Wake Forest University
4-0
UNC Greensboro
1-3
Wake Forest Blasts Eight Home Runs, Beats UNC-Greensboro 23-3
2/22/2022 9:10:00 PM | Baseball
Behind 21 hits, eight home runs and seven scoreless innings on the mound, the Deacs powered past the Spartans in their first midweek matchup of 2022.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Wake Forest baseball team moved to 4-0 on the new season with a 23-3 victory over UNC-Greensboro in their first midweek game of the 2022 season on Tuesday inside David F. Couch Ballpark.
Through four games this season, Wake Forest (4-0) has plated 63 runs (15.75 runs per game), the second- most runs through the first four games in program history (1951). Also, the Deacs have only conceded 11 runs (2.75 per game), the fewest number of runs the Deacs have allowed in the first four games in head coach Tom Walter's tenure.
Additionally, this marks just the second time in program history the Deacs have registered at least 20 runs multiple times during the opening four games of a season. Wake Forest plated 29 runs against Argentina and 23 runs against Brazil as the United States representative in the 1951 Pan-American Games.
The Deacs used 21 hits, eight home runs and seven scoreless innings on the mound to defeat the Spartans (1-3). After a scoreless first frame from Seth Keener on the mound, Wake Forest jumped out to a 6-0 lead. Home runs from Brock Wilken, Adam Cecere and Danny Corona in the bottom half of the inning made sure the Demon Deacons led the rest of the way.
Wake Forest also plated six runs in the third and eighth innings, while tacking on four in the bottom of the fifth.
Eight Demon Deacons registered at least two hits, led by Corona and Brendan Tinsman with three apiece.
Corona blasted the first home runs in his Wake Forest career in the first and eighth frames. Additionally, Lucas Costello (fifth inning) and Mark Black (eighth inning) tallied grand slams in the win.
The Deacs used seven arms in the win, led by Keener. In his first collegiate start, the Pilot Mountain, N.C. native earned his first career win, allowing just one earned run and three hits in two innings of work.
Wake Forest's bullpen continued to shut down UNC Greensboro's offense. Gabe Golob, Camden Minacci, Derek Crum, Crawford Wade, Jacob Grzebinski and Reed Mascolo pitched in relief, led by Minacci with a three-strikeout frame in the top of the fifth.
How It Happened
-
Seth Kenner opened the midweek contest with a scoreless first inning after striking out the first batter he faced. Keener picked off a base runner at first for the second out before inducing a groundout to end the frame.
-
Wake Forest's bats came alive in the first inning, taking a 6-0 lead thanks to three home runs and a RBI-double from Jake Reinisch. .
-
Brock Wilken opened the scoring with a two-run laser over the left field wall, scoring Michael Turconi (triple).
-
Adam Cecere knocked one out to right field right after Wilken to increase the Deacs' lead to 3-0 with one out.
-
Danny Corona's first career home run plated Brendan Tinsman, who singled.
-
Reinisch plated Pierce Bennett (single) for the sixth and final run of the frame.
-
Overall, the Deacs tallied seven hits in the first inning to take the early advantage.
-
-
The Spartans were able to cut into the Wake Forest lead in the top of the second with two runs on three hits.
-
The second UNC-Greensboro run was plated after a throwing error with the bases loaded.
-
-
Turconi led off the bottom of the second with a home run to left field, pushing Wake Forest's advantage to 7-2.
-
After a pair of strikeouts, Tinsman singled to third base before a groundout ended the bottom of the second.
-
-
Gabe Golob took over on the mound to begin the third, tossing a scoreless frame after fanning a Spartan batter for the third out.
-
Tinsman threw a UNC-Greensboro base runner out trying to steal second base for the second out.
-
-
The Deacs plated six runs in the bottom of the third behind a two-RBI double from Wilken, an RBI single from Cecere, a passed ball and a two-run home run from Tinsman.
-
All of Wake Forest's runs in the third came with two outs.
-
-
UNC-Greensboro added a run with two outs in the top half of the fourth. With runners on the corners, Camden Minacci took over on the mound and induced a fly out in foul territory to keep Wake Forest's advantage at 10 (13-3).
