Wake Forest Athletics
Program-Record Four Deacs Invited to USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Camp
6/14/2022 5:00:00 PM | Baseball
Nick Kurtz, Rhett Lowder, Teddy McGraw and Brock Wilken earned invitations to the national team’s training camp in Cary, N.C., setting a new program record.
CARY, N.C. – Wake Forest baseball's Nick Kurtz, Rhett Lowder, Teddy McGraw and Brock Wilken received an invite to the 2022 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp, as announced by the organization Tuesday.
This marks the first time ever multiple Demon Deacons have earned invitations in the same year as Wake Forest has now increased its all-time USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp invitees to 10.
All-Time Wake Forest Collegiate National Team Training Camp Invitees
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Name |
Year |
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Erik Hansen |
1985 |
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Billy Masse |
1988 |
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Jake Austin |
1989 |
|
Bret Wagner |
1993 |
|
Kyle Sleeth |
2002 |
|
Johnny Aiello |
2017 |
|
2022 |
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2022 |
The group was instrumental throughout a memorable 2022 Wake Forest baseball season. The Demon Deacons finished the campaign with 41 victories, the fifth most in program history. The Deacs increased their win total by 21 games from last season (41 wins to 20 wins), the largest year-to-year turnaround in program history.
Wake Forest was selected to the 2022 NCAA Baseball Tournament, the program's 14th appearance in the national playoffs, after posting the program's seventh 40-win season.
The Demon Deacons ended the regular season with 39 wins, tying the 1999 Deacs for the second-most regular season wins in program history.
The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp will feature 48-50 of the premier non-draft eligible college players for a five-game Stars vs. Stripes intrasquad series in North Carolina from Thursday, June 30 to Monday, July 4. USA Baseball will name a final, 26-man Collegiate National Team roster after Training Camp that will represent the United States at Honkbalweek Haarlem in the Netherlands from Saturday, July 9 to Friday, July 15.
Nick Kurtz | Lancaster, Pa. | INF
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Named Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball
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Garnered Third Team All-ACC and ACC All-Freshman Team honors
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Posted one of the best freshman seasons in program history, tying the freshman runs scored record (65) and finishing in the top 10 in home runs (tied for second), walks (second), RBIs (tied for second) and doubles (tied for ninth) by a Demon Deacon rookie
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Finished second team with 48 walks, a .637 slugging percentage and a .471 on-base percentage
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Also finished third in home runs (15) and fourth with a .338 batting average and 130 bases
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Led the ACC with a .422 batting average and .548 on-base percentage in conference play
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Also posted the second-highest OPS (1.254) and fifth-highest slugging percentage (.706) against ACC foes
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Registered a historic day at the plate in Wake Forest's 27-7 victory against Georgia Tech, becoming the first Wake Forest batter since 2005 to record six hits in a game
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Sits as the second most hits in program history and the most by a Wake Forest freshman ever... Notched a career-high six RBIs in the 20-run win as well
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Blasted a career high two home runs against Liberty (March 22) and Clemson (April 17)
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Posted 21 multiple hit games and 15 multiple RBI games
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Notched first collegiate triple versus High Point (May 11)
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Hit home runs in back-to-back games during Wake Forest's first ever sweep in Raleigh (May 20-21)
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Set a career high with a pair of doubles against Georgia Tech (March 19) and NC State (May 24)
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Helped Wake Forest tie ACC Tournament record in home runs with his three-run shot against the Hurricanes in Charlotte
Rhett Lowder | Albemarle, N.C. | RHP
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Became the first Demon Deacon in program history to be named ACC Pitcher of the Year
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Earned Second Team All-American accolades from Collegiate Baseball
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Named a First Team All-ACC selection
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Became the first Demon Deacon to be named a finalist for the Collegiate Pitcher of the Year Award
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Finished the season with a 11-3 record in 99.1 innings
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Became just the fifth pitcher in program history and the first since 2002 to reach 11 victories in a season
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Struck out a career-high 105 batters, the 10th most in program history
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Entered the NCAA Tournament as one of four pitchers in the nation with 11 wins, which was also an ACC best
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Ended the regular season as the only pitcher in the ACC to rank in the top three in wins, strikeouts, ERA and innings pitched
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Also ranked in the top 10 in WHIP (fourth), walks allowed per nine innings (seventh) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (seventh) heading into the NCAA Tournament
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Registered the lowest ERA (2.60) and the most innings (65.2) in addition to the second-most victories (six) in conference play
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Went at least six innings in 11 of his 16 starts
