Wake Forest University
20-6, 5-5
Boston College
11-15, 1-9
Wilken’s Career Day Lifts Wake Forest to Series-Opening Win at Boston College
4/1/2022 9:15:00 PM | Baseball
The sophomore third baseman tallied a career-high seven RBIs with a grand slam and three-run home run, the fourth game of his career with two home runs.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Behind a career performance from sophomore Brock Wilken, the Wake Forest baseball team claimed their 20th win of the season, defeating Boston College, 15-10, in the series opener on Friday evening at Eddie Pellagrini Diamond.
Wilken tallied a career-high seven RBIs with a grand slam and a three-run home run, the fourth multi-home run performance of his career. The sophomore now has 25 long flies in just 72 career games.
The Valrico, Fla. native's round tripper in top of the fifth tied the game at 4-4 before his three-run shot gave the Demon Deacons (20-6, 5-5 ACC) their first lead of the game in the seventh. Wake Forest tacked on three more runs later in the inning to increase their lead to 11-4. The seven runs in the seventh marked the 14th time the Deacs have plated five or more runs in an inning this season.
After Boston College (11-15, 1-9 ACC) cut Wake Forest's lead to three with four runs in the bottom of the seventh, the Deacs increased their lead to six as Michael Turconi tripled, Brendan Tinsman homered and Adam Cecere was plated on a bases-loaded balk.
Rhett Lowder earned his sixth victory of his sophomore campaign, tossing six innings and striking out seven batters. The sophomore walked just one batter and gave up zero earned runs.
Gabe Golob allowed one hit while striking out a pair over two scoreless innings. With the bases loaded in the ninth, Camden Minacci struck out the only batter he faced to claim the victory and the first save of his sophomore season.
Overall, eight Wake Forest batters notched a base hit in the series opener, highlighted by five multi-hit performances.
Tinsman hit a home run for the third-straight game and tallied a team-high four hits along with three RBIs, followed by Michael Turconi with a trio of base knocks.
How It Happened
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Boston College jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first inning, plating four unearned runs with a two-run home run, RBI single and RBI groundout.
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Rhett Lowder fanned his first batter of the game to end the top of the first.
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Jake Reinisch walked with two outs in the top of the second for Wake Forest's first base runner of the game. A strikeout ended the frame.
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Lowder responded with a three-up, three-down in the bottom half of the inning, inducing a line out and back-to-back ground outs.
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Nick Kurtz doubled down the right field line with two outs in the top of the third, but an inning-ending strikeout ended Wake Forest's first scoring threat of the contest.
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Lowder tossed another zero in the third, ending the bottom of the third with his second strikeout of the game.
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Singles from Michael Turconi and Brendan Tinsman opened up the top of the fourth inning for the Deacs. An unassisted double play on a line drive to first base and a strikeout ended the top half of the frame.
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Lowder kept the Eagles off the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth as the right hander worked around a leadoff walk, retiring the next three batters with two strikeouts and a ground out.
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A grand slam from Brock Wilken tied the game at four in the top of the fifth inning.
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The Deacs loaded the bases with singles from Pierce Bennett and Tommy Hawke and a walk drawn by Kurtz.
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The game remained tied after five full innings as Lowder struck out a pair of Boston College batters, upping his game total to six.
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With runners on first and second after back-to-back base hits, Lowder punched out an Eagle to end the scoring threat.
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Reinisch tallied his second walk of the game with one out in the top of the sixth but consecutive fly outs kept the game tied at four.
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Lowder worked out of another inning with a pair of base runners as the sophomore induced a ground out with runners on second and third.
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With a runner on first, Lowder notched a three-pitch strikeout for the second out of the inning.
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The Deacs extended their lead to 11-4 in the top of the seventh with seven runs on six hits, two walks, a hit batter and an error. Overall, every Wake Forest batter appeared at the plate before an out was recorded.
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Wilken got the scoring started with another home run to left field, plating Hawke and Kurtz, who tallied back-to-back singles to open the frame.
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Adam Cecere lasered a base hit up the middle to score Michael Turconi, who singled to center field.
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Cecere advanced to second and Tinsman advanced to third as Reinisch singled to right before Bennett was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
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An RBI-fielder's choice to Danny Corona and a throwing error scored Reinisch and Cecere for the final runs of the inning.
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Boston College responded with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the seventh.
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A two-run home run and a fielding error plated the Eagles' first three runs of the frame.
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Gabe Golob took over with no one out and a runner on second base. With runners on the corners, an RBI-groundout scored the host's final run of the inning.
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Golob registered an inning-ending strikeout to strand a runner on third base as Wake Forest took a three-run lead (11-8) to the eighth.
