Wake Forest University
1-0
Youngstown State
0-2
Keener, Kurtz Lead No. 5 Wake Forest in Season-Opening Win
2/17/2023 8:37:00 PM | Baseball
Five scoreless innings to go along with a career-high eight strikeouts from Seth Keener and two home runs from Nick Kurtz powered the Deacs to a 9-3 win on Friday night.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 5 Wake Forest baseball team opened its 2023 season on Friday with a commanding 9-3 win against Youngstown State inside David F. Couch Ballpark.
With the victory, the Deacs won their ninth-straight season opener dating back to 2015, outscoring opponents 80-22 during the win streak.
Wake Forest jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings and never looked back. A sacrifice fly from Jake Reinisch plated the Demon Deacons' first run of the year in the first before a six-run second inning, highlighted by a solo home run by Adam Cecere and grand slam from Nick Kurtz.
Kurtz pushed Wake Forest's advantage to 8-0 after another long fly to right field in the bottom of the fourth to tie his career high of two home runs while adding five RBIs.
In his collegiate debut, freshman Marek Houston stuffed the stat sheet as he contributed two hits, scored a run and recorded a stolen base.
Pierce Bennett also accounted for two base knocks to go along with two runs batted in and two runs scored. Tommy Hawke supplied the Wake Forest offense with three walks at the top of the order, marking the third time he has drawn a trio of free passes in a game.
On the mound, Seth Keener completed five innings of shutout baseball before turning the pitching duties over to Reed Mascolo and the Deacon bullpen.
Keener struckout a career-high eight batters while allowing just one hit and one walk to earn the victory.
Mascolo continued to shut down the Penguins in the sixth and seventh innings, punching out three Youngstown State hitters.
Dartmouth transfer Cole Roland was impressive in his first appearance as a Demon Deacon, striking out four batters in his 1.1 innings of work to secure the victory in the eighth and ninth innings.
How It Happened
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Seth Keener began the new season with a three-up, three-down top of the first inning as the junior induced back-to-back fly outs before striking out his first batter of the game to end the frame.
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Wake Forest took a 1-0 lead after the first inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from Jake Reinisch that plated Pierce Bennett.
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Bennett tallied the Demon Deacons' first base hit with a single to right center.
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Wake Forest loaded the bases with one out after a pair of walks to Nick Kurtz and Brock Wilken.
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The frame ended with a deep flyout on the warning track in center field.
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Keener tossed another scoreless frame in the second, retiring the opening batters with a fly out and strikeout. After a hit batter, Keener registered his second inning-ending K of the game.
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The Demon Deacon offense exploded for six runs in the bottom half, highlighted by home runs courtesy of Adam Cecere (solo) and Nick Kurtz (grand slam) to increase its lead to 7-0.
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After Cecere's leadoff blast, Wake Forest's first long fly of the year, Danny Corona doubled to left center, Marek Houston laid down a perfect bunt and Tommy Hawke walked to load the bases.
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Bennett drove in a run during the following at-bat with a five-pitch walk before Kurtz's no-doubter to right field.
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After a hit batter led off the inning, Keener retired the next three batters in order for another scoreless inning as Wake Forest took its seven-run lead into the bottom of the third.
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The Penguins registered its first hit in the top of the fourth inning after Keener fanned the leadoff batter, his fifth of his start. Back-to-back groundouts stranded the Youngstown State base runner and preserved Wake Forest's 7-0 advantage.
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Kurtz launched another home run to right field to increase Wake Forest's lead (8-0) after four full innings.
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This marked the sophomore's third multi-HR game of his career.
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Keener continued to deal in the top of the fifth, fanning three batters to set a new career high for strikeouts in a game (eight).
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Houston (single and stolen base) and Tommy Hawke (walk) were stranded in the bottom of the fifth as Reed Mascolo took over on the mound to open the sixth.
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Mascolo continued to shut down the Youngstown State offense, tossing a perfect top of the sixth with two strikeouts as the Deacs continued to lead 8-0.
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A Bennett RBI-single scored Houston to increase Wake Forest's lead to 9-0 in the bottom of the seventh.
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Corona led off the inning with a bunt single before Houston reached on a fielder's choice.
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Hawke also notched a single to move Houston to second before Bennett's second base hit of the night plated the freshman.
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Youngstown State found the scoreboard in the top of the eighth, trimming Wake Forest's lead to 9-3.
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After Joe Ariola induced the opening two outs of the frame, Cole Roland fanned a Penguin batter to end the inning and strand a pair.
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After Wake Forest was kept off the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth, Roland struck out three batters to secure a 9-3 opening day win.
Words From Walter
"It's always good to get on the board with a win right out of the gate. I was really pleased with Seth Keener. He was the difference tonight as far as I was concerned. He came out and was sharp early. He had all three pitches working and kept his pitch count down. For me, Seth was the difference in the game. We grabbed the momentum because of the way he was throwing the baseball.
"Not a great offensive day for us. Tough conditions with the cold and the wind. We had too many fly balls in key situations with guys on base. Kurtzy had a great day. Tommy Hawke got on base four times. Pierce Bennett with a couple knocks, drove in a couple and scored a couple. The top of the order guys got it done for us. Marek Houston with a bunt single in our big inning to get things going. I was pleased with Danny Corona today too. It was a good team win and we'll have to get ready for a good Illinois team tomorrow."
In The Spotlight
In his 12th career start, Seth Keener paced Wake Forest on the mound with a career-high eight strikeouts in five scoreless innings.
The Pilot Mountain, N.C. native kept Youngstown State hitless through 3.1 innings. Additionally, Keener fanned a batter in every frame, highlighted by a trio of strikeouts in his final inning of work.
Offensively, Nick Kurtz powered the Deacs with a career-high tying two home runs and five RBIs.
After Adam Cecere led off the second inning with a solo home run and the Deacs plated another run due to a bases-loaded walk, Kurtz launched a grand slam 422 feet to push Wake Forest's advantage to 6-0.
Two innings later, Kurtz notched a solo shot for the third multi-home run game of his career (Liberty, March 22, 2022 and Clemson, April 17, 2022).
On Deck
The Deacs are back at David F. Couch Ballpark against Illinois on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
For fans not in attendance at The Couch on Saturday, the game can be seen on ACC Network Extra.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Keener, Seth (1-0)
L: MIKOS, Brandon (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: GRAU, Turner 1 ; O'SHAUGHNESSY, Brae. 1 ; O'SHAUGHNESSY, Padr. 1
SF: GRAU, Turner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: LAW, Trey 1 ; SAUCEDO, Eddie 1 ; FRANKEN, Chase 1
HBP: LAW, Trey 1 ; THOMPSON, Matt 1 ; SAUCEDO, Eddie 1 ; FRANKEN, Chase 1
Batting:
2B: Corona, Danny 1
HR: Kurtz, Nick 2 ; Cecere, Adam 1
RBI: Bennett, Pierce 2 ; Kurtz, Nick 5 ; Reinisch, Jake 1 ; Cecere, Adam 1
SF: Reinisch, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 2 ; Kurtz, Nick 2 ; Cecere, Adam 1 ; Corona, Danny 1 ; Houston, Marek 2
SB: Houston, Marek 1
