No. 2 Deacs Open Road Trip at High Point Tuesday
3/27/2023 7:03:00 PM | Baseball
Wake Forest is fresh off its third-straight ACC series victory as the Demon Deacons swept Miami for the first time in program history.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 2 Wake Forest baseball team opens a five-game road trip with a midweek contest at High Point on Tuesday, March 28 inside Williard Stadium.
The Demon Deacons (22-3, 7-2 ACC) are fresh off its third-straight ACC series victory as the Demon Deacons swept Miami for the first time in program history, outscoring the nationally-ranked Hurricanes by a margin of 19-2 over three weekend wins in front of 5,967 fans, the largest regular season weekend crowd in program history.
In addition to its winning record in conference play over the last two seasons, Wake Forest has found success in non-conference competition. Dating back to last year, the Deacs hold a 40-5 record against non-ACC teams. Wake Forest has outscored opponents 462-160 in those games.
To open the 2023 season, Wake Forest has scored over 10 runs in 11 of its first 16 non-ACC matchups, while holding opponents to three runs or less in 12 contests thus far in 2023.
The Demon Deacons finished the 2022 season 24-2 in non conference play, tying for the best non-league winning percentage in the nation (Tennessee).
First pitch between the Demon Deacons and Panthers is set for 5 p.m. on ESPN+ with a paid subscription. Additionally, fans can tune into an audio streaming broadcast through the Wake Forest Athletics app.
Stay tuned to the Demon Deacons social media accounts (@WakeBaseball) for all in-game updates and information.
Deacs in the Polls
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No. 2- D1Baseball
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No. 2- USA Today Coaches Poll
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No. 3- Perfect Game
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No. 3- Baseball America
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No. 3- NCBWA
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No. 4- Collegiate Baseball
Wake Forest Honors
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ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
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Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (March 6)
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ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
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D1 Baseball Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
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Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
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Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
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D1Baseball First Team Preseason All-America
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Perfect Game Second Team Preseason All-America
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Baseball America Third Team Preseason All-America
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Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
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2023 ACC Pitcher of the Week (March 27)
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2023 Perfect Game Pitcher of the Week (March 27)
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Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
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Collegiate Baseball First Team Preseason All-America
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D1Baseball First Team Preseason All-America
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NCBWA First Team Preseason All-America
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Perfect Game First Team Preseason All-America
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Baseball America First Team Preseason All-America
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D1Baseball Preseason ACC Pitcher of the Year
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Perfect Game Preseason ACC Pitcher of the Year
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Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
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Perfect Game Third Team Preseason All-America
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Prospects Live Third Team Preseason All-America
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Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
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D1Baseball Third Team Preseason All-America
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Perfect Game Third Team Preseason All-America
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ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
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Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
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ACC Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 20)
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Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
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Collegiate Baseball Second Team Preseason All-America
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NCBWA Second Team Preseason All-America
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Perfect Game Second Team Preseason All-America
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Prospects Live Second Team Preseason All-America
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Baseball America Third Team Preseason All-America
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Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
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Opponent & Series History
The Demon Deacons lead the all-time series against the Panthers by a 37-21 mark with the first meeting between the two programs coming in 1973.
Last season, Wake Forest and High Point split the home-and-home, with both teams winning at home. Overall, the Deacs outscored the Panthers 18-11 last season.
Best Start Since 1949
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Following its Saturday sweep of Notre Dame, Wake Forest became the second team in program history (1949) to win 18 of its first 20 games to open a season.
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Wake Forest started the year 13-0, joining the 1949 Deacs, who hold the program's best open to a campaign at 20-0, as the only teams in school history to win its first 13 games.
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Best Starts in Program History:
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13-0: 2023, 1949
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14-0: 1949
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15-0: 1949
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16-0: 1949
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17-0: 1949
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18-0: 1949
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19-0: 1949
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20-0: 1949
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Wake Forest's 13-straight wins this season was the longest winning streak overall since the Deacs won 15 in a row during the 2012 season.
Pitching Staff Among the Best in the Nation
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Wake Forest's pitching staff has impressed in the first half of the 2023 season as 16 arms hit the mound throughout the opening slate.
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The Demon Deacon pitching staff leads the nation in strikeouts, strikeouts-per-nine innings, WHIP and ERA, while ranking first in the ACC and top-three nationally in every other category.
