Wake Forest University
26-3, 10-2
Clemson
16-13, 2-7
No. 2 Wake Forest Sweeps Clemson with 6-5 Finale Victory
4/1/2023 6:07:00 PM | Baseball
After sweeping nationally-ranked Miami for the first time in program history last weekend, the Demon Deacons have swept back-to-back ACC series for the first time in 21 years.
CLEMSON, S.C. – After clinching its fourth ACC series victory of the season with wins on Thursday and Friday night, the No. 2 Wake Forest baseball team posted a 6-5 win over Clemson on Saturday afternoon inside Doug Kingsmore Stadium to sweep its second conference series in a row.
Following a sweep of nationally-ranked Miami for the first time in program history last weekend, the Demon Deacons (26-3, 10-2 ACC) have swept back-to-back ACC series for the first time in 21 years. Additionally, the Saturday victory marked Wake Forest's first sweep over the Tigers since 2012.
Over the three victories, Wake Forest outscored Clemson by a margin of 18-11. Demon Deacon hurlers fanned 28 batters while walking just five.
The Deacs have now won eight-straight games, highlighted by its six-consecutive conference victories. Over the course of its current win streak, the Demon Deacons are outscoring opponents by a 68-16 mark.
In its last three ACC series, Demon Deacon pitchers have shut down opposing offenses. Overall, eight arms have combined to allow just 60 hits and 15 earned runs while striking out 107 batters.
After Clemson found the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, Wake Forest rattled off five unanswered runs in four-straight innings, highlighted by run-scoring, extra-base hits by Pierce Bennett, Nick Kurtz and Lucas Costello, to take control of the series finale.
On the mound, Josh Hartle notched four-straight scoreless frames on the mound to end his start and keep Clemson's offense at bay.
Hartle stranded a pair in scoring position with a strikeout and groundout in the fourth before tossing back-to-back 1-2-3 frames in the fifth and sixth innings as the lefthander retired eight-straight batters.
In his final inning of work in the seventh, Hartle once again stranded a Tiger in scoring position with a groundout, strikeout and fly out.
Overall, Hartle earned his sixth win of the season as he tossed a season-high tying seven innings of one run baseball. Hartle punched out eight batters while conceding just five hits and one walk.
Michael Massey limited the damage in a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, inducing a sacrifice fly that turned into a double play thanks to a diving effort by Tommy Hawke in left field.
After Wake Forest extended its lead to 6-2 on a fielding error in the top of the ninth, Clemson made it a one-run game with a solo home run and two-out, two-RBI double. Undaunted, Cole Roland induced a game-ending lineout to Hawke to earn his first save of the season and clinch the Demon Deacons' second-straight conference series sweep.
Offensively, four of Wake Forest's six hits went for extra bases, three of which drove in runs. Marek Houston led the Deacs with two runs scored, while Bennett's two RBIs were good for a team high.
How It Happened
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Tommy Hawke opened the game with a walk, but the next three Deacs were retired to conclude the opening frame.
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Josh Hartle tossed a hitless frame to end the first inning, highlighted by an inning-ending strikeout.
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After the Deacs were retired in order in the second, Hartle returned the favor as the left hander induced back-to-back groundouts before picking up a punchout on a pitch clock violation with two strikes.
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Clemson found the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, taking a 1-0 lead after an RBI-single.
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Hartle induced an inning-ending ground ball double play to Marek Houston up the middle.
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Wake Forest responded in the next half as Pierce Bennett doubled down the left field line to score Nick Kurtz and Brock Wilken, who both walked, to take a 2-1 lead.
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After a strikeout, Chris Katz tallied the Demon Deacons' third walk of the inning, but a groundout stranded Katz and Bennett.
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Hartle notched a shutdown inning in the bottom of the fourth, stranding a pair in scoring position with a strikeout and groundout to preserve Wake Forest's one-run lead (2-1).
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The Deacs extended its lead to 3-1 as Nick Kurtz fired a two-out, RBI-double to right center field to score Marek Houston, who walked to leadoff the inning.
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Hartle tossed another shutdown inning to end the fifth, retiring the Tigers in order with a leadoff groundout before striking out back-to-back batters.
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Wake Forest found the scoreboard for the third-straight inning in the top of the sixth as Bennett was plated on a double play with no one out to increase the Demon Deacon advantage to 4-1.
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After a pitching change, Bennett was hit by a pitch before Justin Johnson singled through the right side to put runners on the corners.
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Hartle retired the Tigers in order once again to end the sixth with a groundout, strikeout and flyout as Wake Forest took its three-run lead into the next inning.
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The Demon Deacons extended its lead to 5-1 with another RBI-double courtesy of Lucas Costello, which scored Houston.
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Houston singled and stole second before scoring his second run of the contest.
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Hartle ended his start strong, stranding another Clemson base runner in scoring position in his fifth-straight scoreless frame.
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The Tigers notched a leadoff single and advanced to second on a fielding error by the Deacs. A groundout pushed the baserunner to third with one out. Hartle responded with his eighth punch out before ending the inning with a fly out.
