Wake Forest University
Notre Dame
Wake Forest Opens Five-Game Road Swing at Notre Dame
4/21/2022 9:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Deacs travel to South Bend, Ind. for their seventh ACC series of the 2022 season.
Stream (Friday) | Live Stats (Friday) | Stream (Saturday) | Live Stats (Saturday) | Stream (Sunday) | Live Stats (Sunday)
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Wake Forest baseball team opens a five-game road swing with their seventh ACC series of the season against No. 13 Notre Dame at Frank Eck Stadium.
The Deacs (28-9, 10-8 ACC) are fresh off their 18th non-conference victory of the season as Wake Forest outlasted Appalachian State on Tuesday, defeating the non-conference foe, 6-5, at David F. Couch Ballpark.
This season, Wake Forest has defeated five top-15 teams and ranked 16th in the RPI following their midweek victory. As of April 19, Wake Forest has the second-most overall wins (28) in the ACC while tying for the second-most conference wins (10).
The series opener between the Deacs and Fighting Irish on Friday, April 22 is slated for a 5 p.m. first pitch. The teams will return to the diamond on Saturday, April 23 at 2 p.m. before wrapping up the series on Sunday, April 24 at 1 p.m.
Fans can stream the trio of conference matchups on ACC Network Extra. Additionally, Deacon Nation can also 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.
Last Time Out
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 responded to a pair of Mountaineer 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.
After Eric Adler made his first start of his collegiate career, Crawford Wade forced the 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.
Opponent & Series History
Wake Forest holds a 14-11 all-time advantage over the Fighting Irish. The first matchup between the two programs came in 1988.
Last season, Notre Dame came to David F. Couch Ballpark for Wake Forest's first conference series of the 2021 season.
Top Notes
-
Head coach Tom Walter, the second-winningest coach in program history, won his 350th game at the helm of the Wake Forest baseball program with the 16-11 series finale victory against Duke on Sunday.
-
Wake Forest has won three ACC series this season, taking Friday and Saturday contests at Georgia Tech and Boston College while sweeping Duke for their first home conference series win of 2022.
-
With their 15-10 win on Friday night against the Eagles, 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.
-
The Deacs have picked up five wins against top-15 opponents, four coming in ACC play.
-
Overall, Wake Forest has outscored their opponents 348-185 this season with a team batting average of .317 with a .429 on-base percentage and slugging percentage of .533. Wake Forest's team ERA of 4.10 is fourth in the ACC.
-
Wake Forest has one of the top offenses in the entire nation and ACC as the Deacs rank in the top five in the conference in every offensive category, highlighted by a conference-best 231 walks and .429 on-base percentage.
-
Additionally, the Deacs rank in the top 10 nationally in on-base percentage (fourth), walks (fourth), runs (seventh), batting average (eighth), slugging percentage (eighth) and home runs (ninth).
-
-
The Demon Deacon offense has set multiple program records this season:
-
In their series-clinching victory this past weekend at Boston College, Wake Forest scored 20 runs to set a new program record for most games in a season with 20 runs or more as well as the most games with 20 or more runs against an ACC opponent:
-
20 Runs or More in an ACC Game
-
at Boston College (April 2, 2022)- W, 20-8
-
at Georgia Tech (March 19, 2022) - W, 27-7
-
vs. Pitt (April 13, 2019) - W, 20-8
-
vs. Maryland (May 24, 2005) - W, 20-13*
-
vs. Maryland (April 23, 2004) - W, 21-16
-
at Maryland (April 27, 2001) - W, 20-3
-
at Georgia Tech (April 16, 1999) - W, 22-1
-
vs. Maryland (April 9, 1994) - W, 20-6
-
vs. Duke (April 5, 1988) - W, 21-4
-
at Georgia Tech (April 4, 1981) - L, 20-21
-
vs. Clemson (April 24, 1976) - W, 22-9
-
vs. Clemson (May 4, 1962) - W, 20-4*
-
* Denotes in ACC Tournament
-
-
2022 Games with 20 runs or more
-
at Boston College (April 2, 2022) - 20 runs
-
at Georgia Tech (March 19, 2022) - 27 runs
-
vs. UNC Greensboro (Feb. 22, 2022) - 23 runs
-
vs. Lafayette (Feb. 18, 2022) - 25 runs
-
-
-
The Demon Deacons exploded in their second game against Georgia Tech, setting a new program record for most runs (27) and hits (28) in an ACC game.
