their lead to 8-2 after a two-out base hit.
The Deacs once again knocked in a leadoff double in the seventh, this time coming from Costello, who advanced to third base on a ground out with one out. The Flames ended the inning the following batter.
Camden Minacci and Hunter Furtado combined for a scoreless seventh as Liberty held on to their 8-2 lead.
- Minacci retired the opening two batters with a strike out and a line out. Furtado allowed a hit to the first batter he faced, but ended the inning with a line out.
Adam Cecere blasted a ball through the infield in the eighth inning to chip into Liberty's lead (8-4) as his double plated Chris Lanzilli (double) and Muntz (hit by pitch)..
Furtado pitched another perfect frame in the bottom half of the inning, forcing three ground outs.
The Deacs placed a pair of base runners on following a double from Brock Wilken and a Chris Lanzilli walk, but Liberty induced a fly out to end the game and claim a 8-4 win.

In the Spotlight
Lucas Costello extended his hit streak to a team-high nine games on Wednesday evening, finishing 2-for-5 at the plate with one run scored. The two-hit performance marked the eighth time Costello has recorded at least two hits in a game this season.

Overall, the Miami, Fla. native has tallied a hit in 16 of Wake Forest's 22 games, with the series finale versus Georgia Tech on March 21, 2021 being the last time the freshman did not record a hit.

Words from Walter
"Obviously a disappointing loss. We just weren't good enough on the mound today. We had seven situational at-bats, we only executed one of them. If we find a way to push across a few more runs there in those innings, we put a little more pressure on them.

College baseball is a momentum-based sport. If you don't grab the momentum then it's an uphill battle when the team has the momentum in their dugout the whole game. We were just never able to grab that momentum by good innings on the mound or stringing a bunch of good at-bats together. We've got to recover and be ready on Friday for a big series."

On Deck
Wake Forest will be back in action for a conference series against Virginia Tech on April 9-11 at David F. Couch Ballpark.

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Players Mentioned

Pierce Bennett

Adam Cecere

Lucas Costello

Hunter Furtado

Chris Lanzilli

Teddy McGraw

Cole McNamee

Camden Minacci

Shane Muntz

Brennen Oxford

Bobby Seymour

Brendan Tinsman

Michael Turconi

Brock Wilken