Wake Forest University
24-3, 8-2
Clemson
16-11, 2-5
No. 2 Wake Forest Defeats Clemson in Series Opener, 8-3
3/30/2023 11:23:00 PM | Baseball
Three Wake Forest home runs, Rhett Lowder's third-straight seven-inning start and multiple outstanding defensive plays propelled Wake Forest to the series-opening win.
CLEMSON, S.C. – The No. 2 Wake Forest baseball team earned a 8-3 road win, its sixth victory in a row, in its series opener against Clemson on Friday night inside Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Wake Forest (24-3, 8-2 ACC) has now won eight of its first 10 conference games for the first time in head coach Tom Walter's tenure. The Demon Deacons are outscoring ACC opponents 58-29 this season.
In its last seven games, Wake Forest pitchers have shut down opposing ACC offenses. Overall, eight arms have combined to allow just 40 hits and nine earned runs while striking out 88 batters.
The Deacs got another stellar performance from junior Rhett Lowder on the bump as he moved to 6-0 for the first time in his career.
Lowder tossed seven innings for the third-straight weekend, allowing one earned run and one walk while striking out six. With his fourth punchout in the fifth inning, Lowder rewrote the Wake Forest record book as the Albemarle, N.C. native entered the top 10 in program history in career strikeouts.
The righthander did not allow a baserunner to reach scoring position until the bottom of the sixth as Lowder opened his outing with five-straight scoreless frames.
A pair of two-run home runs from Nick Kurtz (first inning) and Justin Johnson (fourth inning) in addition to a Pierce Bennett double gave Wake Forest an early 5-0 lead after four innings.
After Clemson plated two runs in the sixth, Chris Katz gave Wake Forest its biggest lead of the night with a pinch-hit, three-run towering blast over the left field wall.
After the Tigers added another run in the bottom eighth with a sacrifice fly, Michael Massey retired five-straight batters, highlighted by three strikeouts, to clinch the victory.
In addition to long flies from Kurtz, Johnson and Katz, Brock Wilken and Lucas Costello produced a team-high two hits apiece.
How It Happened
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Wake Forest struck first as Nick Kurtz launched a two-run home run in the top of the first, scoring Lucas Costello (double) with one out.
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Rhett Lowder opened up his outing with a strikeout before working around a two-out single with a flyout to Costello in left field to end the frame and preserve Wake Forest's early 2-0 advantage.
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After the Deacs were retired in order to open the second, Lowder tossed another zero to end the frame.
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Lowder induced back-to-back flyouts to the opening batters before Clemson notched a bloop base hit to left field on a full count. Lowder responded by forcing a groundout to Brock Wilken at third.
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Costello notched his second base hit of the night, singling up the middle with two outs in the top of the third. A strikeout stranded Costello as Wake Forest took its two-run lead into the bottom of the inning.
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Lowder once again stranded a Clemson base runner on first in the bottom of the third as Marek Houston made a diving effort up the middle to get the force out at second and end the third inning.
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Tommy Hawke robbed the leadoff hitter of a home run for the first out of the frame.
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The Deacs extended its lead to 5-0 in the top of the fourth. After Wilken led off the frame with a single to left field, Pierce Bennett doubled to right center to score Bennett. Five pitches later, Justin Johnson launched his fifth long fly of the season to left center field to push the Demon Deacon advantage to five.
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Lowder notched his second shutdown inning to end the fourth, sitting down the opening batters with groundouts before working around another two-out single with a groundout on a bunt single in front of home plate.
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On the final out, Kurtz made a long stretch to receive the throw from Gio Cueto and retire the Tiger hitter.
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Costello and Kurtz both walked with one out in the top of the fifth, but a strikeout and fly out stranded the pair.
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Lowder struck out back-to-back batters in a scoreless fifth frame to maintain Wake Forest's 5-0 lead.
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His fourth strikeout of the game for the second out of the inning moved the righthander into the top 10 for career strikeouts by a Demon Deacon.
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A liner hit a Clemson baserunner with two outs to end the frame.
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Clemson trimmed Wake Forest's lead to 5-2 after six full innings following a single paired with a throwing error and a sacrifice fly.
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Lowder responded with a strikeout and fly out to end the frame.
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Hawke doubled down the left field line but was stranded with back-to-back strikeouts in the top of the seventh.
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Lowder responded with a perfect three-up, three-down inning with a strikeout, line out and ground out as Wake Forest took its three-run lead to the eighth.
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A three-run, pinch-hit home run from courtesy of Chris Katz pushed Wake Forest to its biggest lead of the night (8-2) in the top of the eighth.
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Wilken opened the inning with a single to left center before Johnson was hit by a pitch. The duo scored on Katz's 413-foot blast.
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Clemson loaded the bases and added a run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to trim Wake Forest's lead to 8-3.
