Wake Forest University
28-9
Appalachian State
11-23
Wake Forest Outlasts Appalachian State
4/19/2022 11:17:00 PM | Baseball
A timely run in the seventh inning and shutdown innings from the bullpen pushes Demon Deacons to midweek victory over the Mountaineers.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest baseball team outlasted non-conference foe Appalachian State on Tuesday night at David F. Couch Ballpark, defeating the Mountaineers, 6-5, in the first meeting between the teams in 2022.
A back-and-forth game in the beginning frames, the Demon Deacons (28-9, 10-8 ACC) responded to a pair of Mountaineer (11-22, 3-12 Sun Belt) first-inning runs with three of their own as Brendan Tinsman plated Brock Wilken and Michael Turconi on a sacrifice fly and fielding error in right field before Nick Kurtz brought home Tinsman with his 38th RBI of his freshman season.
Appalachian State took a one-run lead with two more runs in the second before the Deacs regained the lead as Brock Wilken blasted a two-run home run over the right field wall in the bottom of the frame.
After the game was once again tied following an Appalachian State run in the top of the sixth, a combination of three-scoreless innings from the Wake Forest bullpen and a bases-loaded walk to Jake Reinisch pushed the Demon Deacons to their 18th non-conference win of the season.
Eric Adler made the first start of his collegiate career, tossing 1.2 innings and striking out a pair while allowing four earned runs.
Crawford Wade forced the next seven outs with a trio of strikeouts while allowing just two hits and no runs. Reed Mascolo also fanned three batters in three innings, earning the second win of the season as the Fairfield, Conn. native allowed zero earned runs and just three hits.
Jacob Grzebinski tossed a perfect three-up, three-down eighth inning with a strikeout before Gabe Golob and Camden Minacci slammed the door in the top of the ninth.
Minacci, who earned his fifth save of the season, retired the only two batters he faced with a strikeout and groundout.
Brendan Tinsman continued his hot streak at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
Brock Wilken's two-run home run in the bottom of the second was the 11th of his sophomore campaign and marked his 43rd and 44th RBI of the season, tying a career high.
With a hit and bases-loaded walk, Reinisch has now reached base in 36-straight games and leads the Deacs with 37 walks and a .500 on-base percentage.
How It Happened
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Appalachian State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first with a sacrifice fly and an RBI-groundout.
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Eric Adler struck out his first batter of the game for the final out of the game.
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Wake Forest responded with three runs to take a one-run lead (3-2) after the first full inning.
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A pair of fielding errors plated the first two runs of the game before a RBI-groundout from Nick Kurtz scored Brendan Tinsman for the lead.
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Brock Wilken was Wake Forest's first base runner as the third baseman walked with one out.
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Tinsman notched a sacrifice fly on Appalachian State's second error, tallying an RBI.
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Adam Cecere registered Wake Forest's first hit with a single to left field with one out.
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The Mountaineers added two more runs to regain the lead (4-3) with a two-RBI single with two outs.
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Crawford Wade took over with the bases loaded and induced a ground out to end the inning.
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Brock Wilken launched a two-run home run in the bottom of the second as Wake Forest regained the lead (5-4).
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Tommy Hawke was scored on Wilken's 11th long fly as the freshman walked on four pitches with two outs.
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Wade came out and retired the Mountaineers in order with a pair of strikeouts and a pop up to Kurtz at first.
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A pair of Deacs were stranded in the bottom of the third as Tinsman and Cecere singled. Back-to-back strikeouts ended the inning as Wake Forest continued to lead by one run.
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Wade tossed his second-straight zero with his third strikeout of the game and a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
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Reed Mascolo fanned a pair of Mountaineers to preserve Wake Forest's 5-4 lead in the top of the fifth.
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Mascolo worked around a leadoff single, forcing a strikeout and a fly out before fanning another Appalachian State batter to end the frame.
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The Deacs stranded a pair as a strikeout and fly out ended the bottom of the fifth with Brendan Tinsman (fielder's choice) on second and Kyle Joye (single) on first.
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Michael Turconi walked to lead off the inning.
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The Mountaineers tied the game at five with an unearned run off an RBI-single.
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Jake Reinisch led off the bottom of the sixth inning with an infield single before advancing to second on a walk to Hawke with one out. A fly out and strike out ended the Wake Forest scoring threat.
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Mascolo returned to the hill in the top of the seventh and retired the Mountaineers in order with a ground out, strikeout and pop up.
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Wake Forest regained the lead with a bases-loaded walk drawn by Reinisch in the bottom of the seventh.
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Tinsman led off the inning with his second hit of the game before Joye and Bennett were walked to load the bases.
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The Deacs held onto their one-run lead as Jacob Grzebinski tossed Wake Forest's second-straight zero with a perfect 1-2-3 inning in the top of the eighth with a strikeout and two ground outs.
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Brendan Tinsman doubled to left field with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but a groundout ended Wake Forest's final opportunity at the plate.
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Gabe Golob forced the opening out of the top of the ninth inning before Camden Minnaci retired the next two batters with a strike out and groundout to clinch the midweek victory.
Words from Walter
"Truthfully, I am just happy to get out of there with a win. We didn't play great tonight and not a ton to celebrate but we came out with a win. I was really happy with Jacob Grzebinski's eighth inning. I thought Reed Mascolo threw the ball well also. On the mound, those were the two bright spots. Crawford Wade didn't throw the ball terribly of course. He came in a big situation with the bases loaded and hung a changeup for two runs but other than that he threw the ball pretty well the next inning. It was one of those things where we knew it was going to be one of those midweek games without a ton of energy in the ballpark. Eric Adler threw some good pitches, he's not where we need him to be but we are going to keep working him and hopefully get him there."
On Deck
The Deacs open a five-game road trip with a trio of ACC games in South Bend, Ind. against Notre Dame on April 22-24.
Friday's series opener is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start while game two is set for 2 p.m.
The series finale is set for 1 p.m.
All three games can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Follow The Deacs:
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mascolo, Reed (2-0)
L: Kepley, Cameron (1-1)
S: Minacci, Camden (5)
Batting:
2B: Drumheller, Luke 1 ; Johnson, RJ 1
RBI: Drumheller, Luke 2 ; Cole, Phillip 1 ; Rogers, Dylan 1 ; Terrell, Andrew 1
SF: Cole, Phillip 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Church, Braxton 1 ; Drumheller, Luke 1 ; Aguila, Alex 2 ; Terrell, Andrew 1
HBP: Church, Braxton 2
Batting:
2B: Tinsman, Brendan 1
HR: Wilken, Brock 1
RBI: Wilken, Brock 2 ; Tinsman, Brendan 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Reinisch, Jake 1
SH: Tinsman, Brendan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Wilken, Brock 2 ; Turconi, Michael 1 ; Tinsman, Brendan 2
