No. 2 Wake Forest Primed for ACC Series at Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. – The No. 2 Wake Forest baseball team continues its five-game road trip with its fourth ACC series of the season at Clemson on March 30-April 1 inside Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The Demon Deacons (23-3, 7-2 ACC) head into the fourth ACC weekend of the season on a five-game win streak, picking up midweek victories over Elon and High Point as well as sweeping Miami for the first time in program history over the last seven days.

Over the course of its win streak, the Deacs are outscoring opponents by a mark of 51-5.

Wake Forest has scored more than 10 runs in three games while holding opponents to three runs or less in every contest.

The Deacs are off to a 7-2 mark in conference play, the program's best start against ACC foes in head coach Tom Walter's tenure.

Wake Forest is +24 in run differential through the first three series, outscoring opponents 50-26 in nine games.

After taking two out of three against Duke and Notre Dame, Wake Forest is fresh off the program's first ever sweep of Miami. The Deacs outscored the Hurricanes 19-2 in front of the largest regular season weekend crowd at David F. Couch Ballpark ever.

In its last two ACC series, Wake Forest pitchers have shut down opposing ACC offenses. Overall, eight arms have combined to allow just 32 hits and seven earned runs while striking out 79 batters in six games.

Thursday night's series opener is slated for 7 p.m. and will be broadcasted nationally on ACC Network.

The teams will return to the diamond on Friday, March 31 at 6 p.m. before wrapping up the series on Saturday, April 1 at 2 p.m. Both games can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

Additionally, fans can tune into an audio streaming broadcast through the Wake Forest Athletics app for all three games.

Stay tuned to the Demon Deacons social media accounts (@WakeBaseball) for all in-game updates and information.

Deacs in the Polls

No. 2- D1Baseball
No. 2- USA Today Coaches Poll
No. 3- Perfect Game
No. 3- Baseball America
No. 3- NCBWA
No. 4- Collegiate Baseball

Wake Forest Honors

Adam Cecere
- ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
Josh Hartle
- Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (March 6)
Nick Kurtz
- ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
- D1 Baseball Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
- Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
- Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
- D1Baseball First Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game Second Team Preseason All-America
- Baseball America Third Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
Rhett Lowder
- 2023 ACC Pitcher of the Week (March 27)
- 2023 Perfect Game Pitcher of the Week (March 27)
- Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
- Collegiate Baseball First Team Preseason All-America
- D1Baseball First Team Preseason All-America
- NCBWA First Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game First Team Preseason All-America
- Baseball America First Team Preseason All-America
- D1Baseball Preseason ACC Pitcher of the Year
- Perfect Game Preseason ACC Pitcher of the Year
- Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
Teddy McGraw
- Perfect Game Third Team Preseason All-America
- Prospects Live Third Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
Camden Minacci
- D1Baseball Third Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game Third Team Preseason All-America
Sean Sullivan
- ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
- Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
- ACC Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 20)
- Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
Brock Wilken
- Collegiate Baseball Second Team Preseason All-America
- NCBWA Second Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game Second Team Preseason All-America
- Prospects Live Second Team Preseason All-America
- Baseball America Third Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC

Opponent/Series History

Wake Forest and Clemson have squared off 192 times prior to this year's series. The Deacs trail the all-time series 139-53.

Best Start Since 1949

Wake Forest is off to the program's best start (23-3) since 1949 (24-2).
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.
Best Starts in Program History:
- 13-0: 2023, 1949
- 14-0: 1949
- 15-0: 1949
- 16-0: 1949
- 17-0: 1949
- 18-0: 1949
- 19-0: 1949
- 20-0: 1949
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 Country

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.

The Demon Deacon pitching staff leads the nation in strikeouts, strikeouts-per-nine innings, WHIP, hits per nine, ERA, while ranking first in the ACC and top-two nationally in every other category.

Category	National	ACC
Strikeouts (333)	1	1
Ks-Per-Nine (13.1)	1	1
WHIP (.92)	1	1
ERA (2.12)	1	1
Hits-Per-Nine (5.78)	1	1
K-to-BB ratio (5.29)	2	1
BBs-Per-Nine (2.48)	2	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 20 games. Overall as a staff, the Deacs have averaged 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings this season while averaging just over two walks per game.
Every pitcher who has tossed at least double-digit innings this season has held opponents to a .225 batting average or lower.
- Cole Roland (13.1 IP): .089
- Sean Sullivan (30.2 IP): .124
- Seth Keener (23.0 IP): .167
- Michael Massey (17.0 IP): .180
- Rhett Lowder (38.0 IP): .185
- Reed Mascolo (30.2 IP): .188
- Camden Minacci (10.1 IP): .205
- Josh Hartle (35.0 IP): .224

Rake Forest

Wake Forest's offense has been on a tear to open the new season as the Deacs lead the nation in walks while ranking as the ACC leader in home runs, runs, scoring and on-base percentage.

