Monday, June 19
Omaha, Nebraska
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Wake Forest University
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Wake Forest
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No. 1 Demon Deacons Earn Thrilling Win Over No. 5 LSU in Winner’s Bracket Contest at Men’s College World Series
6/19/2023 10:55:00 PM | Baseball
The top-seeded Wake Forest baseball team remained perfect at the Men’s College World Series and is just one win away from the MCWS Finals. The Demon Deacons will next compete on Wednesday night at Charles Schwab Field Omaha against the winner of Tuesday evening’s matchup between LSU and Tennessee.
OMAHA, Neb. – Following a crucial double-play induced by a Camden Minacci ground ball on his first pitch out of the bullpen in the top of the eighth, Wake Forest took its first lead of the game in the bottom half of the frame on a Bennett Lee RBI single to left field. That sequence proved the difference in the game as the No. 1-seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons downed the No. 5 LSU Tigers on Monday night in front of a capacity crowd at Charles Schwab Field Omaha, 3-2.
With the win, the Deacs (54-10) remained perfect at the Men's College World Series and is just one win away from this weekend's finals.
Setting the table for the aforementioned go-ahead run, sophomore Danny Corona recorded his 10th double of the season with one out in the eighth inning. Minacci (1-1) earned his first win of the season as he came back out for the ninth and set the Tigers (49-16) down in order, including a pair of strikeouts.
In addition to Minacci on the mound for the Deacs, who recorded his 13th save of the season Saturday in Wake Forest's win over Stanford, sophomore left-hander Josh Hartle had a strong outing as he delivered six innings with nine strikeouts and allowing just two runs on just four hits. With his nine strikeouts in the game, Hartle became the single-season strikeout leader in program history:
Overall for the game, the Demon Deacons pitching staff recorded 13 strikeouts and inched closer to fourth in NCAA history for the most strikeouts in a single-season:
For the second-straight game at the MCWS, the Demon Deacons had to come from behind to earn this win as the Tigers recorded the first two runs of the game in the third inning. The Tigers maintained their lead until the seventh when Wake Forest scored a pair of runs on three walks, a Brock Wilken RBI single and a groundout.
With the late-inning comeback, LSU lost for just the sixth time in 49 games when the Tigers led after five innings.
The Demon Deacons, who are competing in their third World Series in program history and first since 1955, will next take the field Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Charles Schwab Field Omaha against the winner of Tuesday evening's matchup between LSU and Tennessee. The game will also air on ESPN.
Wake Forest needs just one more win to clinch a spot in the MCWS Finals, which begin on Saturday night in Omaha.
How It Happened
"Those are two really good college baseball teams battling it out. There was a lot of star power in that game and it did not disappoint. I am really proud of Josh Hartle and how he battled as he had some things go against him there with a couple of blocks here and there, and that ball in left field that we should probably make a play on. Then, all of a sudden we're down 2-0 but he settled in and he got us into the sixth inning, which was huge. It was kind of similar to Rhett Lowder's outing the other day. It was not a typical Josh Hartle outing, but he battled and kept coming, kept coming and kept making big pitches when it mattered. He was able to keep the score where it was and gave our offense the time to get going. There were some really great defensive plays and the play Bennett Lee made today. Brock Wilken made a great play to get to that ball and then Bennett with an unbelievable pick-and-tag under pressure was a huge play in that ballgame. Of course, then a clutch hit by Bennett after Danny Corona doubled with one out. Once again for the second game in a row, the story was our bullpen. Our bullpen locked it down. Cole Roland came in and got two huge punchouts, Massey came in behind him and got a big out, and then got another out in the next inning. And then Cam gets the last five outs. He came in with a big situation, first and second with one out and a really good hitter up there in Dugas. He executes a first-pitch slider and gets the 5-4-3 and puts the momentum in our dugout. It was a huge shift in the game eight there. It was a really good win and looking forward to playing on Wednesday night."
Wake Forest Side of the Men's College World Series Bracket
This is the Deacs' third ever Men's College World Series appearance, and its first since capturing the program's first national championship in 1955.
After breaking the program record for wins in its opening game of the Winston-Salem NCAA Regional against George Mason on June 2, Wake Forest has broken the program record for regular season wins, ACC wins, ACC series wins and overall wins this season. Additionally, the Deacs became the first team in Wake Forest history to have 50 or more wins in a single season in the NCAA Regional Final on June 4. Additionally, this year's ballclub is just the second team in program history to win at least seven postseason games (1999).