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Allowed three earned runs or less in 15 of his 16 starts
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Walked two batters or less in 13 appearances
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Fanned double-digit batters in three games, matching his career-high of 11 strikeouts against NJIT (Feb. 25), Clemson (April 15) and Louisville (May 6)
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Threw the first complete game by a Demon Deacon since 2017 on just 87 pitches, striking out six batters while allowing just five hits and no walks against NC State (May 19)
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Earned ACC Pitcher of the Week and Perfect Game Pitcher of the Week honors for complete-game gem
Teddy McGraw | Oneonta, NY. | RHP
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Earned a career-high five wins, good for third on the team
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Tossed a career-high 70.2 innings and registered a 4.08 ERA
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Struck out a career-high 67 batters compared to 38 walks
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Held opponents to a batting average of .203, the lowest on the squad
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Allowed one run or less in six-straight appearances to end the season
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Fanned a career-high seven batters in starts versus Duke (April 10), NC State (May 21) and Maryland (June 5)
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Tallied best start in regular season finale at NC State (May 21), allowing one hit and three walks over a career-long 7.1 scoreless innings to clinch Wake Forest's first series sweep in Raleigh
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Allowed just one run while striking out six in six innings against Virginia (March 27), the nation's highest-scoring offense
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Fanned six batters in just three innings against Longwood (April 30)
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Earned first collegiate victory against VCU (Feb. 20)
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Threw two scoreless innings to close out Wake Forest's 16-3 win over Miami in ACC Tournament (May 27)
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Blanked Georgia Tech in bullpen appearance, allowing no runs or hits over three innings to close out Wake Forest's 27-7 over the nationally-ranked Yellow Jackets
Brock Wilken | Valrico, Fla. | INF
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Posted a batting average of .272 and career highs in hits (69). home runs (23), RBIs (77) and doubles (13)
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Ranks second on Wake Forest's single season home run list, while tying for the seventh-most RBIs
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Finished third in RBIs and sixth in home runs in ACC
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Registered 100th career hit against Longwood (April 30)
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Notched 22 multi-hit games while posting 18 multi-RBI games
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Drove in five or more runs in four games
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Had a career day against Louisville (May 7), hitting a career-high three home runs and driving in a career-high eight runs
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Hit two home runs and drove in seven RBIs in series-opening victory at Boston College (April 1)
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Also hit two home runs in wins versus Georgia Tech (March 19) and Longwood (April 30)
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Hit home runs in back-to-back games five times
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Posted career-high tying two doubles against NJIT (Feb. 25)
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Scored a career-high four runs at Georgia Tech (March 19)
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Started season on 11-game hit streak
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Tallied a batting average of .409 with nine hits, one triple, four home runs, nine RBIs and a 1.045 slugging percentage in five postseason games
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Registered first career triple in ACC Tournament against NC State (May 24)
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Helped Wake Forest tie ACC Tournament record in home runs with his two-run shot against the Hurricanes in Charlotte
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Named to the ACC All-Tournament Team
About the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team
The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp will feature 48-50 of the premier non-draft eligible college players for a five-game Stars vs. Stripes intrasquad series in North Carolina from Thursday, June 30 to Monday, July 4. USA Baseball will name a final, 26-man Collegiate National Team roster after Training Camp that will represent the United States at Honkbalweek Haarlem in the Netherlands from Saturday, July 9 to Friday, July 15.
The opening game of the Stars vs. Stripes series will take place at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina, at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 30. The Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP) in Durham, North Carolina, will host games two, three, and four. The first pitches of games two and four are set for 6:35 p.m. ET on Friday, July 1 and Sunday, July 3, respectively, and game three will start at 5:05 p.m. ET. Training Camp will conclude with the series finale on Monday, July 4 at Truist Field, the home of the Charlotte Knights, in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the first pitch at 6:05 p.m. ET. All five games of the series will be available to watch on USABaseball.com.
Team USA will begin Honkbalweek Haarlem against Japan on Saturday, July 9 at 8 a.m. ET (1 p.m. local time) before taking on Italy, Cuba, the Netherlands, and Curacao to close out group stage play. The second round of competition will then be played on Thursday, July 14, ahead of the championship on Friday, July 15.
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