Deacs Split Doubleheader Versus No. 5 Louisville

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest baseball team split a Saturday doubleheader against No. 5 Louisville at David F. Couch Ballpark.

After Friday's originally scheduled game was postponed due to inclement weather, the Demon Deacons (33-14, 11-12 ACC) reeled in its sixth top-15 win of the season to start off the twin bill with a 14-3 victory over the Cardinals (33-13, 15-8 ACC).

Louisville evened the series with a 6-2 win in game two to force a rubber match on Sunday.

In the opener, Wake Forest held Louisville to just their sixth game this season with three runs or less while the Demon Deacon offense tallied their 20th double-digit scoring game behind 16 hits and 12 walks.

Demon Deacons took a 3-0 thanks to three bases-loaded walks in the bottom of the second and never looked back, leading for the remainder of the game as Wake Forest tossed seven scoreless innings while plating runs in five frames, highlighted by 11 unanswered over the fourth through seventh innings.

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.

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.

1️⃣5️⃣0️⃣.

Congrats, @lowderrhett! 💪 pic.twitter.com/2IsuVOP6WW
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) May 7, 2022

Brock Wilken spearheaded Wake Forest's offensive attack in the game one victory, launching three home runs. In addition to his career-high trio of long flies the Valrico, Fla. native posted a career-high and team-high eight RBIs.

1️⃣...2️⃣...3️⃣

3️⃣ HRs ✘ 8️⃣ RBIs for @B_Wilkes25 today!#GoDeacs 🎩 pic.twitter.com/xfykUKeT4z
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) May 7, 2022

Michael Turconi joined Wilken with a trio of hits, while Brendan Tinsman, Danny Corona and Lucas Costello each added two apiece.

Gabe Golob was called upon in relief of Lowder and tossed a scoreless seventh inning before a weather delay halted game action for over four hours. After play resumed, Seth Keener pitched the final two innings to clinch the win.

Tinsman, Kurtz and Adam Cecere led Wake Forest at the plate in game two with a pair of base knocks.

Tinsman led off the bottom of the fourth with a double before Kurtz brought the catcher home with a two-bagger of his own. Tinsman also scored on a wild pitch for the game's first run.

Josh Hartle made his 11th start of his freshman season, throwing four innings with five strikeouts while allowing four earned runs.

Reed Mascolo also fanned five batters in three relief innings, matching his season high.

How It Happened (Game 1)

