Wake Forest University
20-3, 5-2
Miami
15-7, 5-2
Electric Crowd Witnesses No. 2 Wake Forest Claim Series Opener Over No. 17 Miami
3/24/2023 11:41:00 PM | Baseball
The Deacs were boosted by a strong presence by the bottom part of the lineup as well as another stellar outing on the mound from junior Rhett Lowder.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In front of an electric crowd inside David F. Couch Ballpark on Friday night, the No. 2 Wake Forest baseball team posted a 11-0 win over No. 17 Miami in the series opener.
Wake Forest (20-3, 5-2 ACC) has compiled a 42-8-1 record inside David F. Couch Ballpark over the last two seasons, highlighted by its 16-1 mark this year. Overall, the Deacs have outscored opponents, 494-170, at The Couch since last year.
The Deacs got another stellar performance from junior Rhett Lowder on the bump as he blanked the nationally-ranked Hurricanes (15-7, 5-2 ACC), scattering three hits over 7.0 innings pitched. The Albemarle, N.C. only let two Miami runners reach third on Friday night and stranded four Cane runners on base.
The righthander only allowed one extra base hit on the night and fanned nine Miami hitters before handing the ball off to sophomore Michael Massey who shut the door. Massey allowed just two Hurricanes to reach base in his 2.0 innings of work, putting an exclamation point on the evening with a strikeout to end the game. This is the first time this season Miami has been shutout and the first time they have been held scoreless since May 20, 2022 when they lost 5-0 against Notre Dame. The Hurricanes came in ranked fifth in the nation in home runs and 33rd in runs scored.
Offensively, the Demon Deacons were kickstarted by the bottom part of the lineup in the third inning. Sophomore Gio Cueto was hit by a pitch followed by a double from freshman Marek Houston. By the end of the inning, the Deacs had four on the board, more than enough for the Wake Forest pitching staff.
The bottom part of the order was not done. Houston's first collegiate home run opened the lead up to 6-0 in the fourth, scoring Cueto who reached on a base knock one at-bat prior. The Deacs manufactured another two runs in the inning to improve the lead to eight runs.
Seven Demon Deacons registered at least one RBI on the night with Cueto, Houston, sophomore Tommy Hawke, junior Pierce Bennett and sophomore Nick Kurtz each scoring multiple times in the ranked victory over the Hurricanes.
Additionally, the Deacs put good swings on the ball, only striking out twice as a team. All but one batter finished with a hit as Houston and junior Lucas Costello had multi-hit outings.
Wake Forest has now scored 10 or more runs in 12 of the 23 games this season. The Deacs came into the weekend leading the nation with 232 runs scored, nearly 30 runs better than the next closest ACC team.
How It Happened
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Rhett Lowder tossed a scoreless first, highlighted by a 6-4-3 double play to end the frame and strand a Miami baserunner.
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Tommy Hawke led off the inning with a walk before a double play cleared the bases. Nick Kurtz also walked, but a fly out ended the inning as both teams were scoreless heading into the second.
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After Miami's leadoff batter reached second base after a throwing error by the Deacs, Lowder struckout three-straight Hurricane batters for another scoreless frame in the top of the second.
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After the Deacs were retired in order, Lowder once again came up clutch to open the third with back-to-back strikeouts to strand Miami runners on the corners.
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Wake Forest found the scoreboard in the bottom of the third with four runs on three hits and two walks.
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Gio Cueto got hit by a pitch to lead off the inning before Marek Houston doubled to left field to place a pair in scoring position.
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Cueto scored the game's first run thanks to a sacrifice fly to deep center field from Hawke.
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Bennett followed that up with a double of his own to score Houston before a two-RBI single from Justin Johnson gave Wake Forest a 4-0 lead.
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Lowder fanned two more batters in a three-up, three-down fourth, increasing his game total to seven strikeouts.
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The Deacs continued to put quality at-bats together, doubling its lead (8-0) with four more runs in the bottom of the inning.
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Cueto singled off the right field wall before Houston homered to left field, the first long fly of his collegiate career. Hawke followed that up with a double to get into scoring position with no one out.
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Back-to-back RBI-groundouts from Nick Kurtz and Brock Wilken ended the scoring for the Deacs.
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Lowder responded with a shutdown inning in the top of the fifth, working around a leadoff single with back-to-back groundouts and his eighth strikeout of the night.
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After Wake Forest was kept off the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth, Lowder worked around a leadoff single with a double play and another inning-ending punch out as the Deacs kept its 8-0 lead midway through the sixth.
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Back-to-back RBI base knocks with two outs from Wilken and Lucas Costello increased Wake Forest's lead to double digits after six full frames.
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Hawke walked with one out before Kurtz also reached base via a walk with two outs. Wilken lasered a 104 MPH single to right field to score Hawke before Costello laid down a bunt single to score Kurtz.
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Lowder finished his outing strong, retiring the Hurricanes in order to end the top of the seventh.
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Michael Massey took over the pitching duties in the eighth and blanked Miami, working around a two-out single with a fly out to Bennett in right field.
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Costello added another RBI-single in the bottom of the eighth, scoring Kurtz (single) to increase Wake Forest's lead to 11-0 in its final opportunity at the plate.
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Massey clinched the 11-0 shutout victory in the ninth, striking out the opening two batters of the inning before working around a base hit with his third punchout of the inning.