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Michael Turconi led off the top of the eighth with a triple to right center field before Tinsman brought him home with a two-run home run. The Deacs loaded the bases after Cecere and Reinisch were walked and Bennett was hit by a pitch. A bases-loaded balk scored Cecere for the final run of the inning.
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Golob returned in the eighth, working around a two-out walk with a pop up to Kurtz at first base.
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Tinsman once again plated Turconi as the catcher doubled down the right field line following the shortstop's single with one out, increasing Wake Forest's lead to 15-8.
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Boston College tacked on two runs in the bottom of the ninth and loaded the bases with two outs. Camden Minacci took over on the mound and struck out an Eagle batter to clinch the series opener, 15-10.
Stand Out Stat
With the 15-10 win, the 2022 Demon Deacons reeled in its 20th victory in just 26 games, the second fastest since 2000 and the fastest in the head coach Tom Walter era:
Fastest to 20 Wins since 2000:
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2002: 24 games (20-4)
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2022: 26 games (20-6)
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2017: 27 games (20-7)
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2006: 27 games (20-7)
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2003: 27 games (20-7)
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2000: 29 games (20-9)
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2001: 30 games (20-10)
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2014: 31 games (20-11)
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2015: 32 games (20-12)
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2012: 34 games (20-14)
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2016: 35 games (20-15)
The Deacs extended their lead to 11-4 in the top of the seventh with seven runs on six hits, two walks, a hit batter and an error. Overall, every Wake Forest batter appeared at the plate before an out was recorded.
The seven-run seventh marked the 14th inning the Deacs have plated five or more runs in an inning this season:
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Feb. 18: Lafayette - 16 runs (fifth inning)
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Feb. 18: Lafayette - 8 runs (sixth inning)
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Feb. 22: UNCG - 6 runs (first inning)
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Feb. 22: UNCG - 6 runs (third inning)
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Feb. 22: UNCG - 6 runs (eighth inning)
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Feb. 25: NJIT - 6 runs (second inning)
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Feb. 25: NJIT - 6 runs (seventh inning)
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Feb. 26: NJIT - 5 runs (seventh inning)
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March 1: Elon - 5 runs (seventh inning)
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March 15: WCU - 7 runs (third inning)
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March 19: Georgia Tech - 12 runs (fifth inning)
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March 22: Liberty - 5 runs (ninth inning)
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March 30: Coastal Carolina - 6 runs (sixth inning)
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April 1: Boston College - 7 runs (seventh inning)
Words from Walter
"It is always good to win on a Friday night in our league. It's not easy to do, especially on the road. I was really proud of the way Rhett battled. We dropped a fly ball there in the first inning and it ended up costing us a four-spot. He had a chance after the double play to get out of it. He made two bad pitches and Boston College made us pay for it. They're a good offensive club. I am really happy with the way he threw the next five innings of the game and left with the lead.
Brock Wilken, obviously those two big home runs were huge. Turc and Tinny had great at-bats. Anytime you're stacking at-bats consistently, two-three-four, you're going to find ways to score runs. I am happy with the way Gabe Golob threw. I am disappointed that we had to go to Camden Minacci at the end there, but it is what it is and it's a win on the road."
On Deck
The Demon Deacons and Eagles continue their three-game series on Saturday, April 2 at 2 p.m. at Eddie Pellagrini Diamond. The game can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
The series finale is set for Sunday, April 3 at Noon and will be shown live on ACC Network.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lowder, Rhett (6-1)
L: Joey Ryan (1-2)
S: Minacci, Camden (1)
Batting:
2B: Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Tinsman, Brendan 1
3B: Turconi, Michael 1
HR: Wilken, Brock 2 ; Tinsman, Brendan 1
RBI: Wilken, Brock 7 ; Tinsman, Brendan 3 ; Cecere, Adam 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Corona, Danny 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kurtz, Nick 2 ; Wilken, Brock 2 ; Turconi, Michael 3 ; Tinsman, Brendan 2 ; Cecere, Adam 2 ; Reinisch, Jake 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Hawke, Tommy 2
HBP: Bennett, Pierce 2
Batting:
2B: Rafe Chaumette 1 ; Luke Gold 1 ; Parker Landwehr 1
HR: Cameron Leary 1 ; Peter Burns 1
RBI: Cameron Leary 2 ; Parker Landwehr 1 ; Peter Burns 2 ; Sam McNulty 1 ; Daniel Baruch 2
SH: Sam McNulty 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rafe Chaumette 2 ; Cameron Leary 2 ; Luke Gold 1 ; Joe Vetrano 2 ; Parker Landwehr 1 ; Peter Burns 1 ; Ramon Jimenez 1
HBP: Rafe Chaumette 1 ; Luke Gold 1
