Wake Forest University
21-3, 6-2
Miami
15-8, 5-3
No. 2 Wake Forest Downs No. 17 Miami; Clinches Third ACC Series of Season in Front of Second-Largest Crowd in Program History
3/25/2023 9:50:00 PM | Baseball
The Deacs secured its third ACC series victory in front of 2,312 fans on Saturday afternoon at The Couch.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In front of the second-largest crowd in program history, the No. 2 Wake Forest baseball team posted a 4-1 win over No. 17 Miami on Saturday afternoon inside David F. Couch Ballpark, securing its third ACC series victory of the season.
Wake Forest (21-3, 6-2 ACC) has compiled a 43-8-1 record inside David F. Couch Ballpark over the last two seasons, highlighted by its 17-1 mark this year. Overall, the Deacs have outscored opponents, 498-171, at The Couch since last year.
After taking two games against Duke and Notre Dame in the first two conference weekends, the Saturday win marks the first time Wake Forest has won its first three ACC series to open a season since 2017.
After both teams found the scoreboard in the first, Sean Sullivan tossed four-straight zeros to keep the Hurricanes at bay.
Wake Forest took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth courtesy of a Tommy Hawke RBI-single and never looked back, extending its lead in the next inning after back-to-back extra base hits from Brock Wilken and Pierce Bennett.
Another RBI-double from Bennett ultimately pushed lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the eighth before Camden Minacci slammed the door in the ninth to register his sixth save of the season. It marked his 14th save as a Demon Deacon, the eighth most in program history.
Sullivan earned his fourth win of the season on Saturday, tossing five innings with eight strikeouts while allowing just three hits and two walks. The sophomore struck out five of the first nine batters he faced and continued to get stronger as the game went on.
With the game knotted at 1-1, Sullivan stranded two baserunners in the fourth and fifth frames with an inning-ending strikeout closing his start and helping keep the momentum in the Demon Deacons' favor. The Hawke RBI in the bottom half of the frame put Sullivan in line for the win. He improved to 4-1 in five starts on the bump.
Cole Roland continued the momentum in relief, throwing a scoreless sixth and seventh to maintain Wake Forest's late lead. The graduate student fanned four batters, highlighted by a trio of punchouts in his final frame of work.
Seth Keener continued the momentum on the mound in the eighth, throwing a scoreless frame with two strikeouts and a groundout before Minacci clinched the victory in the ninth.
How It Happened
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Miami hit a solo home run with two outs to take an early 1-0 lead after the first half frame.
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Sullivan retired the first two batters of the game with a groundout and strike out before fanning another Hurricane batter to end the inning.
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Wake Forest tied the game in the bottom half as Tommy Hawke came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Nick Kurtz.
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Hawke led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He was moved to third on a deep fly out before coming home on Kurtz's 27th RBI of the game.
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Sullivan notched a shutdown inning in the second, picking off a Hurricane baserunner to end the inning.
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The lefthander fanned the opening two batters of the inning.
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Reinisch notched a two-out single but a strikeout stranded the junior and kept the game tied at one after two innings.
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Another inning-ending pickoff highlighted a scoreless third frame from Sullivan.
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Sullivan retired the opening batters with a fly out and strikeout before working around a two-out single with his second pickoff of the contest.
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Sullivan tossed another scoreless inning in the top of the fourth, stranding a pair of Hurricanes with an inning-ending strikeout, his seventh of the game.
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After Wake Forest was retired to close the inning, Sullivan once again stranded two Miami baserunners with a strikeout to end the frame and keep it tied.
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With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, The Deacs took its first lead (2-1) of the game as Hawke singled through the right side to score Gio Cueto (fielder's choice).
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The two-out rally started with a Marek Houston single to right field.
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Cole Roland hit the mound in relief to open the sixth and tossed a zero as the graduate worked around a one-out double with a strikeout and fly out to center.
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After Roland induced a ground out to open the frame, Miami placed a runner in scoring position with a double to right field. A wild pitch advanced the runner to third before Roland retired two-straight batters.
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Back-to-back doubles from Wilken and Bennett pushed the Wake Forest lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth.
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Roland continued to deal in the top of the seventh, striking out three batters in his second scoreless frame to maintain Wake Forest's two-run advantage.
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Seth Keener continued the momentum on the mound in the eighth, throwing a scoreless frame with two strikeouts and a groundout.
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Miami placed runners on the corners with one out after a double and fielder's choice. Keener responded with his second strikeout and a groundout to strand the runners.
