Wake Forest University
North Carolina
Wake Forest Travels to Chapel Hill for Big Four ACC Series Against North Carolina
5/12/2022 7:04:00 PM | Baseball
The Demon Deacons open their season-ending road trip with a three-game set in Chapel Hill.
Game Notes | Stream (Friday) | Live Stats (Friday) | Stream (Saturday) | Live Stats (Saturday) | Stream (Sunday) | Live Stats (Sunday)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Wake Forest travels to Big Four rival North Carolina for a three-game ACC series inside Boshamer Stadium on Friday, May 13-Sunday, May 15.
The series opener on Friday between the Demon Deacons (34-14-1) and Tar Heels (29-18, 10-14 ACC), originally scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, is set for 12 p.m. Game two will begin at 2 p.m. before the series finale on Sunday is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch. All three games can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Fans can tune into an audio streaming broadcast through the Wake Forest Athletics app for all three games.
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 shutout High Point, 9-0, in its final home game of the 2022 regular season Wednesday inside David F. Couch Ballpark.
The Demon Deacons earned their 23rd non-conference victory of the season as eight arms combined to blank the Panthers for Wake Forest's first shutout since April 16, 2021.
Seth Keener improved his record to 4-1 on the season as the sophomore threw three innings with a trio of punchouts while allowing just two hits. Jacob Grzebinski, Reed Mascolo and Derek Crum each tossed one inning a piece, highlighted by Crum's hitless outing in the top of the sixth.
In 1.2 innings, Eric Adler fanned four of the six batters he faced while Will Andrews struck out two Panthers in the top of the ninth to claim the midweek victory.
Opponent and Series History
Wake Forest and North Carolina are longtime rivals, competing in 177 games since the first matchup between the Big Four rivals in 1954.
This year's matchup marks the first time since 2018 that these two teams will square off.
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's 34 wins are tied with Louisville for the most in the ACC's Atlantic division and ranks third overall in the conference. Additionally, At 23-2 in non-conference play, Wake Forest is tied with Tennessee for the best out-of-league winning percentage in the nation.
-
The Demon Deacon offense has been firing on all cylinders this season, ranking as one of the top offenses in the entire nation. Wake Forest ranks in the top 10 nationally in all offensive categories while ranking in the top two in the conference across the board, highlighted by an ACC-best in on-base percentage, scoring, runs, average and walks.
-
Rhett Lowder became one of 14 pitchers in Wake Forest history to earn nine wins or more in a season as the sophomore went six innings (five scoreless), striking out a career-high tying 11 batters while allowing just two runs and conceding just one walk against Louisville last weekend. Lowder's first strikeout of the game in the first inning marked his 150th career strikeout. Overall, Lowder matched his career-high of 11 punchouts for the third time this season (NJIT and Clemson), while posting the fourth double-digit strikeout game of his career. In addition to his ACC-leading nine wins, Lowder ranks second in the league in ERA (2.38) and innings pitched (72), while sitting third in strikeouts (82) and ninth in hits allowed (65).
-
Pierce Bennett has been productive at the plate over his last five games as the redshirt sophomore leads the team with a .778 batting average, 14 hits 12 RBIs and three doubles. Bennett leads the team and ranks seventh in the ACC in average with a .380 mark, while ranking ninth in the league with a .474 on-base percentage.
-
On the mound, Wake Forest's starting pitchers have combined for 219.2 innings with 220 strikeouts and just 111 earned runs allowed. Wake Forest has done a good job eliminating free passes to the opposition as the Deacs have walked their opponents five times or less in eight of Wake Forest's last 10 games.
-
The bullpen trio of Camden Minacci, Gabe Golob and Crawford Wade have made at least 20 appearances each and have held the opposition to an average below .220: Camden Minacci: .199 (37 innings), Gabe Golob: 206 (38.2 innings), Crawford Wade:.204 (28.0 innings).
-
Wake Forest has been patient at the plate as the Deacs have been walked 312 times, the most in the ACC and the second most in the entire nation. The Deacs have been walked at least 10 times in seven games this season. This year's squad is just nine walks away from setting a program record for walks in a season.
-
The Deacs have hit 91 home runs this season, tying last year's squad for the second-most HRs in a single season. Wake Forest is just 16 home runs away from setting a new program record (106 home runs in 2017).
-
Twelve Deacs have hit a long fly this season, led by Brendan Tinsman with 18. Additionally, Wake Forest is one of three teams in the ACC with five players with at least 10 home runs: Tinsman (18), Brock Wilken (17), Michael Turconi (12), Nick Kurtz (11), Adam Cecere (10).
-
With their solo home runs against Louisville in the series finale last Sunday, Brendan Tinsman and Nick Kurtz moved up in the Wake Forest record books. Tinsman's game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh moved him into the top 10 for the most home runs in a single season while Kurtz is now seventh on the Wake Forest freshman home run list.
-
Kurtz has strung together a stellar freshman campaign, tallying a .340 batting average with 53 hits to go along with a team-high tying 12 doubles and 11 home runs. In addition to sitting in the top 10 for home runs by a freshman, Kurtz also ranks in the top-10 in runs scored (tied for second) and walks (third) by a freshman in program history. In Wake Forest's historic offensive performance on March 19 at Georgia Tech, Kurtz had a historic day at the plate as the freshman became the first Wake Forest batter since 2005 to record six hits in the game. This is also tied for the second most in program history and is the most by a freshman in school history.
-
Camden Minacci has been one of the most relied upon arms coming out of the Wake Forest bullpen. In 37.0 innings, the sophomore has struck out 51 batters while only allowing six earned runs. Minacci's career-high strikeout number ranks second on the team, while he sports the lowest ERA (1.46) on the squad. Minacci has also tallied five saves, the sixth-most in the ACC, highlighted by slamming the door in three-straight games against Elon (April 6), Duke (April 8) and Duke (April 9). In 10 of Minacci's 24 appearances this season, the righthander has blanked the opposition, allowing no hits or runs. This season, Minacci has fanned at least five batters in seven appearances
-
Brendan Tinsman has posted a career year in his fourth season in the Old Gold and Black, posting career highs in hits (69), doubles (12), home runs (18), RBIs (54) and slugging percentage (.703). Tinsman is fourth in the ACC and 11th in the country in long flies. Tinsman leads the Deacs in slugging, home runs, multi-hit games and multi-RBI games. The catcher heads into the midweek on a team-high 19 game hit streak. Over the course of his streak that dates back to April 9, Tinsman is batting .375 with a team-high 30 hits, nine home runs, 33 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .763. Tinsman's next home run will move him into the top five for single season home runs.
-
Michael Turconi, a career .304 hitter, has put together a career year as the shortstop has posted career bests in hits (62), home runs (12), walks (35), triples (4), RBIs (54), slugging (.594), average (.323), on-base (.429) and stolen bases (5)
-
Brock Wilken reached a career milestone against Longwood, registering his 100th career hit with his three-run home run to end the second game of the double header. In game one against Louisville, Wilken had his best game of his career, hitting a career-high three home runs and driving in a career-high eight runs. In 94 career contests, Wilken has 104 hits with 22 doubles, 34 home runs, 107 RBIs, a .598 slugging percentage and .369 on-base percentage.
On Deck
The Deacs continue their seven-game road trip to end the season with their final non-conference game of the season against Appalachian State on Tuesday, May 17 at 6 p.m.
Wake Forest then closes out the regular season in another Big Four series against NC State on Thursday, May 19-Saturday, May 21 at
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