Wake Forest Baseball 40-Win Seasons
Wake Forest Fastest to 40 Wins
Mississippi St. 2021 68 603.2 817
Vanderbilt 2021 67 598.0 790
Ole Miss 2021 67 586.1 765
Vanderbilt 2019 71 633.2 765
Wake Forest 2023 63 545.2 761
Southern Miss. 2022 66 596.1 746
Arizona St. 1972 72 625.0 732
Mississippi St. 2019 67 600.0 718
Florida St. 1986 74 637.0 718
In The Spotlight
Josh Hartle has accumulated a 11-2 record with a 2.81 ERA through 102.1 innings to go along with 140 strikeouts, a new career high. The lefthander has allowed just 32 earned runs and has only walked 24 batters.
With his eighth strikeout of the game in the top of the fifth inning, Josh Hartle broke the program record for single season strikeouts. Overall, Hartle finished with nine strikeouts on Monday and has fanned 140 + tonight's strikeouts batters this season.
With the win, the No. 1 Wake Forest baseball team will now await the winner of LSU/Tennessee on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
The Deacs are making the program's third ever Men's College World Series appearance, and its first since capturing the program's first national championship in 1955.
Stay tuned to Wake Forest's social media accounts (@WakeBaseball) for the latest scheduling updates and information.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
With the win, the Deacs (54-10) remained perfect at the Men's College World Series and is just one win away from this weekend's finals.
Setting the table for the aforementioned go-ahead run, sophomore Danny Corona recorded his 10th double of the season with one out in the eighth inning. Minacci (1-1) earned his first win of the season as he came back out for the ninth and set the Tigers (49-16) down in order, including a pair of strikeouts.
In addition to Minacci on the mound for the Deacs, who recorded his 13th save of the season Saturday in Wake Forest's win over Stanford, sophomore left-hander Josh Hartle had a strong outing as he delivered six innings with nine strikeouts and allowing just two runs on just four hits. With his nine strikeouts in the game, Hartle became the single-season strikeout leader in program history:
- Wake Forest Single Season Strikeouts
- 1. Josh Hartle 2023 140
- 2. Mike Buddie 1992 138
- 3. Rhett Lowder 2023 137
- 3. Griffin Roberts 2018 130
- 5. Mike MacDougal 1999 117
- 6. Kyle Sleeth 2002 113
- 7. Parker Dunshee 2017 111
- John Hendricks 1998 111
- 9. Mark Seaver 1996 109
- 10. Sean Sullivan 2023 108
- Ryan Cusick 2021 108
Overall for the game, the Demon Deacons pitching staff recorded 13 strikeouts and inched closer to fourth in NCAA history for the most strikeouts in a single-season:
- Mississippi St. 2021 68 603.2 817
- Vanderbilt 2021 67 598.0 790
- Ole Miss 2021 67 586.1 765
- Vanderbilt 2019 71 633.2 765
- Wake Forest 2023 64 545.2 761
- Southern Miss. 2022 66 596.1 746
- Arizona St. 1972 72 625.0 732
- Mississippi St. 2019 67 600.0 718
- Florida St. 1986 74 637.0 718
For the second-straight game at the MCWS, the Demon Deacons had to come from behind to earn this win as the Tigers recorded the first two runs of the game in the third inning. The Tigers maintained their lead until the seventh when Wake Forest scored a pair of runs on three walks, a Brock Wilken RBI single and a groundout.
With the late-inning comeback, LSU lost for just the sixth time in 49 games when the Tigers led after five innings.
The Demon Deacons, who are competing in their third World Series in program history and first since 1955, will next take the field Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Charles Schwab Field Omaha against the winner of Tuesday evening's matchup between LSU and Tennessee. The game will also air on ESPN.
Wake Forest needs just one more win to clinch a spot in the MCWS Finals, which begin on Saturday night in Omaha.
How It Happened
- Josh Hartle, who was making his third start of the postseason, recorded a strikeout to open the game.
- After battling back in the count, Hartle got a grounder to third that Brock Wilken made a nice running play to get the second out.
- Another grounder to second was taken in by Justin Johnson to end the inning, 1-2-3.
- In the bottom half of the first, Pierce Bennett reached base on four-straight balls.
- Coming out for his second inning of work, Hartle picked up his second strikeout of the game to lead off the inning.
- He inducted a 4-6-3 double play to get out of the inning with his second zero posted in the run column.
- Hartle continued his strong start to the game with an opening strikeout in the third.
- He struck out the leadoff hitter in the order for the second time in the game, marking just the ninth time this season Dylan Crews had multiple strikeouts in a game.
- Hartle recorded his fifth strikeout of the game to get the third out of the inning.
- Trailing 2-0 in the top of the fourth, Hartle got a quick groundout to first to get the first out of the inning.