Category	National	ACC
Walks (188)	1	1
Runs (263)	2	1
On-Base % (.445)	4	1
Scoring (10.1)	6	1
Home Runs (51)	7	1
Slugging % (.556)	13	2
Hits (275)	18	4
Doubles (60)	10	5
Average (.310)	33	6

12 Deacs have launched a long fly, headlined by Brock Wilken with 14, Adam Cecere and Nick Kurtz with nine, Justin Johnson and Pierce Bennett with four, Danny Corona, Chris Katz, Kyle Joye and Gio Cueto with two and Tommy Hawke, Bennett Lee and Marek Houston with one.
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.
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.
Overall, Wake Forest has 10 players sporting an on-base percentage higher than .400 and double-digit hits.
Wake Forest has reached double-digit hits in 14 of its first 26 games while scoring at least 10 runs in 14 contests.

Dominant Win Streak

Wake Forest heads into the fourth ACC weekend of the season on a five-game win streak, picking up midweek victories over Elon and High Point as well as sweeping Miami over the last 11 days.
Over the course of its win streak, the Deacs are outscoring opponents by a mark of 51-5.
Wake Forest has scored more than 10 runs in three games while holding opponents to three runs or less in every contest.

Another Deac Wins ACC Weekly Honors

Through the first six weeks of the season, four Demon Deacons have received five ACC Player or Pitcher of the Week honors from the conference for performances throughout the opening half of the season.
- Feb. 20 (Week 1): Nick Kurtz and Sean Sullivan
- Feb. 27 (Week 2): Adam Cecere and Sean Sullivan
- March 27 (Week 6): Rhett Lowder

Deacs in ACC Play

Wake Forest is off to a 7-2 mark in conference play, the program's best start against ACC foes in head coach Tom Walter's tenure.
The Demon Deacons are +24 in run differential through the first three series, outscoring opponents 50-26 in nine games.
After taking two out of three against Duke and Notre Dame, Wake Forest is fresh off the program's first ever sweep of Miami. The Deacs outscored the Hurricanes 19-2 in front of the largest regular season weekend crowd at David F. Couch Ballpark ever.
In its last two ACC series, Wake Forest pitchers have shut down opposing ACC offenses. Overall, eight arms have combined to allow just 32 hits and seven earned runs while striking out 79 batters in six games.

Run Differential Driving Deacs

Wake Forest has outscored opponents by double-digits in eight innings this season.
- Wake Forest Scoring Summary by Inning (Wake Forest-Opponent)
  - First Inning: 51-8
  - Second Inning: 26-10
  - Third Inning: 39-11
  - Fourth Inning: 36-8
  - Fifth Inning: 44-10
  - Sixth Inning: 21-2
  - Seventh Inning: 19-6
  - Eighth Inning: 24-13
  - Ninth Inning: 3-5
Overall, the Deacs are outscoring opponents by a 263-74 mark.
Wake Forest has scored in the first inning in 16 games this season, posting a 15-1 record in those games. Additionally, the Deacs are 16-1 when they score first.
Wake Forest's +7.3 run differential per game is good for the second-highest in the nation behind LSU (+7.8).
Much of Wake Forest's success has been fast starts as the Deacs have outscored opponents by a mark of 116-29 in the opening three innings.

Weekend Rotation Shoving

Wake Forest's starting weekend rotation of Rhett Lowder, Sean Sullivan and Josh Hartle has been lights out to open the 2023 season.
Through the first six weekends, the trio has posted 14 wins with a combined ERA of 1.66 in 103.2 innings. Lowder, Sullivan and Hartle have combined to strike out 162 batters while allowing just 19 earned runs and walking just 21 batters.

