Wake Forest University
3-0
Youngstown State
0-4
No. 5 Wake Forest Completes Perfect Weekend with Sunday Sweep
2/19/2023 5:41:00 PM | Baseball
The Deacs outscored Youngstown State and Illinois, 28-4, launching seven home runs while striking out 24 batters.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 5 Wake Forest baseball team completed a perfect opening weekend with a Sunday sweep of Youngstown State and Illinois at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Wake Forest moved to 4-0 for the second-straight season after plating 45 runs (11.25 runs per game) with 13 home runs and 35 walks in its first four contests. Also, the Deacs have only conceded 8 runs (two runs per game), the fewest number of runs the Deacs have allowed in the first four games in head coach Tom Walter's tenure. Wake Forest has struck out 60 batters, while only conceding nine walks.
Game One
In the opening game of the doubleheader, Wake Forest came back from a 3-0 deficit with 15 unanswered runs in the second, third and fourth innings to post a commanding 18-3 victory in seven innings.
The offensive explosion was fueled by 12 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, the most runs in an inning since the top of the fifth in last year's 18-5 victory at Georgia Tech on March 19.
Wake Forest registered six hits and four walks in the 12-run fourth inning as 12 Wake Forest batters came to the plate before the first out of the inning was recorded.
Brock Wilken blasted a three-run home run to break the 3-3 tie, scoring Justin Johnson (double) and Nick Kurtz (walk). An RBI-single from Lucas Costello and another bases-loaded walk drawn by Marek Houston pushed Wake Forest's lead to 8-3 before Hawke fired a two-RBI double down the right field line and Kurtz plated a run on his third walk of the game.
Kyle Joye notched a three-RBI double as a pinch hitter before scoring on a Cueto RBI-single up the middle to cap off the inning.
Michael Massey earned the victory, the first of his Wake Forest career, after tossing four innings with four strikeouts and three hits allowed. Derek Crum, Chase Walter and Ben Shenosky shut out the Penguins over the remaining three innings, combining for five strikeouts and one hit allowed.
Game Two
The back-half of Sunday's doubleheader was highlighted by the long ball and another impressive outing by a number of Demon Deacon arms.
Wake Forest got on the board first with solo home runs by Pierce Bennett in the opening inning and Adam Cecere in the second.
Three innings later Demon Deacon first baseman Nick Kurtz continued to swing a hot bat as he launched a 404-foot bomb, resulting in his fourth home run in as many games.
Cecere handed the Deacs some insurance runs in the seventh with his second round-tripper of the afternoon, also his fourth of the campaign.
Lafayette transfer Justin Johnson joined in on the big fly outburst as he smoked a solo home run, his first in a Wake Forest uniform and the team's fifth of the game.
The Wake Forest high powered offense didn't overshadow Josh Hartle's performance in his 2023 debut. In just five innings of work, Hartle tied his career-high in strikeouts, fanning eight Fighting Illini hitters and secured the first win of his sophomore season.
Cole Roland, Crawford Wade, and Camden Minacci shut the door in the later frames, tossing four scoreless innings while only allowing six Illinois base runners in the process.
Overall, Tommy Hawke (4-for-8) and Kurtz (2-for-4) batted .500 on Sunday. Kurtz and Wilken drove in a team-high four runs, while Kurtz led the way with five walks.
Six different Demon Deacons launched a home run, led by Cecere with two.
On the mound, every pitcher who hit the mound in the doubleheader struck out at least one batter while all seven arms used in relief had scoreless outings.
How It Happened (Game One)
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Youngstown State took a 2-0 lead with one out in the top of the first after a home run and leadoff walk. Michael Massey responded with a strikeout and groundout to end the frame.
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Despite two Deacs reaching safely, the Penguins held onto their 2-0 lead after one full innings.
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Tommy Hawke got into scoring position with a leadoff single and stolen base with one out in the bottom of the first.
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After a pop up, Nick Kurtz drew a walk before a Youngstown State pitching change.
