No. 2 Wake Forest Claims ACC Opener at Duke, 8-6

DURHAM, N.C. – Behind a four-run seventh inning, highlighted by a three-run home run from Brock Wilken, and four-straight scoreless innings on the mound from Rhett Lowder and Michael Massey, the No. 2 Wake Forest baseball team opened Atlantic Coast Conference play with an 8-6 victory against Duke on Friday inside Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Dating back to last season, Wake Forest (14-1, 1-0 ACC) has won its last five ACC regular season games, outscoring opponents, 38-12, in those victories.

The Deacs continued to use all-around team performances through the first 15 games, outscoring opponents 177-46 to open the new campaign. Wake Forest is batting .337 as a team and holds a team ERA of just 2.25 with 203 strikeouts and 35 walks in 15 games.

The Wake Forest pitching staff came into the weekend as the nation's leader in hits per nine, strikeouts per nine and WHIP, while ranking first in the ACC in ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The Demon Deacons have fanned double-digit batters in 12 of its first 15 games this season and have held opponents to one run or less in six games. Overall as a staff, the Deacs have averaged 13.5 strikeouts per game this season while averaging just over two walks per game.

Wake Forest's offense has been on a tear to open the new season as the Deacs led the nation in walks and scoring. Additionally, Wake Forest is the ACC leader in runs, hits, home runs and on-base percentage while ranking second in batting average and slugging percentage.

Overall, Wake Forest has 12 players sporting an on-base percentage higher than .400 while seven Deacs have notched at double-digit hits.

After Duke (9-5, 0-1 ACC) extended its early advantage to 4-0 through three full innings, the Demon Deacons tied the game thanks to a two-run homer from Adam Cecere in the fourth and a pair of RBI-singles from Nick Kurtz and Justin Johnson in the fifth.

Wake Forest's monster seventh inning at the plate was spearheaded by Wilken's 12th home run of the season, moving the junior into the nation's lead for long flies.

Pierce Bennett notched a leadoff single on the opening pitch of the inning before advancing to second on a passed ball. Kurtz notched a five-pitch walk before Wilken launched his 52nd home run of his career to break the tie.

Later in the inning, Cecere and Johnson walked before a fielder's choice placed runners on the corners. Bennett Lee's deep sacrifice fly to right field scored Cecere and doubled up the Blue Devils at an 8-4 advantage.

A Blue Devil two-run homer in the eighth trimmed Wake Forest's lead to 8-6 before Michael Massey, Cole Roland and Camden Minacci slammed the door late.

Lowder made his fourth start of the season, tossing five innings and striking out six Blue Devil batters.

The Albemarle, N.C. native ended his outing with back-to-back zeros in the fourth and fifth as Lowder allowed just one base runner and put the Demon Deacon offense in prime position tie the game at four.

Massey earned the second win of his Wake Forest career after going 2.2 innings with five strikeouts. Massey notched scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh before inducing the first pair of outs in the eighth.

Roland took over in the eighth and stranded a Duke baserunner with a strikeout, preserving Wake Forest's two-run lead.

After inducing a leadoff fly out in the ninth, Minacci fanned back-to-back Blue Devils to earn his third save of the season and clinch the Demon Deacons' first conference victory of the season.

Offensively, the top six of Wake Forest's batting order each tallied at least one hit, led by Wilken and Johnson with two. Wilken drove in a team-high three runs, while Cecere notched two RBIs as well as two walks, tying for a team-best with Lee.

How It Happened

After Wake Forest was retired in order to open the game, Lowder tossed a zero in the bottom of the first with a groundout, strikeout and flyout.
- Lowder worked around a leadoff single by retiring the next three Blue Devil batters.
Adam Cecere drew a one-out walk for Wake Forest's first base runner but a pair of strikeouts ended the inning and stranded the redshirt junior.
A walk with the bases loaded put Duke on the scoreboard in the bottom of second. Lowder induced an inning-ending flyout to get out of the jam.
A Bennett Lee walk and fielding error placed two Deacs on base with two outs, but a punchout ended the inning as Duke continued to lead by one.
The Blue Devils extended its lead to 4-0 with a two-RBI double and groundout with the bases loaded.
- Lowder picked off a Duke baserunner to end the inning. The reigning ACC Pitcher of the Year fanned his fourth batter of the game for the second out.
A two-run home run to right field from Cecere, his eighth of the season, cut the Duke advantage in half in the top of the fourth.
- Brock Wilken lasered a leadoff single to the right center field gap and scored on the round-tripper from Cecere.
- With two outs, Lee drew his second walk of the game before a punchout ended the frame.
Lowder tossed a perfect 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth with a groundout, lineout and groundout to keep the deficit at two (4-2).
The Deacs pushed across two more runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 4.
- Kurtz fired an RBI-single through the right side, scoring Hawke (leadoff walk) and trimming the Blue Devil lead to just one.
- A walk to Wilken moved Kurtz into scoring position with one out. After a strikeout, Justin Johnson also notched an RBI-single past the Blue Devil first baseman to lock the game at 4.
Lowder responded with another zero in the bottom half of the frame to keep the game tied, stranding a runner in scoring position with his sixth strikeout of the game.
After the Deacs were retired in order to open the sixth, Michael Massey notched a scoreless frame with a pair of strikeouts.
- Massey worked around a leadoff walk and a balk, stranding Duke in scoring position.
The Demon Deacons took its first lead of the game in the top of the seventh courtesy of a three-run home run from Wilken and a sacrifice fly from Bennett Lee, taking a 8-4 advantage into the bottom half of the inning.
- Bennett notched a leadoff single on the opening pitch of the inning before advancing to second on a passed ball. Kurtz notched a five-pitch walk before Wilken launched his nation-leading 12th home run of the season to break the tie.
- Cecere and Johnson walked before a fielder's choice out runners on the corners. Lee's deep flyball to right field scored Cecere and doubled the Demon Deacon advantage (8-4).
Massey retired the opening two batters of the eighth with a groundout and strikeout. After a walk and two-run home run, Cole Roland took over on the mound. After a walk, Roland notched a strikeout to end the inning and preserve Wake Forest's two-run lead.
Johnson led off the ninth with a single through the right side. A throwing error on a fielder's choice allowed Lee to replace Johnson in scoring position with two outs, but a groundout to the shortstop ended Wake Forest's final scoring chance.
Camden Minacci registered the final three outs of the game, working around a one-out single with back-to-back strikeouts to slam the door in the ninth and secure Wake Forest's 8-6 victory.