Words From Walter
"Great win. We played really well tonight. I was pleased with all phases of the game. Obviously Rhett Lowder threw the ball well, three zeros on the board early and allowed our offense to get going against a good Miami pitching staff. Marek Houston's at-bat in the third was a huge momentum swing. With two strikes, he doubles down the line and we get on the board. JJ gets a two-out RBI later that inning. Marek hits the two-run home run to spread us out a little bit. A great day for Marek Houston today.
"We had some great situational at-bats. Second and third with nobody out twice and we moved guys over and got them in. That's what you need to do in those at-bats. Offensively, we only struck out twice today and walked seven times. I was really pleased with that and obviously Michael Massey there at the end.
"Our defense was also a big story. Big double play in the first. The Brock Wilken play down the line with nobody out in the fifth. Rhett made a really good pitch to force Morales into a double play. I was happy with all three phases so that was a good team win."
Standout Stat
Over the last two seasons, Wake Forest has compiled a 42-8-1 record inside David F. Couch Ballpark, highlighted by its 16-1 mark this season.
In 17 home games this season, Wake Forest has scored 186 runs, averaging 10.94 runs per game. Overall, the Deacs have outscored opponents, 494-170, at The Couch since the start of the 2022 season.
Wake Forest has outscored opponents by double-digits in seven innings this season.
Wake Forest Scoring Summary by Inning (Wake Forest-Opponent)
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First Inning: 48-7
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Second Inning: 25-10
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Third Inning: 36-9
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Fourth Inning: 36-7
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Fifth Inning: 37-10
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Sixth Inning: 20-2
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Seventh Inning: 18-6
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Eighth Inning: 21-13
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Ninth Inning: 2-5
Overall, the Deacs are outscoring opponents by a 243-69 mark.
Wake Forest has scored in the first inning in 14 games this season, posting a 13-1 record in those games. Additionally, the Deacs are 15-1 when they score first.
Wake Forest has been patient at the plate as the Deacs have been walked 167 times, the most in the ACC. The Deacs have been walked at least 10 times in five games this season. In all of those contests, Wake Forest has scored double-digit runs, while notching double-digit hits four times.
| Opponent | Hits | Walks | Runs |
| Youngstown State | 12 | 14 | 18 |
| Cornell | 8 | 11 | 10 |
| Coastal Carolina | 11 | 10 | 11 |
| Liberty | 10 | 10 | 12 |
| Elon | 19 | 10 | 20 |
A key to Wake Forest's early success has been the strong performances from its starting pitching.
The Demon Deacon weekend rotation of Rhett Lowder, Sean Sullivan and Josh Hartle has posted 12 wins with a combined ERA of 1.66 in 92.2 innings. Lowder, Sullivan and Hartle have combined to strike out 145 batters while allowing just 17 earned runs and walking just 17 batters.
All three rank in top 10 among ACC foes in almost every pitching category.
In The Spotlight
Reigning ACC Pitcher of the Year Rhett Lowder earned his fifth win of 2023 and the 20th victory of his career after tossing a near flawless 7.0 innings, allowing just three hits and two walks while fanning nine batters and allowing just two Hurricanes to reach third base Friday. Lowder has now started the last two seasons 5-0.
Additionally, Lowder is now just two victories away from entering the top 10 for career wins in program history.
Wake Forest Career Wins
1. John Hendricks (1996-99)- 34
2. Kyle Sleeth (2001-03)- 31
3. Frank Humber (1986-89)- 29
4. Parker Dunshee (2014-17)- 28
5. Scott Siemon (1998-01)- 25
Mike MacDougal (1997-99)- 25
7. Marc Palmieri (1990-93)- 24
8. Eric Schmitt (1997-00)- 23
9. Warren Newton (1978-81)-22
Moe Bauer (1947-50)- 22
– Rhett Lowder (2021-Pres.)- 20
Lowder is just four strikeouts away from entering the top 10 in career strikeouts.
Dating back to last season, Lowder has allowed three earned runs or less in 20 of his last 22 starts and has gone at least six innings in 15 starts.
This season, the Reigning ACC Pitcher of the Year has accumulated a 1.42 ERA in 38.0 innings to go along with 48 strikeouts.
The righthander has blanked opponents three times this season, while walking no more than two batters in any start this year.
Freshman Marek Houston continued to grow his approach at the plate, blasting his first collegiate home run over the left field wall to put the Deacs up 6-0 in the fourth inning. He led the way offensively as he was one of nine Deacs to register at least one hit and one of seven Demon Deacons to have at least one RBI, posting two runs, two hits and two RBIS out of the No. 9 spot.
Over the last five games, he is batting .350 with seven hits, two doubles, one triple and the Friday night home run to left field. Additionally, he has five RBIs and seven runs scored with a .700 slugging percentage.
On Deck
The Deacs will look to claim its third ACC series of the season on Saturday, March 25 at 4 p.m. inside David F. Couch Ballpark.
The series will wrap up on Sunday, March 26 at Noon.
Both games can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lowder, Rhett (5-0)
L: Karson Ligon (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Ian Farrow 1
Batting:
2B: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Houston, Marek 1
HR: Houston, Marek 1
RBI: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Wilken, Brock 2 ; Costello, Lucas 2 ; Johnson, Justin 2 ; Houston, Marek 2
SF: Hawke, Tommy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hawke, Tommy 2 ; Bennett, Pierce 2 ; Kurtz, Nick 3 ; Cueto, Gio 2 ; Houston, Marek 2
HBP: Cueto, Gio 1
PO: Costello, Lucas 1