Category National ACC Strikeouts (325) 1 1 Ks-Per-Nine (13.3) 1 1 WHIP (.92) 1 1 ERA (2.09) 1 1 Hits-Per-Nine (5.77) 2 1 K-to-BB Ratio (5.24) 2 1 BB-Per-Nine (2.54) 3 1 -
Wake Forest has fanned double-digit batters in 20 of its first 25 games this season and have held opponents to three runs or less in 19 games. Overall as a staff, the Deacs have averaged 13.3 strikeouts per nine innings this season while averaging just over two walks per game.
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Every pitcher who has tossed at least double-digit innings this season has held opponents to a .250 batting average or lower.
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Cole Roland (13.1 IP): .089
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Sean Sullivan (30.2 IP): .124
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Seth Keener (23.0 IP): .167
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Reed Mascolo (24.2 IP): .169
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Michael Massey (17.0 IP): .180
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Rhett Lowder (38.0 IP): .185
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Camden Minacci (10.1 IP): .205
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Josh Hartle (35.0 IP): .224
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Rake Forest
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Wake Forest's offense has been on a tear to open the new season as the Deacs lead the ACC in walks, runs, scoring and on-base percentage.
Category National ACC Walks (176) 2 1 On-Base % (.441) 6 1 Runs (251) 6 1 Scoring (10.0) 6 1 HRs (48) 13 3 Doubles (57) 12 4 Slugging % (.552) 17 4 Average (.308) 39 5 Hits (262) 20 5 -
12 Deacs have launched a long fly, headlined by Brock Wilken with 13, Adam Cecere and Nick Kurtz with nine, Justin Johnson with four, Pierce Bennett with three, Danny Corona, Chris Katz and Gio Cueto with two and Kyle Joye, Tommy Hawke, Bennett Lee and Marek Houston with one.
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Tommy Hawke capped off Wake Forest's eight-run first inning in Wake Forest's first midweek game of the season with the Demon Deacons' first inside-the-park home run since 2016.
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Wake Forest's comeback victory against Youngstown State 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. Additionally, this is tied for the ninth-highest scoring mark in an inning in the nation.
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Overall, Wake Forest has nine players sporting an on-base percentage higher than .400 and double-digit hits.
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Wake Forest has reached double-digit hits in 13 of its first 25 games while scoring at least 10 runs in 13 contests.
Non-Conference Success
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In addition to its winning record in conference play over the last two seasons, Wake Forest has found success in non-conference competition.
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Dating back to last year, the Deacs hold a 40-5 record against non-ACC teams. Wake Forest has outscored opponents 462-160 in those games.
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To open the 2023 season, Wake Forest has scored over 10 runs in 11 of its first 16 non-ACC matchups, while holding opponents to three runs or less in 12 contests thus far in 2023.
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The Demon Deacons finished the 2022 season 24-2 in non conference play, tying for the best non-league winning percentage in the nation (Tennessee).
Run Differential Driving Deacs Success
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Wake Forest has outscored opponents by double-digits in seven innings this season.
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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: 36-10
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Fourth Inning: 36-7
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Fifth Inning: 41-10
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Sixth Inning: 21-2
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Seventh Inning: 19-6
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Eighth Inning: 22-13
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Ninth Inning: 2-5
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Overall, the Deacs are outscoring opponents by a 251-71 mark.
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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.
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Wake Forest's +7.2 run differential per game is good for the second-highest in the nation behind LSU (+7.8).
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Much of Wake Forest's success has been fast starts as the Deacs have outscored opponents by a mark of 110-28 in the opening three innings.
Patience Playing Dividends at the Plate
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Wake Forest has been patient at the plate as the Deacs have been walked 176 times, the most in the ACC.
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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 -
Wake Forest is the only school in the ACC with multiple players in the top-10 in on-base percentage:
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Tommy Hawke: 1st
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Adam Cecere: 4th
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Nick Kurtz: 9th
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Eight Deacs have already reached the double-digit walk mark this season:
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Tommy Hawke: 24
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Brock Wilken: 21
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Adam Cecere: 20
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Nick Kurtz: 19
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Marek Houston: 16
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Jake Reinisch: 12
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Justin Johnson: 12
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Chris Katz: 10
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Overall this season, the Demon Deacons are +114 in walks compared to their opponents.