Rhett Lowder sat down the Cardinals in order to open the game, highlighted by back-to-back strikeouts.
- With his first strikeout of the game, Lowder amassed 150 career strikeouts.
Michael Turconi notched a two-out single to center field for Wake Forest's first base runner of the game, but a strikeout ended the top of the first.
Lowder tossed another zero in the top of the second, forcing groundouts to the opening Cardinals of the inning before working around a single with an inning-ending ground out.
Wake Forest took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second with five walks, three of which came with the bases loaded.
- Nick Kurtz, Jake Reinisch, Lucas Costello (RBI), Tommy Hawke (RBI) and Micahel Turconi (RBI) all drew walks in the frame.
- Danny Corona notched a base hit to right field to load the bases with one out.
Louisville trimmed the Demon Deacon lead to 3-2 with four hits in the top of the third. Lowder fanned back-to-back batters to strand a pair of Cardinals and preserve Wake Forest's lead.
A pair of Demon Deacons reached base with two outs as Reinisch doubled to right field and Corona walked. A hard-hit fly out to left field ended the scoring opportunity as Wake Forest continued to lead 3-2 after three frames.
Lowder threw his third scoreless inning in the fourth, ending the inning with a punchout for the third frame.
- After Lowder retired the leadoff batter, Louisville notched an infield single. Brendan Tinsman caught the runner trying to steal second before a weather delay halted the game.
- Just two pitches after the delay, Lowder struck out his fifth batter of the game to end the top of the fourth.
Brock Wilken launched a two-run home run to the deepest part of the ballpark to push Wake Forest's lead back to three after four full innings.
- Hawke scored on Wilken's 15th home run of the season as the freshman notched a leadoff single to center field.
- Turconi also tallied a base hit in the inning, his second of the game.
Lowder increased his strikeout total to eight with a trio of punchouts in a scoreless top of the fifth.
- The righthander fanned the first two batters of the inning before Louisville placed runners on first and second with a double and walk. Lowder stranded the pair with another inning-ending strikeout.
Lowder came back again in the top of the sixth and fanned three more Cardinal batters in another scoreless inning.
- Lowder matched his career high with the last out of the frame.
Wilken hit another two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning before a two-out RBI single from Cecere increased the Demon Deacon advantage to 8-2.
- Wilken's second home run of the game traveled 419 feet over the left field wall.
- Costello, who led off the inning with a single to center field, was plated on the home run.
- Cecere's base hit scored Tinsman from second (single).
Gabe Golob took over to open the top of the seventh and tossed Wake Forest's fourth-straight scoreless inning.
- Golob tallied his first strikeout of his outing for the third and final out of the frame with runners on second and third.
After a four-hour delay, the Demon Deacons increased their lead to 12-2 as Wilken blasted his third HR of the game with the bases loaded.
- Prior to the delay in the bottom of the seventh, Wake Forest had runners on the corners and no one out.
- Once play resumed, Hawke walked to load the bases.
Seth Keener took over on the mound and tossed another zero in the top of the eighth, inducing a pair of groundouts and a fly out as the Deacs continued to lead by 10.
Wake Forest plated two runs in the bottom half of the frame, increasing their advantage to 14-2 thanks to an RBI-single from Michael Turconi and a sacrifice fly from Nick Kurtz.
After Louisville pushed one run across with one out in the top of the ninth, Keener retired the next two Cardinal batters to clinch game one, 14-3.

How It Happened (Game 2)

Josh Hartle tossed a perfect 1-2-3 first inning to open game two, highlighted by an inning-ending strikeout.
Hartle returned in the top of the second and kept Louisville off the scoreboard, fielding a ground ball hit back to the mound before turning a double play. The freshman worked around a single and walk with an inning-ending strikeout, his second of the game.
Wake Forest took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the inning as Brendan Tinsman scored on a wild pitch.
- Tinsman led off the inning with a single to left field before being pushed to second on a single from Adam Cecere.
- Tinsman advanced to third on a fly out before giving Wake Forest an early lead.
Louisville tied the game at one with a leadoff solo home run in the top of the third. Hartle responded, retiring the next three Cardinal batters with back-to-back punch outs and a ground out.
Wake Forest placed a pair on base as Tommy Hawke and Brock Wilken walked in the bottom of the third, but a lineout ended the scoring threat.
Louisville took their first lead of the series with a solo home run and RBI-single to open the fourth frame.
Back-to-back doubles from Brendan Tinsman and Nick Kurtz in the bottom half of the inning trimmed Louisville's lead to 3-2.
Louisville pushed their lead back to two (4-2) with an RBI-single with the bases loaded in the top of the fifth.
- Reed Mascolo took over on the mound with the bases juiced and one out, fanning the first batter he faced. After Louisville's base hit, Mascolo induced a groundout to end the inning.
Mascolo fanned a trio of Cardinal batters in the top of the sixth.
Kurtz and Cecere tallied back-to-back to place a pair on base in the bottom half of the inning. A pair of strikeouts ended Wake Forest's scoring opportunity.
A perfect 1-2-3 top of the seventh from Mascolo kept Louisville's lead at 2 (4-2). Mascolo fanned the leadoff batter before inducing back-to-back groundouts.
The Deacs were unable to capitalize on a pair of walks to Lucas Costello and Wilken in the bottom of the seventh as a pop up and fly out in foul territory ended the frame.
Louisville added two runs on an RBI-ground and RBI-single, increasing their lead to 6-2 in the top of the eighth inning.
- Mascolo forced a pop up for the first out of the inning with a runner on third. After the out, Derek Crum took over on the mound and forced the second out with the run-scoring groundout to Hawke at second.
- Will Andrews took over with two outs and forced a pop up to end the inning.
After the Deacs were retired in order in the bottom of the eighth, Jacob Grezebinski and Will Andrews combined for a scoreless top of the ninth.
- Tinsman caught a Louisville base runner trying to steal third for the opening out before Will Andrews induced a double play to end the inning.
Louisville took game two by a final score of 6-2 after setting Wake Forest down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

