Wake Forest Athletics
Deacon Sports Xtra: Next Step of Journey Begins in Durham for Diamond Deacs
5/24/2023 9:32:00 AM | Baseball
A historic regular season filled with record-breaking success now transitions for Wake Forest Baseball, as it looks to cement its legacy with postseason glory.
Wake Forest (45-9, 22-7 ACC) set a program record for most regular season wins and claimed all 10 of its ACC series for the first time. The Deacs also set program attendance records for a game (3,023), a series (8,096) and the season (44,650). Nine Demon Deacons were named to All-ACC teams Monday afternoon, with starting pitcher Rhett Lowder claiming ACC Pitcher of the Year Award for a second-straight season and coach Tom Walter earning ACC Coach of the Year honors.
The postseason begins tomorrow in the ACC Championships, with the No. 1 seeded Demon Deacons getting action starting at 11 a.m. Thursday against No. 12 Pittsburgh. Wake Forest will then complete conference pool play at 7 p.m. Friday against No. 8 Notre Dame.
The conference tournament is broken into four three-team pools with round robin play. If a team goes 2-0, they advance to Saturday's semifinals, but if all three teams finish 1-1, the highest seeded moves on — thus giving the top-seeded Deacs an edge.
The tournament will take place at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, with pool play and semifinal coverage on the ACC Network, with the championship game broadcast on ESPN2.
The Irish and Panthers will play each other at 11 a.m. Wednesday, with Wake Forest only needing to defeat the winner of that game to advance to the semifinals of the tournament Saturday.
"Rhett Lowder will pitch whichever game matters," Walter said. "Both Notre Dame and Pitt have good bullpen pieces, so I'm hoping they throw them against each other. Notre Dame has been playing really good baseball and has put themselves in position to be an NCAA Tournament at-large team.
"They are an NCAA Tournament team and Pitt will be fighting for their life. Pitt has gotten to the weekend a couple of times lately, and have played well in the ACC Tournament. Pitt is going to come in and will be playing well and be ready."
Wake Forest last won the ACC Tournament Championship in 2001, when the Deacs defeated NC State 17-4 in the championship game. While the Demon Deacons are primed for a national seed when the NCAA Tournament selections are announced next week, Walter believes an ACC Tournament Championship is a worthy target for his club.
"I told the team after the game that coming into the season, we had some goals," Walter said after the Deacs secured a series win over Virginia Tech last weekend. "We still have goals, but we checked a few boxes. We won the regular season. We went 10-for-10 in ACC series, which is really hard to do in this league. With this win today, I think we secured a national seed. We have other boxes to check, but I'm just really proud of our club."
If the Deacs advance out of pool play, they would play at 1 p.m. Saturday in the ACC Tournament semifinals, with the championship game scheduled for noon Sunday. Walter wants his Deacs to play all four games.
"The one great thing about our conference tournament format is that you can't play more than four games," he said. "If it were a double-elimination where you might play five-or-six games, I'd say there's not a lot of value in chasing it. But especially when you have a higher seed and one of your first two games is a "throwaway game," you're really only needing to win three games, and use your relievers and arms in three.
"If we want to win a regional, we'll have to do that the next weekend. We want to get (Josh) Hartle and (Rhett) Lowder out there for another start, and get (Seth) Keener back out there."
Regardless of the outcome in Durham this week, the Deacons are likely to begin their NCAA Tournament journey back at David F. Couch Ballpark the following weekend, with the end goal the College World Series in Omaha.
"These last couple of weeks, we've been balancing continuing to win with keeping us from peaking too soon," Walter said. "I felt last year we peaked too soon, but we had to do that to get in. Then we got out in the regional and didn't play well. I want this team to be peaking at the right time, and I think we're set up to do that.
"These guys bring the energy everyday and they fight for each other."
Wake Forest (45-9, 22-7 ACC) set a program record for most regular season wins and claimed all 10 of its ACC series for the first time. The Deacs also set program attendance records for a game (3,023), a series (8,096) and the season (44,650). Nine Demon Deacons were named to All-ACC teams Monday afternoon, with starting pitcher Rhett Lowder claiming ACC Pitcher of the Year Award for a second-straight season and coach Tom Walter earning ACC Coach of the Year honors.
The postseason begins tomorrow in the ACC Championships, with the No. 1 seeded Demon Deacons getting action starting at 11 a.m. Thursday against No. 12 Pittsburgh. Wake Forest will then complete conference pool play at 7 p.m. Friday against No. 8 Notre Dame.
The conference tournament is broken into four three-team pools with round robin play. If a team goes 2-0, they advance to Saturday's semifinals, but if all three teams finish 1-1, the highest seeded moves on — thus giving the top-seeded Deacs an edge.
The tournament will take place at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, with pool play and semifinal coverage on the ACC Network, with the championship game broadcast on ESPN2.
The Irish and Panthers will play each other at 11 a.m. Wednesday, with Wake Forest only needing to defeat the winner of that game to advance to the semifinals of the tournament Saturday.
"Rhett Lowder will pitch whichever game matters," Walter said. "Both Notre Dame and Pitt have good bullpen pieces, so I'm hoping they throw them against each other. Notre Dame has been playing really good baseball and has put themselves in position to be an NCAA Tournament at-large team.
"They are an NCAA Tournament team and Pitt will be fighting for their life. Pitt has gotten to the weekend a couple of times lately, and have played well in the ACC Tournament. Pitt is going to come in and will be playing well and be ready."
Wake Forest last won the ACC Tournament Championship in 2001, when the Deacs defeated NC State 17-4 in the championship game. While the Demon Deacons are primed for a national seed when the NCAA Tournament selections are announced next week, Walter believes an ACC Tournament Championship is a worthy target for his club.
"I told the team after the game that coming into the season, we had some goals," Walter said after the Deacs secured a series win over Virginia Tech last weekend. "We still have goals, but we checked a few boxes. We won the regular season. We went 10-for-10 in ACC series, which is really hard to do in this league. With this win today, I think we secured a national seed. We have other boxes to check, but I'm just really proud of our club."
If the Deacs advance out of pool play, they would play at 1 p.m. Saturday in the ACC Tournament semifinals, with the championship game scheduled for noon Sunday. Walter wants his Deacs to play all four games.
"The one great thing about our conference tournament format is that you can't play more than four games," he said. "If it were a double-elimination where you might play five-or-six games, I'd say there's not a lot of value in chasing it. But especially when you have a higher seed and one of your first two games is a "throwaway game," you're really only needing to win three games, and use your relievers and arms in three.
"If we want to win a regional, we'll have to do that the next weekend. We want to get (Josh) Hartle and (Rhett) Lowder out there for another start, and get (Seth) Keener back out there."
Regardless of the outcome in Durham this week, the Deacons are likely to begin their NCAA Tournament journey back at David F. Couch Ballpark the following weekend, with the end goal the College World Series in Omaha.
"These last couple of weeks, we've been balancing continuing to win with keeping us from peaking too soon," Walter said. "I felt last year we peaked too soon, but we had to do that to get in. Then we got out in the regional and didn't play well. I want this team to be peaking at the right time, and I think we're set up to do that.
"These guys bring the energy everyday and they fight for each other."
Players Mentioned
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