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The Penguins extended its lead to 3-0 with a leadoff home run to left field in the top of the second.
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Massey sat down the next three batters with a pop up and a pair of groundouts to end the inning.
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Chris Katz launched a home run to left field to cut Youngstown State's 3-1 in the bottom of the second.
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This marked Katz's first home run of his career.
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After Katz's long fly, Lucas Costello tallied a base hit to center and Marek Houston walked to put a pair of runners on base. A strikeout and flyout ended the inning.
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Massey tossed a shutdown inning in the top of the third with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout after allowing a leadoff single.
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Wake Forest tied the game at three after three full innings thanks to four walks, a hit batter and a sacrifice fly from Gio Cueto.
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Brock Wilken, Adam Cecere and Chris Katz all walked consecutively to load the bases with one out. Cueto's sacrifice fly scored Wilken to bring Youngstown State's lead to one.
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After Katz moved into scoring position following a passed ball, Costello tallied a free pass to load the bases.
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Marek Houston drew the fifth and final walk of the inning to tie the game at three.
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A 4-6-3 double play and Massey's fourth strikeout of the game kept the game locked at three after the top of the fourth.
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The Deacs pushed its lead to 15-3 thanks to a 12-run fourth inning with six hits and four walks. 12 Wake Forest batters came to the plate before the first out of the inning was recorded.
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Wilken blasted a three-run home run to break the 3-3 tie, scoring Justin Johnson (double) and Kurtz (walk).
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An RBI-single from Costello and another bases-loaded walk drawn by Houston pushed Wake Forest's lead to 8-3.
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Hawke fired a two-RBI double down the right field line before Kurtz plated a run on his third walk of the game.
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Kyle Joye notched a three-RBI double as a pinch hitter before scoring on a Cueto RBI-single up the middle.
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Wake Forest's 12 runs marked the most in an inning since last year's 18-5 victory at Georgia Tech on March 19, 2022.
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Derek Crum tossed a scoreless top of the fifth with a pair of strikeouts and a lineout to strand a pair of Penguins.
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In the bottom half of the inning, Andrew Noland notched his first collegiate hit.
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Chase Walter made his Demon Deacon debut in the top of the six, tossing a 1-2-3 frame with two lineouts and a strikeout.
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Ben Shenosky ended the contest by fanning two and retiring the other, resulting in a final score of 18-3 after the game was called in the top of the seventh.
How It Happened (Game Two)
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Josh Hartle fanned three batters to open up his second collegiate season in the top of the first inning.
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Pierce Bennett gave Wake Forest an early one-run lead with a solo home run to left center field in the bottom half of the frame.
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Hartle continued to deal early, fanning two more batters in a perfect 1-2-3 top of the second.
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The sophomore struck out five of the first seven batters he faced.
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Another solo home run from Adam Cecere doubled Wake Forest's lead (2-0) after two full frames.
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Hartle fanned two more batters in the top of the third, increasing his game total to seven in the top of the third as the Deacs held onto their two-run lead.
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After Wake Forest was kept off the scoreboard for the first time in the bottom of the third, Illinois trimmed the Deacs' lead to one (2-1) with a solo homer to right field. Hartle responded by inducing a pair of groundouts before working around a two-out single with a line out to Tommy Hawke in center field.
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The Deacs responded with a run of their own as Danny Corona doubled off the right field wall and Justin Johnson knocked in a ground-rule double to increase its lead back to two (3-1).
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Hartle tossed his fourth scoreless frame in the top of the fifth, inducing back-to-back ground outs and his career-high tying eighth strikeout of his start.
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Wake Forest increased its lead to 5-1 as Kurtz launched his fourth home run of the weekend, scoring Hawke (single).
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Cole Roland replaced Hartle on the mound, striking out the side while working around a two-out walk.
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The Deacs placed two runners on base after Corona (hit by pitch) and Marek Houston (fielder's choice) reached safely. A strikeout and fly out ended the frame and stranded the pair.
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Crawford Wade replaced Roland and notched Wake Forest's third-straight zero, stranding a pair of Fighting Illini in the process.