Hawke 'Em
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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 25 games, Hawke leads the ACC with a .549 on-base percentage and 36 runs scored while ranking second with a team-high 42 hits.
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Hawke also ranks in the top 10 among conference competitors in average (second), doubles (fourth) and walks (fourth).
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Hawke held the second-longest reached base streak (45 games) in the nation snapped in Wake Forest's Saturday doubleheader at Duke.
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Overall, Hawke has reached base safely in 76 of his career 83 appearances and is currently the Division I career leader in on-base percentage (.518) while ranking third in career average (.399).
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In Wake Forest's 18-1 victory against Towson on Feb. 25 Hawke notched a career-high five hits.
Mr. Midweek
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Reed Mascolo has made impactful starts during midweek competition over his three seasons in a Demon Deacon uniform as Wake Forest has amassed a 15-3 record in games he has started. The redshirt junior has given up less than two earned runs in 12 of those matchups and has struckout at least three batters in each of those 12 outings.
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Mascolo earned the fourth win of the 2023 season after throwing five innings of shutout baseball while only surrendering two total baserunners and striking out six Phoenix hitters Mascolo faced the minimum in three innings and didn't allow a baserunner until the top of the third. The Fairfield, Conn. native retired six straight to open his midweek start, highlighted by four-straight strikeouts.
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In Wake Forest's midweek game at Liberty, Mascolo tossed a career-long six innings, conceding just four hits, one run and one walk while striking out three batters to earn his third win of the season.
Lowder Day
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Unanimous Preseason All-American and 2022 ACC Pitcher of the Year Rhett Lowder has totaled a 1.42 ERA through 38 innings to go along with 48 strikeouts, 25 hits, seven walks and six earned runs conceded this season.
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Lowder earned ACC and Perfect Game Pitcher of the Week honors after earning his fifth win of 2023 after tossing a near flawless seven innings, allowing just three hits and two walks while fanning nine batters and allowing just two Hurricanes to reach third base in Friday's 11-0 series-opening victory over No. 17 Miami. Lowder has now started the last two seasons 5-0 and is currently one of five players in the ACC with five victories.
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Heading into his seventh start this weekend, Lowder ranks in the top 10 of the ACC in ERA, hits-per-nine, strikeouts-to-walk ratio, strikeouts, WHIP and walks-per-nine innings.
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Over the course of his career, Lowder has won 20 games and sits just two victories away from entering the top 10 in Wake Forest history for career wins.
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The Albemarle, N.C. native is currently four Ks away from entering the top 10 in Demon Deacon history after striking out a career-high 105 batters in 2022, the 10th most in program history.
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Dating back to last season, Lowder has allowed three earned runs or less in 20 of his last 22starts and has gone at least six innings in 15 starts.
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The righthander won his fourth game of the season after fanning seven batters in seven strong innings in the first game of Saturday's twin bill against Notre Dame.
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Lowder earned his third win of his junior season as the Reigning ACC Pitcher of the Year tossed seven scoreless frames while striking out eight Mastodon batters in Wake Forest's last home Friday contest. This marked the fifth career scoreless outing from the Wake Forest righthander.
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Lowder earned win number two of the season after retiring the 16-straight batters, including a series of three-up, three-down innings against Binghamton on Friday, Feb. 24 . In the top of the fifth inning, Lowder tallied his seventh strikeout of the contest which marked the 200th strikeout of his Demon Deacon career. The strikeout completed an immaculate inning by the right hander.
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In his first appearance of 2023, Lowder struck out 10 batters in five innings, the fifth double-digit strikeout performance of his career (NJIT-Feb. 25, 2022, Clemson-April 15, 2022, Louisville-May 6, 2022 and Coastal Carolina-Feb. 23, 2021).
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In 2022, Lowder became the first Demon Deacon in program history to be named ACC Pitcher of the Year, the third Unanimous All-American in program history and the first Demon Deacon ever to be named a finalist for the Collegiate Pitcher of the Year Award.
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Lowder finished his sophomore season with a 11-3 record in 99.1 innings, becoming just the fifth pitcher in program history and the first since 2002 to reach 11 victories in a season.
