Sunday, June 4
6 p.m.
Wake Forest University
50-10
15
vs
1
George Mason
36-27
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4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Wake Forest
0
3
6
1
1
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4
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0
15
17
0
GEORGE MASON
0
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No. 1 Wake Forest Wins Winston-Salem Regional with 15-1 Victory over George Mason
6/4/2023 11:32:00 PM | Baseball
Demon Deacons total 48 scores, struck out 50 batters, and allowed just seven runs in three consecutive regional wins as the Deacs punched their ticket to Super Regional weekend.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In front of another sellout crowd at David F. Couch Ballpark, the Wake Forest baseball team won the Winston-Salem Regional with a 15-1 victory over George Mason on Sunday night.
The Demon Deacons punched their ticket to the Super Regional round for the third time since super regionals began in 1999 (1999 and 2017). Additionally, this will be the first time David F. Couch Ballpark will host a Super Regional, which is set to run from Friday June 9-Sunday, June 11 or Saturday, June 10- Monday, June 12.
With an appearance in the said Super Regional on the line, Deacon Nation came out in support of their Deacs as David F. Couch Ballpark recorded an attendance of 3,823, the second sellout of the Winston-Salem Regional and second official sellout in Wake Forest Baseball history.
The Deacs 48 runs scored over the course of the regional is the second-highest total in the opening rounds in their NCAA Tournament history:
On the mound, the Deacs allowed just seven (six yesterday, one today and zero Friday) runs while striking out 35 batters and walking just nine.
After breaking the program record for wins in its opening game of the regional on Friday, Wake Forest (50-10) 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.
The Demon Deacons continue to lead the nation in wins (50) while having the least amount of losses among Division I teams (10).
Heading into Sunday's contest, the Demon Deacons held a 37-4 record when they score first. They improved on this mark as they were able to tally the first scores of the game in the top of the second. Back-to-back home runs by Pierce Bennett and Danny Corona put Wake Forest up 3-0 heading into the third inning of action.
Red hot Justin Johnson continued to produce for the Deacs as his bases-clearing double in the third increased the Wake advantage to 6-0. Johnson totaled seven hits including two doubles, a triple, two home runs and 13 RBIs in his Winston-Salem Regional action.
In the same frame, Corona launched his second home run of the night, which stands as his second multi-home run game of the year, previously occurring against Mt. St. Mary's on Feb. 24th.
This marked the end of the third six-run inning in the past two games for the Deacs.
An RBI single in the fourth by Bennett and run-scoring double by Nick Kurtz in the fifth earned Wake Forest their tenth and eleventh runs, making it the fourth-straight frame in which the Deacs had scored.
A walk by Nick Kurtz, an RBI single by Brock Wilken and Pierce Bennett single scoring two increased the Deacon advantage to 15-1.
USA Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist Josh Hartle started the game on the hill for Wake Forest in Sunday's contest. Not only was Hartle able to record the victory, making him the 12th pitcher in program history to reach double digit wins in a single season, but also recorded nine punchouts which places him fourth in program history in single season strikeouts (120).
The lefty held George Mason to one run before handing the pitching duties to teammate, and fellow lefty, Sean Sullivan. Sullivan held the Patriots scoreless in his relief outing and retired seven of the ten batters he faced on strikes.
Will Andrews and Reed Mascolo each entered the game in relief, both recording scoreless outings.
In its two wins over George Mason, the Wake Forest staff held the Patriots to one run and eight hits , compared to George Mason's two other contests against Maryland and Northeastern in which they totaled 22 runs on 20 hits.
How It Happened
"Obviously, I'm just super proud of this club and what we've accomplished to date. We all know we have more work to do but we're going to celebrate and enjoy this one for the next 24-36 hours and then get back to work on Tuesday. Everything that's been building, starting with last year, with the leadership group we have – Pierce Bennett and Adam Cecere being right at the heart of that. Josh Hartle and his class as well. Brock Wilken and Cam Minacci in the junior class. It's really just been a complete kind of transformation of our program over the last couple of years. I'm just really proud.
"The momentum of the season started early in the year but it kind of built as the season went on and the culmination of that is what you saw today. Just an electric crowd. A total support from the town of Winston-Salem. Our fan experience people did an amazing job all weekend. The Rhino support staff. The video content staff. Ryan Sosic and his team. A total team effort. My mom says all the time that it takes a village and she's right. To accomplish what we've accomplished this year, it takes people coming together to do great things and that's what we experienced all year. I'm really proud of this club. I'm proud of these two guys to my left (Pierce Bennett and Josh Hartle) and we can't wait to play next weekend."
