Senior Day Salute: Wake Forest Ends 2021 Season with Sweep of Pittsburgh Panthers

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Wake Forest University baseball team (20-27/10-22 ACC) swept its series against Pittsburgh (22-19/16-17 ACC) with a convincing 10-2 victory on Saturday afternoon at Couch Ballpark. The Demon Deacons exploded for seven runs in the seventh inning and senior William Fleming (4-6) secured the Deacs first ACC sweep since their series at Boston College in 2018 as he tossed 6.2 strong innings to go along with five strikeouts and just two runs allowed.

Offensively, Wake Forest pounded 12 hits on Saturday and all of its 10 runs were driven in by a student-athlete that was honored during the pregame Senior Day ceremony.

Pitt opened the scoring in the game with a pair of solo home runs in the fourth inning. Undaunted a couple of innings later, Wake Forest overtook the lead (3-2) behind home runs from Bobby Seymour (solo) and Shane Muntz (two-run) in the home half of the sixth.

Following a Chris Lanzilli single that prompted a Panthers pitching change, Muntz's blast came on the first pitch from reliever Chase Smith (2-2) to give the Deacons the lead for good.
In the seventh, the Deacs' offense exploded with seven runs behind two home runs and a two-RBI single from Lanzilli and Muntz's second home run of the game. Additionally, before the frame ended, Cole McNamee launched his fourth long-fly of the season.

Relievers Teddy McGraw, Reese Robinson and McNamee combined to throw the final 3.1 innings on the mound for Wake Forest and allowed no runs, one hit and notched a pair of strikeouts.

Wake Forest now enters the offseason. Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com and the Demon Deacons social media platforms for updates on where our student-athletes will be competing in summer ball and all the latest news and information about the program.

How It Happened

William Fleming got the ball on the mound and tossed a trio of perfect innings to begin the game, including three strikeouts.
Pitt got on the board with back-to-back solo homers in the top of the fourth.
- Fleming fanned his fourth batter of the game for the second out of the inning.
Bobby Seymour and Shane Muntz knocked in a pair of singles in the bottom of the fourth. A fielder's choice and a pair of fly outs ended the Deacs' opportunity to chip into Pitt's lead (2-0).
Teams traded scoreless innings as Pitt continued to lead 2-0 through five full innings of play.
Wake Forest overtook the lead (3-2) behind home runs from Bobby Seymour (solo) and Shane Muntz (two-run) in the home half of the sixth.
- Chris Lanzilli scored on Muntz's 12th HR of the season as the outfielder singled following Seymour's shot.
Fleming forced the first two outs of the seventh inning before Teddy McGraw replaced him on the hill. McGraw induced a ground out to the first batter he faced to help Wake Forest maintain its 3-2 advantage.
The Deacs' offense exploded in the seventh inning, plating seven runs behind two home runs and a two-RBI single from Lanzilli, and increasing their lead to 10-2 heading into the eighth.
- Lanzilli got the rally started with his base knock after Seymour was intentionally walked to load the bases with two outs.
- Muntz immediately responded with his second home run of the game, clearing the bases to bring home a trio of runs.
- Cole McNamee ended the scoring with a two-run long-fly to left field, scoring Ludowig, who was walked.
After McGraw fanned the first Pitt batter to open the eighth, Reese Robinson replaced him and induced a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
After a scoreless eighth inning, Cole McNamee finished the game for the Demon Deacons on the bump and a clean frame that included a strikeout to end Saturday's contest.

In The Spotlight
Bobby Seymour ends his career in the Old Gold & Black tied for 21st for the most hits in program history (223) and with the sixth-most career RBIs (190). This season, Bobby hit a career-high 21 home runs, which is tied for the second most by a Demon Deacon in a single season and leads the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Words From Walter
"Obviously, I am thrilled for our seniors. Not only did we go out on a positive note by sweeping the series, but we also had contributions from all of the seniors. William Fleming had a great outing to earn the win on the mound. Michael Ludowig walked and scored a run and made a great running catch in left field. Shane Muntz hit two homeruns. Chris Lanzilli had a huge two-out single. After they walked Bobby Seymour, he hit a homerun to get us on the board. Reese Robinson got a big out and Cole McNamee hit a homer and got three outs on the mound to close the game out. I can't forget Antonio Menendez, who literally gave his right arm to the program. I'm proud of these guys and all eight Demon Deacons who earned degrees and contributed to a win today."