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Lowder ended the regular season as the only pitcher in the ACC to rank in the top three in wins, strikeouts, ERA and innings pitched while also ranking in the top 10 in WHIP (fourth), walks allowed per nine innings (seventh) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (seventh) heading into the NCAA Tournament.
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In conference play, Lowder registered the lowest ERA (2.60) and the most innings (65.2) in addition to the second-most victories (six).
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In Wake Forest's final regular season series, Lowder threw the first complete game by a Demon Deacon since 2017 on just 87 pitches, striking out six batters while allowing just five hits and no walks against NC State (May 19).
Wilken Looks to Climb Charts
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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.
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With his 13th home run of the season at Liberty, Wilken is tied for the nation's lead in HRs and has hit the most career long flies among active players in Division I baseball.
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After hitting the most home runs by a Demon Deacon in their first two seasons ever, Wilken has hit 53 home runs in his career, which is the third-most by a Demon Deacon ever as the Valrico, Fla. native is just six home runs away from breaking the program record.
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Wake Forest Career Home Runs
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1. Jamie D'Antona 2001-03 58
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2. Jake Austin 1989-92 55
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3. Brock Wilken 2021-Pres. 53
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Wilken has been off to a scorching start at the plate, posting a .323 batting average with 30 hits, three doubles, 40 RBIs, 21 walks, 32 runs scored and a .774 slugging percentage.
Category National ACC Home Runs (13) 3 1 RBIs (40) 4 1 Runs (32) 20 1 Bases (72) 20 3 Slugging % (.774) 49 6 -
The junior has reached base in 22 games this season and tallied a career-high 13 game hit streak this season. Additionally, Wilken has posted a team-high 14 multi-RBI games.
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Wilken needs 50 more base knocks to join the 200-hit club.
Nicky Nukes
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After one of the greatest seasons by a Wake Forest freshman in school history, Nick Kurtz has impressed during the opening slate of games.
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After going 3-4 with a home run, double and three RBIs in Wake Forest's 20-0 midweek win against Elon, Kurtz ranks in the top 10 of the ACC in walks per game, home runs, on-base percentage, runs, RBIs and slugging percentage. In 21 games, the Lancaster, Pa. native has tallied eight multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games.
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Currently, Kurtz ranks in the top 15 among Division 1 players in career slugging percentage (11th) and on-base percentage (11th).
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In both of Wake Forest's wins against Notre Dame, Kurtz tallied a long fly to pace the Demon Deacon offense. In Wake Forest's 12-3 win, Kurtz went 3-4 with two RBIs, three runs scored and one walk.
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Kurtz earned the first ACC Player of the Week honors of his career after leading Wake Forest at the plate in its perfect 4-0 opening weekend with a team-high tying .500 batting average to go along with a team-high tying six hits, team-high tying four home runs, team-best 10 RBIs and team-best eight runs scored. Additionally, Kurtz led the team with a 1.500 slugging percentage, seven walks and .684 on-base percentage.
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In Wake Forest's season opener, Kurtz broke the game open with a grand slam in the second inning before pushing 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 total.
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In Wake Forest's 8-1 win versus Illinois on Saturday, Kurtz hit another home run while going 2-for-4 with three runs scored and one walk. Kurtz was a catalyst in the Deacs' Sunday Sweep.
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In game one against Youngstown State, Kurtz was walked three times and scored one run.
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In the second game of the twin bill, Kurtz went 2-for-3 with a home run (fourth of the season), three RBIs, two walks and two runs scored.
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Kurtz's historic freshman season in 2022 included being named a Freshman All-American by D1Baseball, Perfect Game, Baseball America, the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball while also garnering Third Team All-ACC and ACC All-Freshman Team honors.
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Kurtz posted one of the best freshman seasons in program history.
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Overall, Kurtz finished second on the Deacs with 48 walks, a .637 slugging percentage and a .471 on-base percentage while also finishing third in home runs and fourth with a .338 batting average and 130 bases.
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Much like teammate Tommy Hawke, Kurtz dominated against conference opponents, leading the ACC with a .422 batting average and .548 on-base percentage in conference play. Additionally, the first baseman also posted the second-highest OPS (1.254) and fifth-highest slugging percentage (.706) against ACC foes.