Words From Walter
"A really great team win. Friday nights in this league against somebody like Santucci and you're down 4-0, you're in the meat grinder. I just loved the way our team competed. Cec got us on the board with the big two-run homer and then Rhett got us a shutdown inning. He was scuffling early, didn't have his good stuff. He didn't have his changeup today and wasn't locating it how he normally does. He did what he does and he found a way to get us two zeros in the fourth and fifth and get deeper in the game, which was huge for us.

"Michael Massey coming in and getting us eight huge outs. Cole Roland getting a big strikeout. Brock Wilken's three-run homer. He stayed on a 3-2 slider and homered to left. We did a lot of really good things today. I was disappointed in our approach early. Chasing too many pitches out of the zone. Nine of our first 11 strikeouts were on balls out of the zone. We'll have to clean that up tomorrow. I was really proud of our team today. Minacci did his job in the ninth and it was a great team win."

Standout Stat
Wake Forest has outscored opponents by double-digits in six innings this season.

Wake Forest Scoring Summary by Inning (Wake Forest-Opponent)
- First Inning: 36-7
- Second Inning: 18-8
- Third Inning: 21-7
- Fourth Inning: 30-5
- Fifth Inning: 27-5
- Sixth Inning: 12-1
- Seventh Inning: 15-4
- Eighth Inning: 17-7
- Ninth Inning: 1-2

In the Spotlight
After leading the team with the fourth-highest batting average by a freshman in program history (.380) last year, Tommy Hawke has continued to be impactful at the top of Wake Forest's lineup. Through 15 games, Hawke leads the Deacs with a .517 batting average and 30 hits.

Dating back to last season, Hawke has a 45-game reached base streak, the second-longest in the nation, and 13-game hit streak after going 1-for-4 with a double and a walk today against the Blue Devils.

After setting career highs in hits (69). home runs (23), RBIs (77) and doubles (13) in 2022, Brock Wilken looks to cement himself as one of the best hitters in Wake Forest history this season.

With his 12th home run of the season on Friday, Wilken has launched a long fly in nine of Wake Forest's last 11 games. The Valrico, Fla. native now leads the nation in home runs and has hit the most career home runs among active players in Division I baseball.

After hitting the most home runs by a Demon Deacon in their first two seasons ever, Wilken has hit 52 home runs in his career, which is the third-most home runs by a Demon Deacon ever and just seven HRs away from breaking the Wake Forest career home run record.

Wake Forest Career Home Runs

1. Jamie D'Antona 2001-03 58

2. Jake Austin 1989-92 55

3. Brock Wilken 2021-Pres. 52

4. Allan Dykstra 2006-08 49

5. Chris Kowilcik 1989-92 47

Kevin Bunn 1981-84 47

Brick Smith 1978-81 47

8. Bill Merrifield 1981-83 45

9. Dave Lardieri 1994-97 42

A staple out of Wake Forest's bullpen the last two seasons, Camden Minacci earned the third save of his junior season after tossing a scoreless ninth inning with back-to-back strikeouts to secure the Friday win.

Over the course of his career, Minacci has registered 11 saves as the Tampa, Fla. native took sole possession of the 10th-most saves in program history.

Most Saves by a Demon Deacon

1. Dave Bush 1999-02 38

2. Michael Dimock 2009-12 19

3. Keith Ksansnak 1983-86 17

4. Ben Hunter 2006-08 16

Bret Wagner 1992-94 16

Buddy Jenkins 1987-91 16

7. Frank Humber 1986-89 15

8. Chuck Irving 1976-77 12

Aaron Fossas 2012-16 12

10. Camden Minacci 2021-pres. 11

On Deck
Due to forecasted inclement weather on Sunday, the Deacs and Blue Devils will play a Saturday doubleheader to close out the opening series of the season. The first game inside Durham Bulls Athletic Park is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch.

Both games can be broadcasted on ACC Network Extra.

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Team Stats

Brock Wilken

Justin Johnson

Tommy Hawke

Pierce Bennett

Players Mentioned

Pierce Bennett

Adam Cecere

Tommy Hawke

Justin Johnson

Nick Kurtz

Bennett Lee

Rhett Lowder

Michael Massey

Camden Minacci

Cole Roland

Brock Wilken

Players Mentioned

Pierce Bennett

Adam Cecere

Tommy Hawke

Justin Johnson

Nick Kurtz

Bennett Lee

Rhett Lowder

Michael Massey

Camden Minacci

Cole Roland

Brock Wilken

Wake Forest Athletics