- He got a swinging strikeout for the second out of the inning, moving his total to six for the game.
- A seventh Hartle strikeout ended the inning, keeping the deficit at 2-0.
- It tied Hartle for the most single-season strikeouts in program history at 138:
- Wake Forest Single Season Strikeouts
- 1. Josh Hartle 2023 138
- 1. Mike Buddie 1992 138
- 3. Rhett Lowder 2023 137
- 4. Griffin Roberts 2018 130
- 5. Mike MacDougal 1999 117
- It tied Hartle for the most single-season strikeouts in program history at 138:
- Bennett recorded the first hit of the game for the Deacs, reaching base for the second time in the game to leadoff the inning.
- A ball bounded away from the catcher to move Bennett up into scoring position.
- An eighth Hartle strikeout in the game to start the fifth put him in first in single-season program history with his 139th of the season, passing Mike Buddie (138, 1992).
- A groundout and a flyout to right ended the inning to keep the game at 2-0.
- Bennett Lee picked up a base knock to center to get a runner on with one out in the bottom of the fifth.
- Hartle for the sixth-straight inning got an out to start, inducing a ground ball to third for a 5-3 groundout.
- His ninth strikeout of the game got the second out of the inning.
- A flyout to center completed the sixth for Hartle, keeping the score at 2-0.
- Tommy Hawke reached via a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth.
- He moved up to second on a failed pickoff attempt that went all the way to the first base fence.
- Bennett reached base for the third time in the game with his second walk in three at-bats, putting runners on first and second with no outs.
- A five-pitch walk to Kurtz loaded the bases with no outs.
- LSU brought in a new pitcher after the walk.
- An RBI-single single up the middle by Wilken scored Hawke and made it a one-run ball game (2-1).
- A Johnson groundout scored a second run to tie the game, additionally moving Kurtz to third.
- Corona was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners with two outs.
- A five-pitch walk from Lee loaded the bases for Cecere with two outs.
- With the game tied, 2-2, Cole Roland came into the game on the mound in the seventh.
- He fanned the first batter of the inning looking.
- Roland got another strikeout for the second out of the inning.
- Massey took over on the mound with two outs.
- On the first pitch, he got a groundout to second to end the inning.
- Marek Houston worked from back in the count to get a leadoff walk.
- Kurtz battled from behind in the count to work a walk, putting runners at first and second with two outs before an inning-ending strikeout stranded the pair.
- Coming back out for his second inning on the mound for the eighth, Massey got a ground ball to third and Wilken threw it home to get the runner for the first out.
- Camden Minacci came on with one out and runners on first and second.
- He got a double play groundout 5-4-3 to get out of the inning.
- Camden Minacci came on with one out and runners on first and second.
- With the game tied in the bottom of the eighth, Corona continued his hot bat, lacing one down to the right field corner.
- Bennett Lee followed that up with an RBI single to give the Deacs their first lead of the game.
- Minacci returned to the rubber in the ninth and struck out a pair of batters and the game ended with a ground out to himself.
"Those are two really good college baseball teams battling it out. There was a lot of star power in that game and it did not disappoint. I am really proud of Josh Hartle and how he battled as he had some things go against him there with a couple of blocks here and there, and that ball in left field that we should probably make a play on. Then, all of a sudden we're down 2-0 but he settled in and he got us into the sixth inning, which was huge. It was kind of similar to Rhett Lowder's outing the other day. It was not a typical Josh Hartle outing, but he battled and kept coming, kept coming and kept making big pitches when it mattered. He was able to keep the score where it was and gave our offense the time to get going. There were some really great defensive plays and the play Bennett Lee made today. Brock Wilken made a great play to get to that ball and then Bennett with an unbelievable pick-and-tag under pressure was a huge play in that ballgame. Of course, then a clutch hit by Bennett after Danny Corona doubled with one out. Once again for the second game in a row, the story was our bullpen. Our bullpen locked it down. Cole Roland came in and got two huge punchouts, Massey came in behind him and got a big out, and then got another out in the next inning. And then Cam gets the last five outs. He came in with a big situation, first and second with one out and a really good hitter up there in Dugas. He executes a first-pitch slider and gets the 5-4-3 and puts the momentum in our dugout. It was a huge shift in the game eight there. It was a really good win and looking forward to playing on Wednesday night."