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Adam Cecere lifted a two-run shot off the batter's eye, his second and Wake Forest's fourth of the game, to increase the Demon Deacon advantage to 7-1 in the bottom of the seventh.
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Wade returned to the mound in the next half inning, tossing a perfect 1-2-3 frame with a lineout, strikeout and groundout.
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Wake Forest added three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Justin Johnson began the scoring with a solo home run. The Deacs earned two more base runners via Marek Houston (ground-rule double) and Tommy Hawke (single) and subsequently drove them both in thanks to Nick Kurtz (single) and Brock Wilken (sacrifice fly), increasing the lead to 10-1.
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Camden Minacci entered in place of Wade to start the ninth and sealed the nine-run victory by striking out two, leaving two runners in scoring position in the process.
Words From Walter
"Any time you get four wins in a weekend, that's a good weekend. I was really pleased with our starting pitching all weekend. I know Michael Massey gave up the two-run homer, but other than that I was very pleased with Michael's start. Josh Hartle was really good. He had all four pitches working today so I was really pleased with Josh's outing. Cole Roland wasn't as sharp as he was the other night, but he found a way to get three outs. Crawford Wade kind of scuffled in that first inning, and in the second inning Crawford threw the ball well. For Cam Minacci, it's tough sitting around for 35 innings. You're the closer. You're kind of wanting a save situation and you have to come out there with no adrenaline. That's just a tough situation.
"It was good to see Tommy Hawke swing the bat better today. I like where he's headed. Obviously, Kurtz is swinging it really well. Cecere is swinging it really well. Danny Corona is swinging it really well. The good news is most of our lineup is not really swinging it yet and we managed to win four ball-games."
Standout Stat
Wake Forest moved to 4-0 for the second-straight season after plating 45 runs (11.25 runs per game) with 13 home runs and 35 walks in its first four contests. Also, the Deacs have only conceded 8 runs (two runs per game), the fewest number of runs the Deacs have allowed in the first four games in head coach Tom Walter's tenure. Wake Forest has struck out 60 batters, while only conceding nine walks.
Overall, Tommy Hawke (4-for-8) and Nick Kurtz (2-for-4) batted .500 on Sunday. Kurtz and Brock Wilken drove in a team-high four runs, while Kurtz led the way with five walks.
Six different Demon Deacons launched a home run, led by Cecere with two.
On the mound, every pitcher who hit the mound in the doubleheader struck out at least one batter while all seven arms used in relief had scoreless outings.
On Deck
Wake Forest will travel to UNC Greensboro for its first road game of the season on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m.
The non-conference contest can be streamed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Massey, Michael (1-0)
L: SHAFFER, Will (0-1)
Batting:
HR: O'SHAUGHNESSY, Brae. 1 ; GOOD, Andre 1
RBI: O'SHAUGHNESSY, Brae. 2 ; GOOD, Andre 1
Base Running:
RUNS: LAW, Trey 1 ; O'SHAUGHNESSY, Brae. 1 ; GOOD, Andre 1
HBP: FRANKEN, Chase 1
Batting:
2B: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Johnson, Justin 1 ; Joye, Kyle 2
HR: Wilken, Brock 1 ; Katz, Chris 1
RBI: Hawke, Tommy 2 ; Johnson, Justin 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Wilken, Brock 3 ; Joye, Kyle 3 ; Katz, Chris 1 ; Cueto, Gio 2 ; Costello, Lucas 1 ; Houston, Marek 3
SF: Cueto, Gio 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Johnson, Justin 2 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Winnay, Jack 1 ; Wilken, Brock 2 ; Corona, Danny 1 ; Cecere, Adam 2 ; Joye, Kyle 2 ; Katz, Chris 2 ; Cueto, Gio 2 ; Costello, Lucas 1 ; Houston, Marek 1
SB: Hawke, Tommy 1
HBP: Johnson, Justin 1 ; Cueto, Gio 2 ; Costello, Lucas 1