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Clemson trimmed Wake Forest's lead to 5-2 after eight full innings thanks to a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded.
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On the fly out, Hawke made a diving play in left field before throwing out a Clemson base runner at second on the force out. Massey responded with an inning-ending strikeout to end the frame.
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Wake Forest pushed across a run in its final offensive opportunity in the top of the ninth to extend its lead to 6-2.
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Hawke doubled before coming around to score on a fielding error on a hard-hit ball to first base.
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A solo home run and a two-out, two-RBI double trimmed Wake Forest's lead to one (6-5) in the bottom of the ninth. After a walk, Clemson placed the winning run on base. Undaunted, Cole Roland induced a lineout to Hawke in left field to clinch the one-run game and the series sweep.
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Roland also notched his first save of the 2023 season in the process of securing the win.
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Words From Walter
"Josh Hartle was outstanding today. Man, you can't throw the ball a whole lot better than that. He kind of pitched out of trouble. He had runners on third base two times with less than two outs and got big strikeouts for us. He ate seven innings. We had a little bit of a tired bullpen on a short week. To get seven innings from Josh today was the difference in the game. We did just enough offensively. Lucas Costello had a big double. Pierce Bennett with a big double. JJ with a big hit on the back side of the field. We did just enough to win against a really talented pitching staff. It was a great win for us today. We held on. We got a little unlucky on a couple balls there at the end, but Tommy Hawke made two really great plays there in left field, the double play in the eighth and that ball there in the ninth. A big-time win on the road."
Standout Stat
Following a sweep of nationally-ranked Miami for the first time in program history last weekend, the Demon Deacons have swept back-to-back ACC series for the first time in 21 years. Additionally, the Saturday victory marked Wake Forest's first sweep over the Tigers since 2012.
Over the three victories, Wake Forest outscored Clemson by a margin of 18-11. Demon Deacon hurlers fanned 28 batters while walking just five.
The Deacs have now won eight-straight games, highlighted by its six-consecutive conference victories. Over the course of its current win streak, the Demon Deacons are outscoring opponents by a 68-16 mark.
In its last three ACC series, Demon Deacon pitchers have shut down opposing offenses. Overall, eight arms have combined to allow just 60 hits and 15 earned runs while striking out 107 batters.
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: 46-7
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Second Inning: 25-10
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Third Inning: 36-10
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Fourth Inning: 42-9
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Fifth Inning: 38-10
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Sixth Inning: 21-5
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Seventh Inning: 19-6
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Eighth Inning: 25-15
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Ninth Inning: 4-8
Overall, the Deacs are outscoring opponents by a 281-85 mark in 2023.
Much of Wake Forest's success has been fast starts as the Deacs have outscored opponents by a mark of 119-30 in the opening three innings.
In The Spotlight
Josh Hartle earned the sixth win of his sophomore season on Saturday, tossing a season-high tying seven innings of one run baseball. Hartle punched out eight batters while conceding just five hits and one walk.
Josh Hartle notched four-straight scoreless frames on the mound to end his start and keep Clemson's offense at bay.
Hartle stranded a pair in scoring position with a strikeout and groundout in the fourth before tossing back-to-back 1-2-3 frames in the fifth and sixth innings as the lefthander retired eight-straight batters.
In his final inning of work in the seventh, Hartle once again stranded a Tiger in scoring position with a groundout, strikeout and fly out.
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.
In his career, Hartle has allowed two earned runs or less in 14 of his 21 starts.
Hartle has accumulated a 1.71 ERA through 42.0 innings to go along with 64 strikeouts. The lefthander has allowed just eight earned runs and has only walked seven batters.
Coming into the weekend, Hartle was the ACC leader in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.33) and ranked in the top five in strikeouts (second), walks-per-nine (second), strikeouts-per-nine (third) and WHIP (10th).
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 1.62 in 122.2 innings. Lowder, Sullivan and Hartle have combined to strike out 181 batters while allowing just 22 earned runs and walking just 22 batters.
Against Clemson, the starting trio allowed just three earned runs and two walks while fanning 19 batters in 19 innings.
All three rank in top 10 among ACC foes in almost every pitching category.
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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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hartle, Josh (6-1)
L: Caden Grice (1-1)
S: Roland, Cole (1)
Batting:
2B: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Costello, Lucas 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1
RBI: Costello, Lucas 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Wilken, Brock 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Houston, Marek 2
SB: Houston, Marek 1
HBP: Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Johnson, Justin 1
Batting:
2B: Cam Cannarella 1 ; Blake Wright 1 ; Jacob Jarrell 1
HR: Caden Grice 1
RBI: Cam Cannarella 1 ; Cooper Ingle 1 ; Caden Grice 1 ; Jacob Jarrell 2
SH: Chad Fairey 1
SF: Cooper Ingle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Caden Grice 1 ; Riley Bertram 1 ; Billy Amick 1 ; Jack Crighton 1 ; Chad Fairey 1