2021 Season Highlights
Recap

The Deacs began their season with a non-conference series victory versus Northeastern at David F. Couch Ballpark on Feb. 19-21.
- Wake Forest took the first two games of the series, beginning with a 8-6 victory in the season opener. Brock Wilken's late-game heroics gave the Demon Deacons the lead in the eighth inning as the Valrico, Fla. native blasted his first career home run in the eighth inning. Eric Adler picked up his first career win, while Camden Minacci earned his first career save after setting down the order in the top of ninth.
- The Deacs followed up that performance with their first shutout victory of the season, posting an 8-0 victory highlighted by six scoreless innings on the mound from William Fleming. The trio of Michael Ludowig, Pierce Bennett and Bobby Seymour smacked three hits apiece to lead Wake Forest at the plate.
The team returned to The Couch for their first midweek game of the season on Feb. 23 against Coastal Carolina. Rhett Lowder made his first career start on the hill, striking out a career-best 10 batters in six frames. Overall, eight Demon Deacons pitchers combined to strikeout 20 Chanticleers, the most in a game by a Wake Forest pitching staff since at least 1999. The previous high was 17 on March 7, 2020 versus Louisville.
In the first game of a doubleheader on Feb. 27, the Demon Deacons fought back from a 7-2 deficit to claim their first ACC victory by a tally of 10-8 against Notre Dame behind an eighth inning rally. The Deacs plated five runs in the inning, driven by a quartet of RBI-singles from Lucas Costello, Michael Turconi, Shane Muntz and Brock Wilken. Additionally, Cole McNamee, Chris Lanzilli and Wilken all hit home runs to contribute to Wake Forest's second-highest scoring game of 2021.Sophomore Ryan Cusick struck out 12 Irish batters over 5.1 innings in his start, McNamee earned the win after stranding an inherited runner on third in the top of the eighth. Freshman Camden Minacci tallied his second save of the year, slamming the door in the top of the ninth with a fly out, strike out, and ground out.
After five games canceled due to COVID protocols, Wake Forest returned to the diamond on March 12 for their second ACC series against Miami in Coral Gables. After two tough games against the then-No. 5 Hurricanes, the Deacs earned a 4-1 midweek victory against tournament-hopeful Charlotte in Winston-Salem. Wake Forest 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 at bay, limiting the 49ers to just three hits while striking out nine batters.
Wake Forest won four of their next five games, taking a midweek, non-conference contest at Elon, their first ACC series of the year at Florida State and a dominating 15-7 victory in Winston-Salem against Appalachian State.
- The Deacs claimed Saturday's game in Tallahassee after a huge performance from Brock Wilken as the freshman launched a pair of home runs and six RBIs in a slugfest. The bats again showed up in the rubber match as Wake Forest's offense erupted for a season-high 12 runs and three home runs. Bobby Seymour and Chris Lanzilli hit back-to-back home runs to jumpstart the offense in the second. Seymour came back and hit his second HR of the game to extend the Demon Deacons' lead to 8-2.
- Against App State, Wake Forest blasted six home runs in a game for the first time since 2017, highlighted by back-to-back-to-back long-flies from Brock Wilken, Shane Muntz and Michael Ludowig. Cole McNamee picked up the victory in 1.1 relief innings.
Wake Forest tossed back-to-back shutouts to outscore their opponents by an overall tally of 23-0 in victories against Appalachian State and Duke.
- The Deacs controlled the entire midweek contest against the Mountaineers behind five different arms on the mound, holding the Mountaineers without a base hit over the final five frames of game action to register their second shutout of the 2021 season. Overall, Wake Forest matched their season-low total of two hits allowed. During the game, Chris Lanzilli entered the Wake Forest record books with his fifth-inning grand slam.
- The Deacs blanked the Blue Devils behind Cusick's best performance of the season as the sophomore fanned 11 batters, his fourth double-digit strikeout game of 2021, while only allowing four hits. The Sudbury, Mass. native didn't allow more than one hit in any inning and threw a pair of strikeouts in four separate frames. Brennen Oxford and Teddy McGraw finished the job over the next two frames, highlighted by Oxford's three strikeouts over 1.2 innings. Eight of Wake Forest's 11 runs came in the sixth and seventh innings, highlighted by a three-run shot from Muntz and a Seymour grand slam. Both HRs marked the seventh of their junior campaigns.
Wake Forest plated a season-high 17 runs and hit six home runs again in another midweek victory at The Couch against Davidson. The Turconi-Wilken-Seymour trio hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first inning, the second time this season Wake Forest has hit three consecutive home runs in a game.
The Deacs dominated Belmont in a Sunday doubleheader sweep over Belmont as the team hit a combined 10 home runs while giving up just two runs. The Bruins managed just 10 hits across the two contests compared to Wake Forest's 26. Additionally, the Deacs stuck out 23 batters as Rhett Lowder and William Fleming picked up victories on the mound. Both Teddy McGraw and Eric Adler struck out a career-high five batters.
In the 2021 series finale, Wake Forest swept Pittsburgh, marking the Demon Deacons first ACC sweep since their series at Boston College in 2018.
- Overall, for the weekend, Wake Forest's offense scored 28 runs on 35 hits and batted .333 as a team. The Demon Deacons mashed nine home runs and had 16 extra-base hits in the series.
- On the mound, Wake Forest pitchers had a combined 2.33 earned run average and totaled 32 strikeouts.
- In the series finale, Wake Forest pounded 12 hits and all of its 10 runs were driven in by a student-athlete that was honored during the pregame Senior Day ceremony.

Accolades and Achievements

During Wake Forest's second victory of the season versus App State, Chris Lanzilli has hit 42 home runs in his career, the eighth-most in program history and the third-most among active players in Division I. The Stoneham, Mass. native entered the Wake Forest record books with his 37th career home run against App State on April 13.
In just 158 innings, Ryan Cusick has fanned 206 batters in his career. He reached the 200 mark against Pitt with his fourth punch out of the game in the top of the fifth inning. Furthermore, his 108 K's this season are the eighth-most strikeouts in a single campaign by a Demon Deacon. On April 20, Cusick earned his first career ACC Pitcher of the Week accolade for his performance in Wake Forest's 11-0 shutout victory at Duke.
Rhett Lowder finished his first season in the Old Gold and Black with 78 strikeouts, the third-most by a freshman in program history.
Brock Wilken is now at the top of the Wake Forest record book for most home runs by a freshman as his solo shot on Friday, May 21 marked the 17th long-fly of his first collegiate season, tying a 20-year-old record set by Jamie D'Antona.
Bobby Seymour ends his career in the Old Gold & Black tied for 21st for the most hits in program history (223) and with the sixth-most career RBIs (190). This season, Bobby hit a career-high 21 home runs, which is tied for the second most by a Demon Deacon in a single season and leads the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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Wake Forest Athletics

Senior Day Salute: Wake Forest Ends 2021 Season with Sweep of Pittsburgh Panthers

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