All three rank in top 10 among ACC foes in almost every pitching category:

	Lowder	Sullivan	Hartle
ERA	3rd (1.42)	6th (1.76)	8th (1.80)
K-BB Ratio	4th (6.86)	3rd (7.25)	1st (9.33)
Strikeouts	3rd (48)	1st (58)	2nd (56)
Ks-Per-Nine	12th (11.37)	1st (17.02)	3rd (14.40)
WHIP	3rd (.84)	1st (.68)	10 (.97)
BBs-Per-Nine	3rd (1.66)	N/A	2nd (1.54)

This week, all three landed in the nation's top 10 starting pitchers according to D1Baseball as Wake Forest is the only school in the nation with three arms in the top 10:
- Rhett Lowder: No. 2
- Sean Sullivan: No. 4
- Josh Hartle: No. 7

Patience at Plate paying Dividends

Wake Forest has been patient at the plate as the Deacs have been walked 188 times, the most in the nation by five.

The Deacs have been walked at least 10 times in six games this season. In all of those contests, Wake Forest has scored double-digit runs, while notching double-digit hits five 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
High Point	13	12	12

Wake Forest is the only school in the ACC with multiple players in the top-10 in on-base percentage:
- Tommy Hawke: 1st
- Nick Kurtz: 4th
- Adam Cecere: 6th

Lowder Day

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
In conference play, Lowder registered the lowest ERA (2.60) and the most innings (65.2) in addition to the second-most victories (six).

Wilken Looks To Climb Charts

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 14th home run of the season at High Point, Wilken is third in the nation in HRs and has hit the most career long flies 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 54 home runs in his career, which is the third-most by a Demon Deacon ever as the Valrico, Fla. native is just five home runs away from breaking the program record.
Wake Forest Career Home Runs
- 1. Jamie D'Antona 2001-03 58
- 2. Jake Austin 1989-92 55
- 3. Brock Wilken 2021-Pres. 54

Wilken has been off to a scorching start at the plate, posting a .333 batting average with 32 hits, four doubles, 42 RBIs, 24 walks, 34 runs scored and a .813 slugging percentage.

Category	National	ACC
Home Runs (14)	3	1
RBIs (42)	2	1
Runs (34)	11	2
Walks (24)	21	6
Bases (78)	16	3
Slugging % (.813)	24	2

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.
Wilken needs 50 more base knocks to join the 200-hit club.

Hawke 'Em

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 26 games, Hawke leads the ACC with a .549 on-base percentage and 36 runs scored while ranking second with a team-high 42 hits.
Hawke also ranks in the top 10 among conference competitors in average (second), doubles (fourth) and walks (fourth).
Hawke held the second-longest reached base streak (45 games) in the nation snapped in Wake Forest's Saturday doubleheader at Duke.
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).
In Wake Forest's 18-1 victory against Towson on Feb. 25 Hawke notched a career-high five hits.

Nicky Nukes

After one of the greatest seasons by a Wake Forest freshman in school history, Nick Kurtz has impressed during the opening slate of games.
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, runs per game, RBIs, walks, slugging percentage. In 21 games, the Lancaster, Pa. native has tallied eight multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games.
Currently, Kurtz ranks in the top 15 among Division 1 players in career on-base percentage (8th) and slugging percentage (11th).
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.
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.
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.
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.
In game one against Youngstown State, Kurtz was walked three times and scored one run.
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.
Kurtz needs just six more base knocks to tally 100 career hits.

Sully Making Immediate Impact

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.
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.
Sullivan earned his fourth win of the season last 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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

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.
Currently, Hartle is the ACC leader in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.33) and ranks in the top five in strikeouts (second), walks-per-nine (second), strikeouts-per-nine (third) and WHIP (10th).
In his career, Hartle has allowed two earned runs or less in 13 of his 20 starts.
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.
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.
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.
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

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, tying a career high.
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.
- 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

On Deck
Wake Forest closes its five-game road trip with a midweek matchup at Elon on Tuesday, April 4 at 6 p.m.

The game can be streamed on FloSports.

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Players Mentioned

Pierce Bennett

Adam Cecere

Danny Corona

Gio Cueto

Josh Hartle

Tommy Hawke

Marek Houston

Justin Johnson

Kyle Joye

Chris Katz

Seth Keener

Nick Kurtz

Bennett Lee

Rhett Lowder

Reed Mascolo

Michael Massey

Teddy McGraw

Camden Minacci

Cole Roland

Sean Sullivan

Brock Wilken

Wake Forest Athletics