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Bennett came up clutch once again in the eighth, registering another RBI-double to score Kurtz, who walked with one out.
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Camden Minacci slammed the door in the ninth with a three-up, three-down frame to earn his career-high tying sixth save of the season and secure the 4-1 victory.
Words From Walter
"A great win. Any time you can take a series from somebody that is that talented and playing as well as they're playing, it's a big statement for your program so I was super pleased with our effort tonight. Obviously, we still have a big ballgame tomorrow that we need to get ready for but we'll enjoy this one for a couple hours.
"Sean Sullivan was really good today. I thought he battled. He gave up that first inning home run, but he made big pitches. He had first and second with two outs a couple times and kind of got in disadvantage counts, but he made really great pitches. He got two called third strikes in 3-2 counts in big situations. He just kept coming.
"Cole Roland came in and got us six big outs. He threw the ball really well. I was really proud of Seth Keener. A lot of things went against him. I was really proud of Seth there in the eighth inning. Cam did what Cam does in the ninth. He locked it down for us. I'm certainly super proud of him too.
"Offensively, we did just enough. We didn't grind at-bats like we did yesterday. Ziehl was throwing the ball really well. He was throwing three pitches for strikes. He was ahead of our guys all day. Give credit to him. We did just enough. We manufactured a run in the first. We got Tommy Hawke to second, moved him to third then Kurtzy got him in. Pierce Bennett with a couple big doubles. Tommy with a two-out RBI-single. We did just enough offensively to get the win."
Standout Stat
Over the last two seasons, Wake Forest has compiled a 43-8-1 record inside David F. Couch Ballpark, highlighted by its 17-1 mark this season.
In 18 home games this season, Wake Forest has scored 190 runs, averaging 10.55 runs per game. Overall, the Deacs have outscored opponents, 498-171, 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: 49-8
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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: 38-10
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Sixth Inning: 21-2
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Seventh Inning: 18-6
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Eighth Inning: 22-13
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Ninth Inning: 2-5
Overall, the Deacs are outscoring opponents by a 247-70 mark this season.
Wake Forest has scored in the first inning in 15 games this season, posting a 14-1 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 97.2 innings. Lowder, Sullivan and Hartle have combined to strike out 153 batters while allowing just 18 earned runs and walking just 19 batters.
All three rank in top 10 among ACC foes in almost every pitching category.
In its last five ACC games, Wake Forest pitchers have shut down opposing ACC offenses. Overall, eight arms have combined to allow just 27 hits and seven earned runs while striking out 66 batters.
In The Spotlight
Sullivan, who came in the weekend leading the ACC in strikeouts (50), earned his fourth win of the season on Saturday, tossing five innings with eight strikeouts while allowing just three hits and two walks.
The sophomore struck out five of the first nine batters he faced and continued to get stronger as the game went on. As Wake Forest found the scoreboard offensively, Sullivan stranded two baserunners in back-to-back frames with an inning-ending strikeout to end his start
In five appearances, Sullivan has registered a 1.76 ERA in 30.2 innings to go along with 58 strikeouts, six earned runs and eight walks allowed. Additionally, opponents are batting just .124 against the lefthander.
A staple out of Wake Forest's bullpen the last two seasons, Camden Minacci earned the sixth save of his junior season after retiring the Hurricanes in order in the ninth inning on Saturday.
Over the course of his career, Minacci has registered 14 saves as the Tampa, Fla. native has tallied the eighth-most saves by a Demon Deacon ever.
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. Camden Minacci 2021-Pres. 14
9. Chuck Irving 1976-77 12
Aaron Fossas 2012-16 12
Minacci's six saves this season ties his previous career best set in 2022.
On Deck
The Deacs will look to sweep its first ACC series of the season on Sunday, March 26 at 12 p.m. inside David F. Couch Ballpark.
The series finale can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sullivan, Sean (4-1)
L: Gage Ziehl (3-3)
S: Minacci, Camden (6)
Batting:
2B: Yohandy Morales 1 ; Zach Levenson 1
HR: Yohandy Morales 1
RBI: Yohandy Morales 1
SH: Carlos Perez 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Yohandy Morales 1
HBP: CJ Kayfus 1 ; Dominic Pitelli 1
PO: CJ Kayfus 1 ; Dario Gomez 1
Batting:
2B: Wilken, Brock 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 2
RBI: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 2
SF: Kurtz, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Wilken, Brock 1 ; Cueto, Gio 1
CS: Hawke, Tommy 1
HBP: Wilken, Brock 1
PO: Wilken, Brock 1
