Wake Forest University
27-8, 10-7
Clemson
21-13, 3-10
Turconi’s Walk-Off Home Run Lifts No. 23 Wake Forest to Win Over Clemson in Extras
4/16/2022 9:55:00 PM | Baseball
Michael Turconi launched a three-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to claim game two of the series against the Tigers.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – With the help of 10th inning heroics from Michael Turconi, the No. 23 Wake Forest baseball team tied the series against Clemson at a game a piece, winning 12-9 in extra innings Saturday at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Down two strikes with two outs and runners on first and second, Turconi blasted the ball over the wall and into the second set of bushes. The three-run home run, which traveled 404 feet, was his seventh round-tripper of the season and the third of the game for the Demon Deacons (27-8, 10-7 ACC).
Built for the moment. @turconi6 | #GoDeacs
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) April 17, 2022pic.twitter.com/YKzsmdAGmG
The Deacs jumped on the Tigers (21-10, 3-10 ACC) early with the help of two long balls in the opening frames. With the bags juiced, Brendan Tinsman deposited the ball over the right field wall to give Wake Forest a 4-1 lead.
The Deacs were not done in the bottom of the first. After Pierce Bennett was hit by a pitch and Danny Corona walked, Kyle Joye launched a 443 shot over the center field batter's eye, pushing the Demon Deacon lead to 7-1.
Josh Hartle made his eighth start of his freshman season, tossing 5.2 innings and striking out four while giving up just three earned runs and walking one batter.
Gabe Golob made his 17th appearance of the season, throwing 1.1 innings before handing the ball to Crawford Wade. Wade finished off the eighth, turning over the game over to Camden Minacci in the ninth.
Despite giving up one run in the ninth to tie the game, Minacci rebounded to get a ground ball to get out of the inning. After two Tigers reached base with two outs in the 10th, Minacci again closed the door, striking out the four-hole hitter to put himself in line for his second victory of the season.
Deacon Nation showed up in numbers for the Saturday showdown as the crowd of 2,227 helped set a new single-season record for attendance (23,347 season attendance). Additionally, the crowd sits as the second-largest for a regular season game in program history.
The Demon Deacons donned special-edition yellow jerseys on Saturday night as the program hosted a charity game to benefit The Parenting PATH, a local organization that supports parents, strengthens families and creates more stable communities.
Fans will have the opportunity to bid on the special-edition, game-worn jerseys through our website until 11:59 p.m. on the night of the game. The starting bid for each jersey is $100.
All proceeds from the auction will be donated to The Parenting Path. For bidding, please go here.
To learn more about The Parenting Path please click here.
Prior to first pitch, Wake Forest had raised over $10,000 for The Parenting PATH.
How It Happened
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Clemson took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after a pair of hits and a passed ball.
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Josh Hartle made his eighth start of the season and struck out his first batter for the first out of the inning.
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Wake Forest's offense exploded in the bottom half of the inning as Brendan Tinsman launched a grand slam and Kyle Joye fired a three-run home run to dead center to give the Deacs a 7-1 advantage.
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The Deacs loaded the bases as Nick Kurtz, Brock Wilken and Michael Turconi were all walked to open the inning. The trio scored on Tinsman's long fly.
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After the first out of the inning was recorded, Pierce Bennett was hit by a pitch and Danny Corona was walked before Joye's round tripper brought them home.
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Overall, Wake Forest walked four times and 10 batters made a plate appearance.
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Clemson responded with another run in the top of the second, trimming Wake Forest's advantage to 7-2.
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Hartle retired the first two batters of the inning before a double and single brought home the Tigers' second run of the game.
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Hartle forced a groundout to Turconi at shortstop to end the inning.
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Wake Forest loaded the bases again with two outs in the bottom of the second as Wilken and Jake Reinisch tallied singles and Bennett was hit by a pitch for the second time. A groundout to the pitcher ended the inning.
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Hartle tossed a perfect 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third with a fly out, line out and groundout as Wake Forest held onto their five-run lead (7-2).
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Tommy Hawke notched a one-out double in the bottom half of the inning, his fourth extra base hit of the season. The freshman was stranded with a pop up and groundout as the Deacs continued to lead 7-2.
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Hartle continued to deal, retiring the Tigers in order for the second-straight frame in the fourth.
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The left hander fanned his second batter of the game for the second out.
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The Deacs increased their lead to 9-2 with an RBI-single from Bennett and a sacrifice fly from Danny Corona.
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Tinsman was scored on Bennett's base knock, while Reinisch was brought home on Corona's RBI.
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Clemson responded with two runs of their own to open the fifth with an RBI-single and RBI-fielder's choice, cutting into Wake Forest's lead (9-4).
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Hartle struck out his third Tiger of the game for the opening out of the inning.
