Wake Forest University
9-0
Elon
4-4
Wake Forest Moves to 9-0 with 10-2 Win Against Elon
3/1/2022 8:53:00 PM | Baseball
The Demon Deacon arms gave up just two hits while striking out 14 batters in the midweek victory.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Wake Forest baseball team moved to 9-0 with a 10-2 midweek victory against Elon on Tuesday inside David F. Couch Ballpark.
The Demon Deacons, who are off to their best start since 1964, were led by a tremendous effort on the mound from five arms. As a unit, Wake Forest pitchers conceded just two hits while striking out 14 and walking just three Elon (4-4) batters.
Reed Mascolo tossed a hitless three innings with five strikeouts to set the tone in his first start of the season. Mascolo retired five-straight batters over the second and third innings to keep the Phoenix offense at bay.
Derek Crum earned the first win of his career with a two-inning outing consisting of three strikeouts and no hits.
Additionally, both Camden Minacci (2.0 innings) and Eric Adler (1.2 innings) fanned a trio of batters in their relief appearances. Brennen Oxford was called upon with two outs in the ninth and clinched the victory with a fly out to center field.
Elon found the scoreboard first in the top of the fifth inning, scoring a pair of runs to take a 2-0 lead. Undaunted, Wake Forest rattled off 10-straight runs over the final four frames to claim the midweek victory.
Nick Kurtz led the Deacs at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a solo home run, the fourth of his freshman season.
Chris Katz opened a five-run seventh inning with a RBI-double off the left field wall, scoring Pierce Bennett. Later on in the frame, Michael Turconi launched his third triple of the season to score a pair before Brock Wilken tallied his 14th RBI of the season following Turconi's three-bagger.
Jake Reinisch continued his hot start at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance, highlighted by a key RBI-double in the eighth while Danny Corona plated two runs with fielder's choice and sac fly.
How It Happened
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Reed Mascolo got out to a hot start on the mound for Wake Forest, striking out three batters in the first inning.
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Nick Kurtz led off the game with a single before advancing to second on a wild pitch with two outs. A ground out ended Wake Forest's first scoring threat of the contest.
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Mascolo tossed another scoreless frame in the second, working around a one-out walk with back-to-back ground outs.
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The game remained scoreless as Mascolo increased his strikeout total to five after a three-up, three-down third frame.
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Cam Minacci took over on the hill for Mascolo and fanned his first batter faced for the opening out of the fourth. Adam Cecere made a diving play in left field for the second out before Minacci induced a ground out to end the inning after Elon tallied their first base hit of the day.
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Elon took a 2-0 lead after a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning.
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Minacci struck out the next three batters to end the top of the fifth.
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Nick Kurtz lasered a single to center field to score Chris Katz (fielder's choice) and Jake Reinisch (walk), tying the game at 2 after five frames.
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Pierce Bennett started off the inning with a single down the left field line before Chris Katz reached on a fielder's choice. The Deacs loaded the bases after a Reinisch walk and a single from Danny Corona.
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Derek Crum pitched a perfect 1-2-3 top of the sixth, highlighted by a strikeout to the opening Elon batter of the inning, to keep it tied at 2.
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The game remained tied at 2 after Brendan Tinsman threw out an Elon baserunner trying to steal second and two strikeouts from Crum in the top of the seventh.
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Wake Forest's offense exploded for five runs in the bottom of the seventh to break the tie and take a 7-2 advantage.
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Chris Katz blasted an RBI double off the left field wall to score Pierce Bennett before a fielder's choice scored Tommy Hawke, who pinch ran for Katz.
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Michael Turconi cleared the bases with a triple to deep center field before Brock Wilken lasered an RBI single to left field to score Turconi.
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Eric Adler tossed a three-up, three-down eighth inning, fanning a Phoenix batter for the first and final out of the inning as Wake Forest took their 7-2 lead into the bottom half of the eighth.
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The Deacs tacked on a trio of runs in the eighth, pushing their lead to 10-2 behind a RBI-double from Reinisch, a SAC fly from Corona and a solo home run by Kurtz.
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Tommy Hawke was plated on Reinisch's double after tallying a one-out double.
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Reinsich crossed home on Corona's RBI after advancing to third base on his base knock after a fielding error.
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Adler came back out in the ninth, striking out the leadoff batter before inducing a groundout to Kurtz at first base. Brennen Oxford forced a fly out to clinch the 10-2 non-conference win.
Words from Walter
"I was really happy with the way Reed Mascolo threw tonight. He held them at bay for three innings even though we didn't help him out offensively. I was also really proud of Derek Crum's performance tonight, he came in and did a great job when we needed him. Offensively, we struggled early but from the fifth inning on we did a great job. We had some great at-bats with two outs and eventually got our offense going because of it. It's great to see different guys continue to step up from different places in the lineup. It shows the potential this team has once everyone is on."
Standout Stat
The Deacs are off to one of the best starts in program history with an 9-0 record, the first time since 1964 Wake Forest has won their first nine games. Wake Forest headed into Tuesday's game as one of 17 unbeaten teams in Division I. The Deacs best starts to begin a season:
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9-0: 2022, 1964, 1961, 1949, 1937, 1913
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10-0: 1964, 1961, 1949, 1913
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11-0: 1961, 1949
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12-0: 1949
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13-0: 1949
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14-0: 1949
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15-0: 1949
Wake Forest has outscored their opponents 117-30 to open the new campaign with a team batting average of .386 and team ERA of just 2.62.
On Deck
Wake Forest wraps up their season-opening home stand with non-conference games against UMass-Lowell (Friday, March 4) and Central Michigan (Saturday, March 5) before heading out on the road for the first time in 2022 on Tuesday, March 8 when the Deacs face Coastal Carolina at Springs Brooks Stadium.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Crum, Derek (1-0)
L: Seguin, Cam (0-1)
Batting:
HR: Reynolds, Cole 1
RBI: Reynolds, Cole 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Frontino, Samuel 1 ; Reynolds, Cole 1
SB: Iadisernia, Alex 1
CS: Frontino, Samuel 1
HBP: Frontino, Samuel 1
Batting:
2B: Katz, Chris 1 ; Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Reinisch, Jake 1
3B: Turconi, Michael 1
HR: Kurtz, Nick 1
RBI: Kurtz, Nick 3 ; Turconi, Michael 2 ; Wilken, Brock 1 ; Katz, Chris 1 ; Reinisch, Jake 1 ; Corona, Danny 2
SF: Corona, Danny 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kurtz, Nick 2 ; Turconi, Michael 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Katz, Chris 1 ; Hawke, Tommy 2 ; Reinisch, Jake 2 ; Corona, Danny 1
HBP: Kurtz, Nick 1
