Wake Forest University
39-16-1, 15-14-1
NC State
33-20, 14-15
Wake Forest Shuts Out NC State; Completes Program’s First Sweep in Raleigh to Cap Off Regular Season
5/21/2022 7:08:00 PM | Baseball
The Demon Deacons ended the regular season with 39 wins, tying the 1999 Demon Deacons for the second-most regular season wins in program history.
RALEIGH, N.C. - The Wake Forest baseball team capped off the 2022 regular season with an ACC series sweep over Big Four rival NC State, shutting out the Wolfpack, 5-0, in the series finale on Saturday afternoon.
Wake Forest (39-16-1, 15-14-1 ACC) ended the regular season with 39 wins, tying the 1999 Demon Deacons for the second-most regular season wins in program history. With that, the Deacs have increased their win total by 19 games from last season (39 wins to 20 wins), the largest year-to-year turnaround in program history.
The perfect weekend marks Wake Forest's first three-game sweep in Raleigh in program history as well as the Demon Deacons' second conference sweep of the season. In the process of completing the sweep Sunday, the Deacs set the program record for home runs in a single season and now have 107 on the season.
Over the course of the weekend, the Demon Deacons allowed just four runs, the lowest number of runs given up in an ACC series since Boston College in 2018 (one run).
Wake Forest's third-straight outstanding start on the mound jump started the Saturday victory as Teddy McGraw put together the best outing of his collegiate career to earn his fifth win.
McGraw tossed a career-high 7.1 innings, allowing no runs while striking a career-high tying seven batters. The Oneonta, N.Y. native dealt from start to finish, retiring 13-straight batters after conceding a leadoff walk.
McGraw struck out four of the first seven batters of the game and faced the minimum in four innings, retiring the Wolfpack in order in the second, third, fourth and seventh innings.
The sophomore didn't give up a hit until the sixth inning, allowing just one hit and two walks overall.
Crawford Wade picked up the final two outs of the eighth with a fly out and ground out before a weather delay halted game action. After the short stoppage, Camden Minacci slammed the door in the ninth for the second-straight game, striking out a pair before inducing a game-ending fly out.
At the plate, Nick Kurtz and Brendan Tinsman both launched home runs for the second-straight game. Kurtz also picked up a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh for Wake Forest's final run of the game.
Kurtz had a tremendous series, batting .778 with seven hits, two home runs, six RBIs to go along with a 1.444 slugging percentage and .786 on-base percentage.
In the same inning as Tinsman's 22nd home run of the season, Jake Reinisch tallied a two-out RBI-single to push the Deacs ahead 3-0. Tinsman is just two home runs off the program record held by Billy Masse who hit 24 home runs in 1988.
Pierce Bennett joined Kurtz with a trio of hits, while Tommy Hawke tallied a pair of singles and scored on a fielding error.
How It Happened
-
Michael Turconi worked a two-out walk in the top of the first, but a deep fly out to center field ended the first frame of the series finale.
-
After a leadoff walk, Teddy McGraw fanned three-straight batters for a scoreless bottom of the first.
-
A solo home run from Nick Kurtz gave the Demon Deacons a 1-0 lead in the top of the second.
-
This marked Kurtz's 14th of his freshman season and the second-straight game the freshman went yard.
-
-
McGraw tossed a perfect 1-2-3 inning with a pair of groundouts and his fourth strikeout of the game.
-
Pierce Bennett notched a two-out single, but a fly out ended the top of the third.
-
McGraw continued to deal, tossing another three-up, three-down inning in the bottom half of the inning.
-
The Deacs extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the fourth as Brendan Tinsman launched a solo shot to left field and Jake Reinisch scored Kurtz on a two-out RBI-single.
-
Once again, McGraw retired the Wolfpack in order for the third-straight inning with a strikeout (his fifth of the game) and back-to-back groundouts in the bottom of the fourth
-
This marked 12-straight batters retired by McGraw as the sophomore allowed just one base runner through four frames.
-
-
A wild pitch moved a pair of Deacs to second and third with one out after Bennett singled for the second time of the game and Turconi walked for the second time of the game. A pick off and ground out ended the scoring threat as Wake Forest continued to lead 3-0.
-
McGraw kept the Wolfpack off the scoreboard for the fifth-straight inning with a pair of groundouts and a fielder's choice.
-
NC State got their first base runner since the first inning with a two-out walk. McGraw responded as he induced a grounder to Michael Turconi, who flipped it to Bennett to get the force out at second.
-
-
Kurtz notched his third hit of the game to lead off the top of the sixth. With two outs, Reinisch walked to place two Deacs on base. A ground out ended the frame.
-
McGraw notched his sixth strikeout of the game to cap off a scoreless bottom of the sixth.
-
NC State tallied their first base hit of the game with one out in the frame. McGraw responded with a fly out and punchout.
-
-
The Deacs tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh, extending their lead to 5-0 as a fielding error scored Hawke from second before Kurtz pushed a fly ball deep enough to score Bennett for a sacrifice fly.