Standout Stat
The Demon Deacon pitching staff and defense shut down the third-highest scoring offense in the nation (9.5 runs per game) in the series-opening victory. Louisville's three runs marked just the sixth time Louisville has been held to three runs or less this season.

Lowest Scoring Game for Louisville

1 run- Florida State (April 14)

1 run- Vanderbilt (May 3)

2 runs- UCONN (Feb. 20)

2 runs- Lipscomb (March 22)

3 runs- Wake Forest (May 7)

3 runs- Pitt (April 3)

Wake Forest has been patient at the plate as the Deacs have been walked 295 times, the most in the ACC and the third most in the entire nation.

In their game one victory, Wake Forest walked 12 times, marking the seventh time the Deacs have tallied double-digit walks in a game. Additionally, this marks the second time this season the Deacs reached the double-digit walk mark in back-to-back contests.

In all but one of those contests, Wake Forest has notched double-digit hits, while reaching double digits in all three categories five times.

Opponent	Hits	Walks	Runs
Lafayette	18	13	25
Georgetown	12	13	9
UNCG	21	10	23
George Mason	14	10	23
Georgia Tech	4	11	5
Liberty	11	12	10
Louisville	16	12	14

Rhett Lowder became one of 14 pitchers in Wake Forest history to earn nine wins or more in a season during game one of today's doubleheader.

Most Wins In A Season

Kyle Sleeth-14 (2002)

Mike MacDougal-13 (1999)

John Hendricks-13 (1998)

Scott Siemon-11 (2000)

Parker Dunshee-10 (2016)

Kyle Sleeth-10 (2001)

Ross Atkins-10 (1995)

Mike Buddie-10 (1992)

Lefty Davis- 10 (1955)

Rhett Lowder- 9 (2022)

Parker Dunshee- 9 (2017)

Bret Wagner- 9 (1994)

Lou Howard- 9 (1964)

Lou Howard- 9 (1963)

Lowder went six innings (five scoreless), striking out a career-high tying 11 batters while allowing just two runs and conceding just one walk.

In addition to his ACC-leading nine wins, Lowder has pitched 82 innings this season with a 2.38 ERA and a career-high 82 strikeouts while allowing just 18 walks.

Brock Wilken spearheaded Wake Forest's offensive attack in the game one victory, posting the first three home run performance of his career. In addition to his career-high trio of home runs, the Valrico, Fla. native posted a career-high and team-high eight RBIs.

Wilken has posted a multi-HR performance in three of Wake Forest's eight ACC series.

In 47 games this season, Wilken has hit a career-high tying 17 home runs (tied for the team lead) to go along with a career-best and team-high 62 RBIs.

Words from Walter
"It was a great win to open up the day. Rhett Lowder was outstanding when we needed it. We beat a really good team in that first game. Offensively, Brock Wilken had the big day for us with three home runs. We just played a good, clean baseball game.

"In the second game, Josh Hartle threw the ball well and Reed Mascolo threw the ball well behind him but we really just couldn't get anything going offensively. Give credit to Louisville's pitching staff. They did a good job on us in that second game. We're excited about coming out here tomorrow with Teddy McGraw on the mound and a rested bullpen with a chance to win a series."

On Deck
Wake Forest and Louisville return to action on Sunday, May 8 at 12:30 p.m. inside David F. Couch Ballpark.

Prior to the game, Wake Forest will honor its senior and graduate student-athletes for all their contributions to the Demon Deacon baseball team.

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