Deacs Dominant in 2022 Season Opening Win

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Wake Forest baseball team opened its 2022 season on Friday night with a dominant 25-3 win against Lafayette. This was the first three games against a trio of different institutions on the opening weekend inside David F. Couch Ballpark.

With the win, the Deacs won their eighth-straight season opener dating back to 2015 and tonight marked Wake Forest's largest margin of victory in a season opener since 2003.

The Deacons' 25 runs were the most they have scored since March 10, 2015 and Friday was the first time they scored 20-plus runs since April 13, 2019 against Pitt. Additionally, 20 hits were the most in a single game since Feb. 15, 2020 against UW-Milwaukee. Defensively, Wake Forest (1-0) held the Leopards (0-1) to just three runs on eight hits, while three Demon Deacons pitchers combined to fan nine hitters.

Wake Forest scored its first run of the season in the third inning when sophomore Lucas Costello plated redshirt sophomore Pierce Bennett on an RBI single.

The Deacons went on to score a program single-inning record-tying 16 runs in the fifth, and they tacked on another eight in the sixth. Despite Lafayette scoring three times in its half of the sixth inning, both teams agreed that the top of the seventh inning would be the conclusion of the game.

Wake Forest held the Leopards scoreless in the final half-inning and won the game, 25-3.

On the mound, sophomore righthander Rhett Lowder claimed his first victory of the season, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out six Leopard batters.

How It Happened

Rhett Lowder tossed a scoreless first inning to open the new season. After Danny Corona turned a double play for the first two outs, Lowder forced a ground out with a runner on third to get out of the frame unscathed.
After the Deacs went down in order, Lowder kept Lafayette off the scoreboard for the second-straight inning.
- The Leopards knocked in a single after Lowder induced a pop out to Wilken at third base to open the second. The right-hander forced consecutive outs, highlighted by his first strikeout of the game.
Lowder fanned his second and third batter of the game in the third inning, keeping the game scoreless.
The Deacs took a one-run lead (1-0) after Lucas Costello's RBI single that scored Pierce Bennett, who singled to open the bottom of the third.
- After his first base hit of 2022, Bennett advanced to third base following a throwing error on a pickoff.
- After his single, Costello stole second before advancing to third following a fly out.
- With two outs, Brock Wilken drew a walk before a strikeout stranded the Valrico, Fla. native and Costello at the corners.
Lowder continued to deal, throwing a three up, three down top of the fourth, highlighted by a pair of strikeouts to end the top of the fourth.
The fifth inning saw a flurry of runs for the Demon Deacons, quickly turning the tide in favor of Wake Forest.
- The Demon Deacons scored 16 runs on 11 hits. The run total was a program-record tying mark that was last matched on April 23, 1992 against Campbell.
- Seven runs came via the long ball as Pierce Bennett hit a grand slam to right and that was followed up three batters later by a three-run shot from Brock Wilken, the 18th of his short Wake Forest career.
  - The grand slam was the first of Bennett's career.
After the Leopards answered with their only three runs of the game in the top of the sixth inning, Wake Forest answered with eight runs on four hits to take a commanding 25-3 lead.
- The frame was highlighted by a Turconi grand slam, which was the first of his career.
Following the bottom of the sixth, both teams agreed that the top of the seventh inning would be the conclusion of the game.
- Redshirt sophomore Reed Mascolo took the bump for the final half-inning and retired the side allowing just two hits and ending the game with a strikeout.

Words from Walter
"It's always good to start the year with a win. I think Rhett Lowder threw the ball really well tonight. Lafayette came out aggressive early but Rhett did a great job getting ahead in counts early. Offensively, Pierce Bennett was the catalyst for us from the nine slot and we still have a fresh bullpen heading into the rest of the weekend. Overall, tonight was a good performance."

In the Spotlight
This marks the eighth-straight season the Deacs won their season opener, marking Wake Forest's largest margin of victory in a season opener since 2003.

The Deacons' 25 runs were the most they have scored since March 10, 2015 and Friday was the first time they scored 20-plus runs since April 13, 2019 against Pitt. Additionally, 20 hits were the most in a single game since Feb. 15, 2020 against UW-Milwaukee.

Additionally, Wake Forest went on to score a program single-inning record-tying 16 runs in the fif

On Deck
The Deacs are back at the David F. Couch Ballpark on Saturday night when they face Georgetown. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.

For fans not in attendance at the Couch on Saturday, the game can also be seen on ACC Network Extra.

Follow The Deacs:

GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Next Event

Team Stats

Pierce Bennett

Michael Turconi

Brock Wilken

Adam Cecere

Players Mentioned

Pierce Bennett

Danny Corona

Lucas Costello

Rhett Lowder

Reed Mascolo

Brock Wilken

Players Mentioned

Pierce Bennett

Danny Corona

Lucas Costello

Rhett Lowder

Reed Mascolo

Brock Wilken

Wake Forest Athletics