-
A trio of groundouts notched McGraw his fourth 1-2-3 inning of the game and preserved Wake Forest's five-run lead in the seventh.
-
McGraw struck out the seventh batter of his start for the opening out of the bottom of the eighth. Crawford Wade forced the final two outs of the inning after taking over with one on and one out.
-
Once again, Camden Minacci tossed a scoreless ninth inning to clinch the series sweep in shutout fashion, 5-0.
-
Minacci worked around a leadoff single with a strikeout for the first out of the frame. After NC State notched a walk, the closer fanned another Wolfpack batter before inducing a victory-clinching fly out.
-
Standout Stats
Wake Forest's 39 regular season wins are tied for the second most in program history with the 1999 Demon Deacons.
Regular Season Wins in Program History
-
2002 - 42 regular season wins (47 overall wins, five postseason wins)
-
2022 - 39 regular season wins
1999 - 39 regular season wins (47 overall wins, eight postseason wins)
-
2017 - 38 regular season wins (43 overall wins, five postseason)
2000 - 38 regular season wins (41 overall wins, three postseason wins)
With that, the Deacs have increased their win total by 19 games from last season (39 wins to 20 wins), the largest year-to-year turnaround in program history.
Nick Kurtz and Brendan Tinsman both homered for the second-straight game in the series finale win, increasing Wake Forest's season home run total to 107, a new program record. Five different Demon Deacons have 11 or more home runs this season and came into the weekend as one of three ACC teams with five players with double-digit home runs. 12 Deacs in total have hit at least one home run this season.
Most Home Runs in a Season
-
107 (2022)
-
106 (2017)
-
91 (2021)
-
90 (1999)
Wake Forest has also set program records in walks (347), 20-run games (four), 20-run games in ACC play (two), runs in ACC game (27) and most hits in an ACC game (28).
Brendan Tinsman's solo home run in the fourth inning gave the redshirt junior sole possession of the second-most home runs in a single season with 22.
Single-Season Home Runs
1. Billy Masse (1988) - 24
2. Brendan Tinsman (2022) - 22
3. Bobby Seymour (2021) - 21
Gavin Sheets (2017) - 21
Jamie D'Antona (2003) - 21
5. Johnny Aiello (2017) - 20
Jamie D'Antona (2002) - 20
Danny Borrell (1999) - 20
Chris Kowilcik (1991) - 20
Bill Merrifield (1982) - 20
10. Brock Wilken (2022) - 19
This marks just the third season in program history that two Demon Deacons have landed on the list in the same year (1999, 2017, 2022) as Brock Wilken's career-high 19 home runs sit 10th all-time.
Nick Kurtz's solo home run also moved the Lancaster, Pa. native up in the record books as he now tied for third all-time for freshman long flies. Kurtz is just four home runs away from the freshman record.
Freshman Single Season Home Runs
-
Brock Wilken (2021) -17
Jamie D'Antona (2001) -17
-
Allan Dykstra (2006) -15
Anthony Maisano (1986) -15
-
Nick Kurtz (2022) -14
Pat Malloy (1996) -14
Kevin Bunn (1981) -14
Words from Walter
"That's a huge, huge, huge series sweep. Teddy McGraw was outstanding today. You can't pitch any better than that. He had all three pitches working. Got big out after big out and held down a really, really good offensive team all day in 7.1 innings. Crawford came in and got two big outs. Cam got the three in the ninth we needed. It was a great win for us.
"Offensively, we did enough to win. A big two-out RBI from Jake Reinisch. Tinny with the homer. Kurtzy with the homer. We didn't have a great day offensively, but did enough to win. This puts us in a good position heading into the conference tournament and hopefully beyond. I'm proud of this team and the way they have competed down the stretch. We have got a five-game winning streak when we needed it. We are looking forward to getting back on the field in Charlotte."
On Deck
The seeding for the 2022 ACC Tournament will be set following the conclusion of today's conference games. The conference tournament is set to take place on Tuesday, May 24 - Sunday, May 29 at Truist Field in Charlotte.
Pool play games will be broadcasted on the Regional Sports Networks and ACC Network Extra. Semifinal matchups will be live on ACC Network before the championship is set for a ESPN2 broadcast.
2022 ACC Tournament Schedule
-
Pool Play
-
Tuesday, May 24-Friday, May 27
-
11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
-
Regional Sports Network and ACC Network Extra
-
-
-
Semifinals
-
Saturday, May 28
-
1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
-
ACC Network
-
-
-
Championship
-
Sunday, May 29
-
Noon
-
ESPN2
-
-
For more information on the 2022 ACC Tournament, click here. For tickets, click here.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McGraw, Teddy (5-2)
L: Canaan Silver (6-1)
Batting:
HR: Tinsman, Brendan 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 1
RBI: Tinsman, Brendan 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 2 ; Reinisch, Jake 1
SF: Kurtz, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Tinsman, Brendan 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 2
SB: Hawke, Tommy 1
PO: Bennett, Pierce 1