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Kurtz needs just six more base knocks to tally 100 career hits.
Sully Making Immediate Impact
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Sean Sullivan has made an immediate impact in the Old Gold and Black, registering 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. For his efforts to open the season, Sullivan received back-to-back ACC Pitcher and Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week honors to open the season.
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The lefthander leads the conference in strikeouts, hits-per-nine innings, strikeouts-per-nine innings (17.02) while ranking in the top 10 in ERA, strikeout-to-walk ratio and victories.
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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.
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Sullivan earned his third win of the 2023 season, tossing seven innings while striking out a career-high tying 11 strikeouts, his fourth double-digit strikeout performance of the season.
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Sullivan earned his second win of the 2023 season, tossing five innings while striking out 10, his third-straight double-digit strikeout performance to open the season.
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Sullivan began his outing by retiring the side in back-to-back innings, fanning five of the first six batters he faced. The reigning two-time ACC Pitcher of the Week ended his performance with a pair of strikeouts to reach the double-digit mark and secure his third perfect frame.
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Behind another electric outing from Sullivan, Wake Forest defeated Mount St. Mary's 18-2 in the opening game of the second weekend. Sullivan retired the first 16 batters of the game and had a perfect game through 5.1 innings. Overall, Sullivan punched out 11 and allowed just one baserunner in his six hitless innings of work.
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Sullivan impressed in his Demon Deacon debut in Wake Forest's 8-1 victory against Illinois on Saturday as the Andover, Mass. native struck out 10 batters while allowing just two hits and one walk in four scoreless innings to earn the save.
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Sullivan tallied at least two strikeouts in all four innings, highlighted by his trio of punchouts in the seventh and ninth. Additionally, Sullivan didn't allow more than one base runner in all four relief frames.
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Sullivan and Rhett Lowder combined for 20 strikeouts in the game, the most strikeouts by a Wake Forest Saturday in almost two years (Coastal Carolina-Feb. 23, 2021).
Hartle Continues to Deal in Year Two
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Josh Hartle has accumulated a 1.80 ERA through 35.0 innings to go along with 56 strikeouts, a new career high. The lefthander has allowed just seven earned runs and has only walked six batters.
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Currently, Hartle is the ACC leader in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.33) and ranks in the top five in strikeouts (second), strikeouts-per-nine (third), walks-per-nine (second) and WHIP (seventh).
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In his career, Hartle has allowed two earned runs or less in 13 of his 20 starts.
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Hartle has struck out at least 10 batters in three of his four starts this season and has walked more than one batter in just two of his outings. In each of his first three appearances, Hartle either set or tied his previous career-high strikeout mark.
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Against Cornell on Sunday, March 5, Hartle posted the best outing of his career, fanning a career-high 12 batters in a career-high tying seven innings.
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The Sunday prior, Hartle fanned a then-career high 11 batters in six innings while allowing no earned runs and no walks for his second victory of 2023. Hartle struckout multiple batters in his last four innings, highlighted by a trio of punchouts in the fourth and sixth.
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Hartle became just the second pitcher in Wake Forest history to make 14 starts as a freshman in 2022 as well as the sixth Deac in program history to earn seven victories of the season (second most on the 2022 squad).
Certified Stopper Camden Minacci
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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.
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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. Additionally, this mark is good for 13th among active players in Division I baseball.
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Most Saves by a Demon Deacon
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1. Dave Bush 1999-02 38
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2. Michael Dimock 2009-12 19
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3. Keith Ksansnak 1983-86 17
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4. Ben Hunter 2006-08 16
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Bret Wagner 1992-94 16
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Buddy Jenkins 1987-91 16
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7. Frank Humber 1986-89 15
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8. Camden Minacci 2021-pres. 14
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9. Chuck Irving 1976-77 12
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On Deck
Wake Forest travels to Clemson, S.C. for its fourth ACC series of the season on Thursday, March 30-Saturday, April 1.
The series opener is scheduled for a 7 p.m. first pitch on Thursday, March 30 on ACC Network.
Game two will be Friday, March 31 at 6 p.m. before finishing off the series on Saturday, April 1 at 2 p.m.
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