Wake Forest University
Appalachian State
Wake Forest Travels to Appalachian State for Non-Conference Finale
5/16/2022 6:00:00 PM | Baseball
The Deacs continue their season-ending road trip with their last non-league game of the regular season.
Game Notes | Stream ($) | Live Stats
BOONE, N.C. - The Wake Forest baseball team continues their season-ending road trip with their final non-conference contest of the regular season at Appalachian State on Tuesday, May 17.
The Deacs (35-16-1, 12-14-1 ACC) are coming off a 11-2 victory over Big Four rival North Carolina, their 12th conference win of the season. Wake Forest powered past the Tar Heels behind seven scoreless innings on the mound, 17 hits and three home runs in the series finale.
Wake Forest holds a 23-2 non-conference record, tying for the highest non-league winning percentage in the entire nation.
The midweek matchup is set for 6 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.
Fans can tune into an audio streaming broadcast through the Wake Forest Athletics app and stay tuned to the Demon Deacons social media accounts (@WakeBaseball) for all in-game updates and information.
Opponent & Series History
Wake Forest leads the all-time series against App State, holding a 48-15 advantage.
The first matchup between the two programs came in 1970. Last season, Wake Forest swept the season series against App State, outscoring the Mountaineers 27-7 in the two non-conference victories before the Deacs posted a 6-5 win in the first matchup between the teams this season.
Last Time Out
Behind seven scoreless innings on the mound, 17 hits and three home runs, the Wake Forest baseball team powered past North Carolina, 11-2, in the series finale on Sunday afternoon inside Boshamer Stadium.
The Demon Deacons jumped on the Tar Heels early as Brendan Tinsman and Nick Kurtz blasted back-to-back home runs with two outs in the top of the first.
After North Carolina plated one run in the bottom half of the inning, the Deacs pushed across seven unanswered runs, highlighted by their 21st inning with at least five runs in the third and two shutdown innings on the mound courtesy of Teddy McGraw.
Pierce Bennett notched two more two-out RBIs with a double in the second before a grand slam from Jake Reinisch as well as an RBI-single from Adam Cecere increased their lead to 10-1 halfway through the third.
An RBI-single from Tommy Hawke extended the Demon Deacon lead to double digits in the top of the fifth.
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 35 wins mark the program's 75th winning season as well as the 25th 30-win season. Additionally, the Demon Deacons' 35 wins are the most since 2017 (43).
-
Wake Forest's 35 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 three in the conference across the board, highlighted by an ACC-best in on-base percentage, hits, scoring, runs, home runs, average and walks.
-
Pierce Bennett has been productive at the plate over his last seven games as the redshirt sophomore leads the team with a .615 batting average, 16 hits 16 RBIs four doubles, 1.115 slugging percentage and .643 on-base percentage.
-
Additionally, Bennett has driven in a run in his last seven games.
-
-
On the mound, Wake Forest's starting pitchers have combined for 235.1 innings with 230 strikeouts and just 120 earned runs allowed.
-
Wake Forest has done a good job eliminating free passes to the opposition as the Deacs have walked their opponents 10 times or less in eight of Wake Forest's last 13 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: .194 (38 innings)
-
Crawford Wade: .207 (30.0 innings)
-
Gabe Golob: .221 (41.0 innings)
-
-
Teddy McGraw, Gabe Golob, Crawford Wade and Camden Minacci combined to allow just two runs in Wake Forest's series finale victory at North Carolina, marking the 11th game this season the Deacs allowed two runs or less.
-
Wake Forest set another program record on Sunday afternoon as the Demon Deacons were walked three times to increase their season total to 322, the most by any squad in program history.
-
Additionally, the team's 322 walks are the most in the ACC and the second most in the entire nation.
-
-
Wake Forest's five home runs in its series against North Carolina increased their season total to 96 home runs, the second most in program history.
-
The Deacs now are 11 home runs away from setting another program record this season. (106 home runs in 2017).
-
-
With their 10 runs in the third inning in its finale victory at UNC, the Deacs have now scored five runs or more in an inning 21 times this season
-
Jake Reinisch was named Co-Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week, as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.
-
Reinisch earned the first weekly ACC accolade of his career after leading Wake Forest in nearly every offensive category this past week.
-
The Clifton Park, N.Y. native posted a .533 batting average with team highs in hits (eight), home runs (two), RBIs (five), runs scored (six), doubles (two) and slugging percentage (1.067) over four games.
-
-
Twelve Deacs have hit a long fly this season, led by Brendan Tinsman with 19. Additionally, Wake Forest is one of three teams in the ACC with five players with at least 10 home runs
-
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.
-
-
Camden Minacci has been one of the most relied upon arms coming out of the Wake Forest bullpen. In 38.0 innings, the sophomore has struck out 52 batters while only allowing six earned runs.
-
Minacci's career-high strikeout number ranks second on the team, while he sports the lowest ERA (1.42) 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 11 of Minacci's 25 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 (72), doubles (13), home runs (19), RBIs (56) and slugging percentage (.696).
-
Tinsman is fourth in the ACC and 13th in the country in long flies.
-
Tinsman leads the Deacs in slugging, home runs, multi-hit games and multi-RBI games.
-
Tinsman's next home run will move him into the top five for single season home runs.
-
-
Michael Turconi has put together a career year as the shortstop has posted career bests in hits (62), home runs (12), walks (37), triples (4), RBIs (54), slugging (.559), average (.304), on-base (.413) 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 98 career contests, Wilken has 106 hits with 23 doubles, 34 home runs, 108 RBIs, a .585 slugging percentage and .365 on-base percentage.
-
On Deck
Wake Forest concludes the 2022 regular season with a three-game ACC series against NC State inside Doak Field on Thursday, May 19-Saturday, May 21.
The first two games of the series are set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch before the teams hit the diamond at 1 p.m. in the series finale.
The trio of conference games will be available on ACC Network Extra.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