Wake Forest Side of the Men's College World Series Bracket
- Game One: No. 1 Wake Forest def. No. 8 Stanford, 3-2 | Saturday, June 17 | 2 p.m. ET | ESPN
- Game Two: No. 5 LSU def. Tennessee, 6-3 | Saturday, June 17 | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN
- Game Three: Tennessee def. Stanford, 6-4 | Monday, June 19 | 2 p.m. ET | ESPN
- Game Four: No. 1 Wake Forest defeated No. 5 LSU, 3-2 | Monday, June 19 | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN
- Game Five: Tennessee vs. No. 5 LSU | Tuesday, June 20 | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN
- Game Six: No. 1 Wake Forest/No. 5 LSU vs. Winner of Game Five | Wednesday, June 21 | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN
This is the Deacs' third ever Men's College World Series appearance, and its first since capturing the program's first national championship in 1955.
After breaking the program record for wins in its opening game of the Winston-Salem NCAA Regional against George Mason on June 2, Wake Forest has broken the program record for regular season wins, ACC wins, ACC series wins and overall wins this season. Additionally, the Deacs became the first team in Wake Forest history to have 50 or more wins in a single season in the NCAA Regional Final on June 4. Additionally, this year's ballclub is just the second team in program history to win at least seven postseason games (1999).
Wake Forest Baseball 40-Win Seasons
- 2023- 54 overall wins (45 regular season, eight postseason)
- 2002 - 47 overall wins (42 regular season, five postseason)
- 1999 - 47 overall wins (39 regular season, eight postseason)
- 2001- 44 overall wins (37 regular season, seven postseason)
- 2017 - 43 overall wins (38 regular season wins, five postseason)
- 1998- 43 overall wins (36 regular season, seven postseason)
- 2000 - 42 overall wins, (38 regular season, three postseason)
- 2022 - 41 overall wins (39 regular season, two postseason)
- North Carolina - 2013 - 59
- Virginia - 2011 - 56
- Wake Forest - 2023 - 54
- Louisville - 2017 - 53
- Virginia - 2014 - 53
- Louisville - 2019 - 51
- North Carolina 2011 - 51
- Virginia - 2010 - 51
- Louisville - 2016 - 50
- Florida State - 2012 - 50
- Miami - 2016 - 50
- Miami - 2015 - 50
- NC State - 2013 - 50
- Virginia - 2013 - 50
Wake Forest Fastest to 40 Wins
- 2023: 47 games
- 2002: 49 games
- 1999: 53 games
- 2001: 55 games
- 2022: 58 games
- 2017: 58 games
- 2000: 59 games
- 1998: 61 games
- North Carolina - 2013 - 59
- Virginia - 2011 - 56
- Wake Forest - 2023 - 54
- Louisville - 2017 - 53
- Virginia - 2014 - 53
Mississippi St. 2021 68 603.2 817
Vanderbilt 2021 67 598.0 790
Ole Miss 2021 67 586.1 765
Vanderbilt 2019 71 633.2 765
Wake Forest 2023 63 545.2 761
Southern Miss. 2022 66 596.1 746
Arizona St. 1972 72 625.0 732
Mississippi St. 2019 67 600.0 718
Florida St. 1986 74 637.0 718
In The Spotlight
Josh Hartle has accumulated a 11-2 record with a 2.81 ERA through 102.1 innings to go along with 140 strikeouts, a new career high. The lefthander has allowed just 32 earned runs and has only walked 24 batters.
With his eighth strikeout of the game in the top of the fifth inning, Josh Hartle broke the program record for single season strikeouts. Overall, Hartle finished with nine strikeouts on Monday and has fanned 140 + tonight's strikeouts batters this season.
- Wake Forest Single Season Strikeouts
- 1. Josh Hartle 2023 140
- 2. Mike Buddie 1992 138
- 3. Rhett Lowder 2023 137
- 3. Griffin Roberts 2018 130
- 5. Mike MacDougal 1999 117
- 6. Kyle Sleeth 2002 113
- 7. Parker Dunshee 2017 111
- John Hendricks 1998 111
- 9. Mark Seaver 1996 109
- 10. Sean Sullivan 2023 108
- Ryan Cusick 2021 108
With the win, the No. 1 Wake Forest baseball team will now await the winner of LSU/Tennessee on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
The Deacs are making the program's third ever Men's College World Series appearance, and its first since capturing the program's first national championship in 1955.
Stay tuned to Wake Forest's social media accounts (@WakeBaseball) for the latest scheduling updates and information.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Batting:
2B: Tre' Morgan 1
3B: Tre' Morgan 1
RBI: Tommy White 1 ; Tre' Morgan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tommy White 1 ; Josh Pearson 1
Batting:
2B: Corona, Danny 1
RBI: Wilken, Brock 1 ; Lee, Bennett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Corona, Danny 1
HBP: Corona, Danny 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
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H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF/INF
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/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF/INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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/ BaseballINF/C
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Thursday, September 18