Wake Forest University
5-0
New Jersey Tech
2-2
Deacs Claim Series Opener over NJIT Behind Lowder’s Career-High 11 Strikeouts
2/25/2022 9:19:00 PM | Baseball
Sophomore Rhett Lowder struckout a career-high 11 batters to pick up his second win of the season, while the Wake Forest bats remained hot as every starter notched at least one base hit.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Behind a career-high 11 strikeouts in 6.1 innings from sophomore righthander Rhett Lowder and a balanced offensive attack, highlighted by a pair of six-run innings, Wake Forest claimed the series opener over NJIT 16-5 inside David F. Couch Ballpark on Friday.
The Deacs moved to 5-0 for the first time since the 2009 season as Wake Forest has outscored their opponents 79-16 to open the new campaign. Overall, the Demon Deacons are batting .416 as a team and hold a team ERA of just 2.72.
Lowder retired nine-straight batters over the course of the second, third, fourth and fifth innings to earn the second win of his sophomore season.
In the third and fourth frames, the Albemarle, N.C. native tossed consecutive three up, three down frames with four-consecutive strikeouts.
Wake Forest's bats continued to produce runs in big numbers, jumping out to a 6-0 lead over the Highlanders (2-2) in the second after a RBI-double from Danny Corona and back-to-back home runs from Lucas Costello (grand slam) and Nick Kurtz (solo).
The Deacs added four runs in the fourth inning and responded to a five-run seventh from NJIT with six runs of their own in the next half inning to claim the 11-run win.
Every Wake Forest starter notched at least one hit in the victory with six Deacs posting multi-hit performances.
The trio of Jacob Grzebinski, Brennen Oxford and Reed Mascolo pitched in relief of Lowder, highlighted by Mascolo's pair of strikeouts over the final five outs of the game.
How It Happened
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Rhett Lowder opened his second start of the season with a hitless frame in the first.
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Lowder worked around a one-out walk, inducing a groundout and a popup to get out of the inning unscatched.
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Lowder once again kept the Highlanders off the scoreboard with his first two strikeouts of the contest.
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After a leadoff walk, Lowder forced a pop up before striking out a batter to pick up the opening outs of the frame.
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With runners on second and third following a double to left field, Lowder fanned his second NJIT on three pitches to end the top of the second.
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The Deacs jumped out a 6-0 lead into the third inning behind a Lucas Costello grand slam, Nick Kurtz solo home run to center and an RBI-double from Danny Corona.
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Brendan Tinsman was brought home from Corona's two-bagger after leading off the inning with a single.
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Costellos' grand slam scored Jake Reinisch (single), Pierce Bennett (hit by pitch) and Corona.
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Lowder tossed back-to-back three-up, three-down innings in the third and fourth innings, highlighted by striking out the side in the fourth.
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The right hander fanned a pair of NJIT batters to end the third.
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Consecutive doubles from Brock Wilken and Adam Cecere as well as a two-RBI single from Reinisch increased Wake Forest's advantage to 10-0 at the end of the fourth.
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Turconi scored his first run of the game on Wilken's double, while Tinsman (single) and Cecere were plated on Reinisch's base hit.
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Lowder fanned two batters in the top of the fifth, increasing his total to nine in addition to his five scoreless frames.
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NJIT cut Wake Forest's lead (10-5) in half in the top of the seventh with four hits, including a pair of doubles.
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Lowder picked up his 11th strikeout of the game for the first out, setting a new career high.
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The Deacs responded in the next half inning, plating six runs to increase their advantage to 16-5 after seven full innings.
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Mark Black and James Broderick were walked with the bases loaded to score runs, while Bennett scored on an error.
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Chris Katz registered his second hit of the night to score Tommy Hawke.
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Zach Sehgal singled to right field, his first hit in a Wake Forest uniform, to bring home Costello and Katz.
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The Deacs kept NJIT out of the scoring column for the remainder of the game as Brennen Oxford and Reed Mascolo blanked the Highlanders in the eighth and ninth innings to claim the 16-5 victory.
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Mascolo induced the final five outs of the game, including a pair of strikeouts.
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Words from Walter
"Rhett Lowder was great tonight. He had a career-high 11 strikeouts. He had all three of his pitches working tonight and he got stronger as the game went on. Offensively, we did a great job tonight. I was really happy to see us put up a six-run inning in the seventh after emptying our bench. The best thing I saw tonight was Reed Mascolo, that's the best I've seen him throw in a long time. Overall, it was a good opening-series win against a really experienced team. We need to get ready for tomorrow because we know they'll be ready to go."
In The Spotlight
Rhett Lowder tossed the best game of his collegiate career against the Highlanders, striking out 11 while allowing just one earned run and walking just two batters.
Lowder retired seven-straight batters over the course of the second, third and fourth innings, including consecutive three up, three down frames with four-consecutive strikeouts.
Additionally, the Deacs moved to 5-0 for the first time since the 2009 season when the Deacs started 6-0.
On Deck
The Deacs and Highlanders return to David F. Couch Ballpark for a Saturday double-header on Feb. 26, with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
The teams will hit the diamond in the fourth and final game of the series on Sunday, Feb. 27 at 1:00 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lowder, Rhett (2-0)
L: Ryan Fischer (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Julio Marcano 1 ; David Marcano 1 ; Ray Ortiz 1
3B: Jared Donnelly 1
RBI: Julio Marcano 2 ; David Marcano 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Albert Choi 1 ; Julio Marcano 1 ; Paul Franzoni 1 ; Ray Ortiz 1 ; Jared Donnelly 1
Batting:
2B: Katz, Chris 1 ; Wilken, Brock 2 ; Cecere, Adam 1 ; Corona, Danny 1
HR: Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Costello, Lucas 1
RBI: Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Katz, Chris 1 ; Broderick, James 1 ; Wilken, Brock 1 ; Sehgal, Zach 2 ; Cecere, Adam 1 ; Corona, Danny 1 ; Reinisch, Jake 2 ; Black, Mark 1 ; Costello, Lucas 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Katz, Chris 1 ; Turconi, Michael 1 ; Wilken, Brock 1 ; Cecere, Adam 1 ; Tinsman, Brendan 2 ; Cueto, Gio 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 2 ; Corona, Danny 1 ; Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Reinisch, Jake 1 ; Black, Mark 1 ; Costello, Lucas 2
HBP: Cueto, Gio 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1
PO: Turconi, Michael 1