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Massey retired the only two batters he faced, highlighted by his inning-ending strikeout to strand runners at the corners.
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Massey clinched the victory in the ninth, tossing a three-up, three-down ninth inning with back-to-back strikeouts and a fly out.
Words From Walter
"A great win. Any time you can win the opening game on the road, it gives you a better chance to win the series. Rhett Lowder was the story today. Just awesome. He wanted the ball in the seventh and I give him a lot of credit for that. His pitch count was relatively low, but pitching on short rest, he could've asked out of that game in that situation but he wanted to go out there and he got us three big outs. I think that, as much as anything, was the biggest difference in the game.
"Kurtzy getting us started. Chris Katz coming off the bench with a huge home run. Lucas Costello with three quality at-bats right out of the gate. He doubled down the line in the first, singled and then walked in his third at-bat and comes around to score. I was proud of our defense. Marek Houston makes a diving play. Tommy Hawke robs a homer. Nick Kurtz with an unbelievable pick on the ball Gio threw. Some really good defense too."
Standout Stat
Wake Forest has now won eight of its first 10 conference games for the first time in head coach Tom Walter's tenure. The Demon Deacons are outscoring ACC opponents 58-29 this season.
In its last seven games, Wake Forest pitchers have shut down opposing ACC offenses. Overall, eight arms have combined to allow just 40 hits and nine earned runs while striking out 88 batters in six games.
Overall, Wake Forest's 24-3 record is the best start since 1949, who started 25-2 through its first 27 contests.
The 2023 Deacs started the year 13-0, also joining the 1949 ballclub, 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.
Wake Forest has outscored opponents by double-digits in eight innings this season.
Wake Forest Scoring Summary by Inning (Wake Forest-Opponent)
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First Inning: 45-7
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Second Inning: 25-10
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Third Inning: 36-9
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Fourth Inning: 39-7
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Fifth Inning: 37-10
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Sixth Inning: 20-4
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Seventh Inning: 18-6
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Eighth Inning: 24-14
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Ninth Inning: 2-5
Overall, the Deacs are outscoring opponents by a 251-72 mark in 2023.
Much of Wake Forest's success has been fast starts as the Deacs have outscored opponents by a mark of 118-29 in the opening three innings.
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 16-1 when they score first.
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 15 wins with a combined ERA of 1.63 in 110.2 innings. Lowder, Sullivan and Hartle have combined to strike out 168 batters while allowing just 20 earned runs and walking just 22 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 sixth win of 2023 and the 21st victory of his career after tossing seven innings for the third-straight weekend, allowing one earned run and one walk while striking out six.
The righthander did not allow a baserunner to reach scoring position until the bottom of the sixth as Lowder opened his outing with five-straight scoreless frames. In his final inning of work in the seventh, Lowder retired Clemson in order with a strikeout, lineout and groundout.
With his fourth strikeout of Thursday's game in the fifth inning, Lowder rewrote the record book as the Albemarle, N.C. native joined the top 10 in program history in career strikeouts. Lowder finished with six strikeouts and took sole possession of the ninth-most Ks in program history.
Wake Forest Career Strikeouts
1. Parker Dunshee 2014-17 330
2. John Hendricks1996-99 312
3. Mike MacDougal1997-99 288
4. Buddy Jenkins 1987-91 277
5. Kyle Sleeth 2001-03 271
6. Frank Humber 1986-89 266
7. Ross Atkins 1992-95 250
8. Dave Bush 1999-02 249
9. Rhett Lowder 2021-Pres 237
10. Tim Cooney 2010-12 235
Mike Buddie 1990-92 235
Additionally, Lowder is now just one victory 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.)- 21
Dating back to last season, Lowder has allowed three earned runs or less in 21 of his last 23 starts and has gone at least six innings in 16 starts.
This season, the Reigning ACC Pitcher of the Year has accumulated a 1.40 ERA in 45.0 innings to go along with 54 strikeouts.
The righthander has blanked opponents three times this season, while walking no more than two batters in any start this year.
On Deck
The Deacs will look to claim its fourth ACC series of the season on Friday, March 31 at 6 p.m. inside Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The series will wrap up on Saturday, April 1 at 2 p.m..
Both games can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lowder, Rhett (6-0)
L: Austin Gordon (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Costello, Lucas 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1
HR: Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Johnson, Justin 1 ; Katz, Chris 1
RBI: Kurtz, Nick 2 ; Johnson, Justin 2 ; Katz, Chris 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Costello, Lucas 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Wilken, Brock 2 ; Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Johnson, Justin 2 ; Katz, Chris 1
HBP: Johnson, Justin 1
Batting:
2B: Will Taylor 1
RBI: Blake Wright 1 ; Benjamin Blackwell 1
SF: Blake Wright 1 ; Benjamin Blackwell 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Will Taylor 2 ; Caden Grice 1