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Tommy Hawke led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to right field, but an inning-ending double play stranded the freshman.
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Hartle and Gabe Golob combined for a scoreless top of the sixth. Hartle struck out his fourth batter of the game to open the inning before inducing a fly out to center field. With a runner on second, Golob took over and induced a pop up to Corona in shallow right center field to end the inning.
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After the Deacs were retired in order in the bottom of the sixth, Golob returned in the seventh and tossed Wake Forest's second-straight scoreless inning on the mound with a ground out and an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
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Hawke notched his second double of the game in the bottom of the seventh. A Demon Deacon was caught trying to score from first to end the inning as Wake Forest held onto their five-run lead.
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A three-run triple and an RBI-double with one out in the top of the eighth cut Wake Forest's lead to one (9-8). Crawford Wade took over and induced back-to-back groundouts to end the inning.
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The game headed to extra innings after Clemson tied the game at nine in the top of the ninth.
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Camden Minacci took over to open the inning. Minacci induced a fly out and an inning-ending ground out.
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In the bottom of the inning, Bennett singled with two outs, but a strikeout took the game to extras.
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Michael Turconi ended the game with a three-run home run in the bottom of the 10th as Wake Forest tied the series with a 12-9 win in extra innings.
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Hawke and Kurtz scored on the walk-off as the freshman duo walked.
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Standout Stat
Down two strikes with two outs and runners on first and second in the bottom of the 10th, Michael Turconi blasted the ball over the wall and into the second set of bushes. The three-run home run, which traveled 404 feet, was his seventh round-tripper of the season and the third of the game for the Demon Deacons (27-8, 10-7 ACC).
It marked the first walk off for Wake Forest since March 7, 2020.
One of the best offenses in the nation, the Deacs continue to produce runs at a high volume. Wake Forest's offense exploded in the bottom half of the first inning as Brendan Tinsman launched a grand slam and Kyle Joye fired a three-run home run to dead center to give the Deacs a 7-1 advantage. Wake Forest walked four times and 10 batters made a plate appearance.
The Deacs loaded the bases as Nick Kurtz, Brock Wilken and Michael Turconi were all walked to open the inning. The trio scored on Tinsman's long fly. After the first out of the inning was recorded, Pierce Bennett was hit by a pitch and Danny Corona was walked before Joye's round tripper brought them home.
Overall, the seven runs to open the game are the most scored by the Demon Deacons in the first 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)
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April 2: Boston College- 6 runs (first inning)
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April 10: Duke - 6 runs (third inning)
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April 16: Clemson- 7 runs (first inning)
Words from Walter
"Big picture, today was a great day at the park. We had a fundraiser to create awareness surrounding child abuse in our communities. We wore the yellow jerseys for charity and raised over ten thousand dollars for The Parenting PATH, a wonderful cause. We had a great crowd tonight. A really great home crowd that was into the game. They were fired up and stayed until the end.
"You never like to lose a 9-2 lead but I was proud of our guys. I was really proud of Cam Minacci there in the 10th inning finding a way to get a big strikeout there to end that inning. Michael Turconi, what can I say? That ball was crushed. We needed it. That was a big win for us. If we lose this game and go into tomorrow as a must-win, that's tough for any team. Huge win for the Deacs. We have Teddy McGraw on the mound with a chance to win a series. We'll take our chances in that game any day of the week."
On Deck
The rubber match on Sunday is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch. For those not at The Couch, the game can also be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Fans can tune into an audio streaming broadcast through the Wake Forest Athletics app.
Stay tuned to the Demon Deacons social media accounts (@WakeBaseball) for all in-game updates and information.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Minacci, Camden (2-1)
L: Ryan Ammons (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Bryar Hawkins 1 ; Jonathan French 2
3B: Bryar Hawkins 1
RBI: Cooper Ingle 1 ; Max Wagner 2 ; Caden Grice 1 ; Bryar Hawkins 3 ; Jonathan French 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Benjamin Blackwell 2 ; Blake Wright 1 ; Max Wagner 1 ; Tyler Corbitt 1 ; David Lewis 1 ; Bryar Hawkins 2 ; Jonathan French 1
HBP: Tyler Corbitt 1 ; Bryar Hawkins 1
Batting:
2B: Hawke, Tommy 2
HR: Turconi, Michael 1 ; Tinsman, Brendan 1 ; Joye, Kyle 1
RBI: Turconi, Michael 3 ; Tinsman, Brendan 4 ; Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Corona, Danny 1 ; Joye, Kyle 3
SF: Corona, Danny 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kurtz, Nick 2 ; Wilken, Brock 1 ; Turconi, Michael 2 ; Tinsman, Brendan 2 ; Reinisch, Jake 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Corona, Danny 1 ; Joye, Kyle 1 ; Hawke, Tommy 1
HBP: Bennett, Pierce 2