-
Golob forced back-to-back groundouts to open the inning.
-
-
Nick Kurtz rocketed a double to left field to advance Reinisch to third base with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. The Deacs loaded the bases after a Turconi walk, but were unable to add to their lead as a strikeout ended the inning.
-
Minacci worked his way out of a bases loaded jam in the top half of the fifth inning as the right hander fanned three batters in the inning as Wake Forest held onto their 13-3 lead.
-
Lucas Costello blasted a home run to left field to clear the bases and increase the Demon Deacon lead to 17-3 after five full frames.
-
Corona (single), Reinisch (walk) and Pierce Bennett (fielder's choice) all scored on Wake Forest's sixth homer of the game.
-
-
Crawford Wade took over on the mound in the top of the seventh, tossing a three up, three down inning.
-
Wade fanned the opening batter of the frame before inducing a groundout and a fly out for the final two outs.
-
-
Jacob Grzebinski kept the Spartans out of the scoring column for the fourth-straight frame with a strikeout and an inning-ending 643 double play in the top of the eighth.
-
The Deacs increased their lead to 23-3 with six runs in the bottom half of the inning with a grand slam from Mark Black, a bases-loaded walk and a solo shot to right field by Danny Corona.
-
Reed Mascolo closed the game on the mound with a scoreless inning in the ninth to clinch a 23-3 victory for the Deacs.
Words from Walter
"We scored early and I was happy to see our offense continue to put the ball in play and turn those hits into runs. Seth Keener bounced back in the second inning and I was proud of him for that. Our bullpen did a great job today after Seth. We got a lot of guys on the mound tonight and they responded. I'm pleased with our team and I like where we are heading into a four-game series this upcoming weekend."
Stand Out Stat
Through four games this season, Wake Forest has plated 63 runs (15.75 runs per game), the second- most runs through the first four games in program history (1951). Also, the Deacs have only conceded 11 runs (2.75 per game), the second time the Deacs have allowed 11 runs or less in the first four games in head coach Tom Walter's tenure (2014).
Additionally, this marks just the second time in program history the Deacs have registered at least 20 runs multiple times during the opening four games of a season. Wake Forest plated 29 runs against Argentina and 23 runs against Brazil as the United States representative in the 1951 Pan-American Games.
On Deck
Wake Forest returns to David F. Couch Ballpark with a quartet of non-conference contests against 2021 NCAA Tournament qualifier New Jersey Tech on Feb. 25-27.
The first pitch for Friday's series opener is slated for 4 p.m. and will air on ACC Network Extra.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Keener, Seth (1-0)
L: Austin Koehn (0-2)
Batting:
RBI: Kennedy Jones 2 ; Matt Kemp 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Greg Hardison 1 ; Mitchell Smith 1 ; Matt Kemp 1
CS: Zack Budzik 1
HBP: Zack Budzik 1
PO: Pres Cavenaugh 1
Batting:
2B: Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Broderick, James 1 ; Wilken, Brock 1 ; Reinisch, Jake 1
3B: Turconi, Michael 1
HR: Turconi, Michael 1 ; Wilken, Brock 1 ; Cecere, Adam 1 ; Tinsman, Brendan 1 ; Black, Mark 1 ; Corona, Danny 2 ; Costello, Lucas 1
RBI: Turconi, Michael 1 ; Wilken, Brock 4 ; Cecere, Adam 2 ; Joye, Kyle 1 ; Tinsman, Brendan 2 ; Black, Mark 4 ; Corona, Danny 3 ; Reinisch, Jake 1 ; Costello, Lucas 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Kurtz, Nick 2 ; Turconi, Michael 2 ; Broderick, James 1 ; Wilken, Brock 2 ; Sehgal, Zach 1 ; Cecere, Adam 2 ; Joye, Kyle 1 ; Tinsman, Brendan 2 ; Black, Mark 1 ; Corona, Danny 3 ; Bennett, Pierce 2 ; Reinisch, Jake 2 ; Costello, Lucas 2
SB: Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Costello, Lucas 1
CS: Bennett, Pierce 1
HBP: Corona, Danny 1
