Wake Forest University
Coastal Carolina
Deacs Travel to Coastal Carolina for First Road Matchup of Season
3/7/2022 3:31:00 PM | Baseball
Wake Forest closed its season-opening homestand with a perfect 11-0 record, their best start since 1961.
CONWAY, S.C. - The Wake Forest baseball team hits the road for the first time of the season for a midweek contest at Coastal Carolina on Tuesday, March 8 inside Springs Brooks Stadium.
The Demon Deacons, who are off to their best start since 1961, improved to 11-0 with a pair of non-conference wins over UMass-Lowell and Central Michigan this past weekend at The Couch. With the win over the Chippewas, Wake Forest became the second team in the nation to claim 11 wins.
Overall, Wake Forest has outscored their opponents 134-35 to open the new campaign and are one of five unbeaten teams remaining in Division I.
Tuesday's first pitch against the Chanticleers is slated for 4 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.
Stay tuned to the Demon Deacons social media accounts (@WakeBaseball) for all in-game updates and information.
Last Time Out
With the help of a strong pitching performance from freshman lefthander Josh Hartle, the Wake Forest baseball team remained undefeated with a 4-2 victory over Central Michigan on Saturday, March 5 at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Hartle gave the Demon Deacons another stellar performance on the bump, tossing 6.0 strong innings, allowing just one run on three hits while also striking out four Chippewa batters.
The Deacs were held off the scoreboard in the first four frames before pushing home three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The first two runners reached base with a Jake Reinisch single putting runners at the corners. Two batters later, Nick Kurtz drove in Pierce Bennett from third to tie the game.
Michael Turconi gave the Deacs their first lead of the game in the next at-bat, lifting one over the leftfield wall, making it a 3-1 Wake Forest lead. Turconi scored again in the eighth to extend the Deacs lead to 4-1 on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Adam Cecere.
The combination of Camden Minacci, Derek Crum and Eric Adler allowed just one run over the final three frames, each tossing 1.0 innings. Adler earned his third save of the season.
Opponent & Series history
The first game of this year's home-and-home marks the 43rd matchup between the Deacs and Chanticleers.
Wake Forest trails the all-time series 25-17.
The Deacs will host Coastal Carolina on March 30 inside David F. Couch Ballpark. The game will be televised on ACC Network and is slated for a 4 p.m. start.
Wake Forest Off to Best Start Since 1961
The Deacs are off to one of the best starts in program history with an 11-0 record, the first time since 1961 Wake Forest has won their first 11 games. The Deacs best starts to begin a season:
-
11-0: 2022, 1961, 1949
-
12-0: 1949
-
13-0: 1949
-
14-0: 1949
-
15-0: 1949
Additionally, this is the longest winning streak overall since the Deacs won 15 in a row during the 2012 season. Wake Forest and Purdue are the only teams in the nation who have 11 or more wins this season.
Offense Among Nation's Best
Wake Forest has one of the top offenses in the entire nation as the Deacs lead Division I with a .381 batting average and an on-base percentage of .488. The Deacs are just one hit away from the nation's lead with 151 hits, while also sitting in second home runs (27).
Additionally, the Deacs are third in scoring (12.2 runs per game) and slugging percentage (.679).
|
Category |
National |
ACC |
|
Batting Average |
1 |
1 |
|
On-Base Percentage |
1 |
1 |
|
Hits |
2 |
1 |
|
Home Runs |
2 |
1 |
|
Runs |
3 |
2 |
|
Slugging Percentage |
3 |
2 |
|
Runs Per Game |
3 |
2 |
|
Walks |
7 |
2 |
|
Doubles |
16 |
2 |
The Demon Deacon offense got off to a historic start as the 2022 team became just the second squad in program history to register at least 20 runs multiple times during the opening four games of a season, matching the 1951 squad that represented the United States at the 1951 Pan-American Games.
1951 (67 Runs)
-
Argentina: 29 runs
-
Brazil: 23 runs
-
Columbia: 8 runs
-
Nicaragua: 8 runs
2022 (63 runs)
-
Lafayette (Feb. 18): 25 runs
-
Georgetown (Feb. 19): 9 runs
-
VCU (Feb. 20): 6 runs
-
UNC-Greensboro: 23 runs
Defense and Pitching Thriving Early
On the mound, Wake Forest's starting quartet of Rhett Lowder, Josh Hartle, Teddy McGraw and Seth Keener have accounted for 54.2 percent of the team's innings (52.2 out of 97). Additionally, the Deacs' starters have fanned half of the team's overall strikeouts (57-of-114).
The Demon Deacons have been able to rely on their bullpen as seven relievers have given up less than three runs:
- 0: Derek Crum, Reed Mascolo, Will Andrews
- 1: Gabe Golob, Crawford Wade
- 2: Eric Adler, Camden Minacci
Overall, the Deacs have only conceded 28 earned runs through 11 games (2.55 per game) and have held every opponent to less than five runs to open the season.
Through the first four games, the Deacs gave up just 11 runs, the fewest number of runs the Deacs have allowed in the first four games in head coach Tom Walter's tenure.
Seven Wake Forest arms have held opponents to a sub-.100 batting average (five innings minimum):
- Reed Mascolo - .100 in 6.2 innings
- Gabe Golob- .125 in 5.0 innings
- Derek Crum- .130 in 7.2 innings
- Eric Adler- .130 in 6.2 innings
- Josh Hartle - .169 in 11.2 innings
- Rhett Lowder- .180 in 11.1 innings
Reinisch Pacing Wake Forest at Plate
Jake Reinisch has been swinging the bat well to open his sophomore season, leading the Deacs with a .516 batting average (17th in the nation) to go along with three home runs and 15 RBIs.
Against NJIT, Reinisch jump started Wake Forest's comeback victory in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader with a two-run home run. The Deacs went on to score five runs in the inning, taking a 6-4 lead into the eighth inning.
In Wake Forest's last midweek game against Elon, Reinisch continued his hot start at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance, highlighted by a key RBI-double in the eighth.
Wilken Riding 11-Game Hit Streak
Brock Wilken returns after a historic freshman season with Preseason All-American recognition from Perfect Game, Baseball America and D1 Baseball. In 2021, the Valrico, Fla. native appeared and started in all 47 games at third base, tallying a batting average of .279, 17 home runs, 44 RBIs, 41 runs scored, 11 doubles, a slugging percentage of .617 and an on-base percentage of .365.
Additionally, Wilken is at the top of the Wake Forest record book for most home runs by a freshman, tying a 20-year-old record with his solo shot on Friday, May 21
Wilken recorded 44 RBIs, the 10th-most by a freshman in program history while finishing with the most home runs by a true freshman in the nation and ranked fourth overall in the conference.
Wilken racked up the postseason honors after the season as he was named a 2021 Perfect Game First Team Freshman All-American, 2021 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, 2021 Baseball America Third Team Freshman All-American.
This season, Wilken is batting .378 with a team-high tying 17 hits, 15 RBIs, two home runs, eight runs scored, six doubles (fourth most in the nation) and six walks.
Wilken heads into the week on an 11-game hitting streak, notching a base hit in every game this season.
On Deck
Wake Forest has a quick turnaround as the team will be right back on the diamond on Wednesday, March 9 against George Mason at David F. Couch Ballpark.
First pitch for the non-conference contest is set for 6 p.m. The game will be televised on ACC Network, marking the first of seven times the Deacs are on national television in 2022.
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