-
Wake Forest's 28 hits rank tied for third in program history, while their 27 runs stand as the sixth-most runs scored in a single game.
-
-
-
On the mound, Wake Forest's starting pitchers have combined for 162.2 innings with 157 strikeouts and just 83 earned runs allowed. The Demon Deacons have been able to rely on their bullpen as three relievers have given up five runs or less this season.
-
10 Demon Deacons have notched at least 10 base hits this season, led by Brendan Tinsman with a career-high 50 base knocks. Additionally, Tinsman (14), Brock Wilken (11) and Nick Kurtz (10) have all hit double-digit HRs.
-
Wake Forest has been patient at the plate as the Deacs have been walked 231 times, the most in the ACC and the fourth most in the entire nation. The Deacs have been walked at least 10 times in five games this season. In all but one of those contests, Wake Forest has notched double-digit hits, while scoring double-digit runs in three of the five instances.
-
Sophomore Rhett Lowder heads into the weekend as one of two pitchers in the ACC with seven wins (just one of 11 in the nation) as the Friday night starter holds an ERA of 1.96 with 61 strikeouts compared to just 16 walks.
-
After tallying the third-most strikeouts by a freshman (78) in Wake Forest history last season, Lowder needs just 11 more punchouts to reach 150 career Ks.
-
In six of his eight starts, Lowder has pitched at least six innings while allowing no more than three earned runs in any appearance.
-
Lowder strung together the best start of his Demon Deacon career, tossing a career-high eight scoreless innings with a career-high tying 11 strikeouts. Lowder allowed a season-low tying three hits across his career-long day while walking one batter, the fourth time this season the Albemarle, N.C. native has conceded one walk or less.
-
-
Jake Reinisch has reached base in 36-straight games and leads Wake Forest with an on-base percentage of .500 and 37 walks.
-
Heading into the weekend, Reinisch has driven in a run in six of Wake Forest's last eight games.
-
Reinisch is tied for the ACC lead in walks while ranking second in the ACC in on-base percentage.
-
-
Freshman Nick Kurtz has strung together a stellar freshman campaign, tallying a .343 batting average with 49 hits to go along with a team-high tying 11 doubles and 10 home runs.
-
With his pair of home runs against Clemson in the series finale, Kurtz is now tied for eighth for most home runs by a freshman in program history.
-
He joins Brock Wilken (17 in 2021) and Brendan Tinsman (10 in 2019) as the only first-year Deacs to reach double-digit home runs since 2010.
-
Additionally, Kurtz already ranks in the top-10 in runs scored (third) and walks (tied for fourth) by a freshman in program history.
-
-
Camden Minacci has been nails coming out of the Wake Forest bullpen. In 29.2 innings, the sophomore has struck out 45 batters while only allowing five earned runs.
-
Minacci's strikeouts rank second on the team, while he sports the second-lowest ERA (1.52) on the squad.
-
Minacci has also tallied five saves, the fourth-most in the ACC, highlighted by earning back-to-back-to-back saves in three appearances in consecutive games.
-
-
Brendan Tinsman has posted a career year in his fourth season in the Old Gold and Black, posting career highs in hits (50), doubles (10), home runs (14), RBIs (42) and slugging percentage (.723).
-
Tinsman has homered in five of Wake Forest's last seven games as the redshirt junior ranks second in the ACC in long flies.
-
Tinsman leads the Deacs in slugging, hits and home runs.
-
On Deck
The Deacs remain on the road for back-to-back non-conference matchups at High Point (Tuesday, April 26) and Gardner-Webb (Wednesday, April 27).
Both contests are set for a 6 p.m. first pitch.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