Winston-Salem Regional Results
Overall, this year's season attendance of 54,721 fans set a new program record. This includes a record-breaking crowds during the NCAA Regional opener against George Mason Friday night and its final game of the weekend against the Patriots when the Deacs had a sellout crowd of 3,823 fans in each game.
After breaking the program record for wins in its opening game of the regional on Friday, Wake Forest has broken the program record for regular season wins, ACC wins, ACC series wins and overall wins this season. Additionally, this year's ballclub became the only team in program history to reach the 50-win mark.
Wake Forest Baseball 40-Win Seasons
Wake Forest Fastest to 40 Wins
After Sunday's victory, Josh Hartle became the 12th pitcher in program history to reach double-digit wins in a season.
Wake Forest Single Season Wins
1. Rhett Lowder 2023 14
Kyle Sleeth 2002 14
3. Mike MacDougal 1999 13
John Hendricks 1998 13
5. Scott Siemon 1999 12
6. Rhett Lowder 2022 11
Scott Siemon 2000 11
Moe Bauer 1950 11
9. Josh Hartle 2023 10
Parker Dunshee 2016 10
Kyle Sleeth 2001 10
John Hendricks 1999 10
Jeremy Ward 1998 10
Ross Atkins 1995 10
Mike Buddie 1992 10
Lefty Davis 1955 10
Additionally, Hartle continues to climb the single-season strikeout list as his nine strikeouts on Sunday increased his season total to 120 punchouts which now ranks fourth all-time in Wake Forest history.
Wake Forest Single Season Strikeouts
1. Mike Buddie 1992 138
2. Griffin Roberts 2018 130
3. Rhett Lowder 2023 125
4. Josh Hartle 2023 120
5. Mike MacDougal 1999 117
6. Kyle Sleeth 2002 113
Parker Dunshee 2017 111
John Hendricks 1998 111
Coming into tournament play, Hartle was the ACC leader in walks-per-nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio while ranking in the top 10 in every other category.
Hartle has allowed two earned runs or less in 13 of his 16 starts this year.
On Deck
In front of record-breaking crowds inside David F. Couch Ballpark all weekend, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball team went a perfect 3-0 en route to a regional championship. The title means that Winston-Salem will be one of the eight Super Regional hosts for the 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament.
The Deacs and the winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional (No. 16 national seed Alabama, No. 2 Boston College, No. 3 Troy and No. 4 Nicholls State) will face off in Wake Forest and Winston-Salem's first-ever Super Regional from Friday June 9-Sunday, June 11 or Saturday, June 10- Monday, June 12.
Stay tuned to Wake Forest's social media accounts (@WakeBaseball) for all in-game updates and information.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
The Demon Deacons punched their ticket to the Super Regional round for the third time since super regionals began in 1999 (1999 and 2017). Additionally, this will be the first time David F. Couch Ballpark will host a Super Regional, which is set to run from Friday June 9-Sunday, June 11 or Saturday, June 10- Monday, June 12.
With an appearance in the said Super Regional on the line, Deacon Nation came out in support of their Deacs as David F. Couch Ballpark recorded an attendance of 3,823, the second sellout of the Winston-Salem Regional and second official sellout in Wake Forest Baseball history.
The Deacs 48 runs scored over the course of the regional is the second-highest total in the opening rounds in their NCAA Tournament history:
- 50 in four games (1999)
- 48 runs in three games (2023)
- Most runs per game in NCAA opening round history (16.0 runs/game).
- 44 in five games (2001)
- 37 in four games (2002)
- 33 in four games (1998)
On the mound, the Deacs allowed just seven (six yesterday, one today and zero Friday) runs while striking out 35 batters and walking just nine.
After breaking the program record for wins in its opening game of the regional on Friday, Wake Forest (50-10) 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.
The Demon Deacons continue to lead the nation in wins (50) while having the least amount of losses among Division I teams (10).
Heading into Sunday's contest, the Demon Deacons held a 37-4 record when they score first. They improved on this mark as they were able to tally the first scores of the game in the top of the second. Back-to-back home runs by Pierce Bennett and Danny Corona put Wake Forest up 3-0 heading into the third inning of action.
Red hot Justin Johnson continued to produce for the Deacs as his bases-clearing double in the third increased the Wake advantage to 6-0. Johnson totaled seven hits including two doubles, a triple, two home runs and 13 RBIs in his Winston-Salem Regional action.
In the same frame, Corona launched his second home run of the night, which stands as his second multi-home run game of the year, previously occurring against Mt. St. Mary's on Feb. 24th.
This marked the end of the third six-run inning in the past two games for the Deacs.
An RBI single in the fourth by Bennett and run-scoring double by Nick Kurtz in the fifth earned Wake Forest their tenth and eleventh runs, making it the fourth-straight frame in which the Deacs had scored.
A walk by Nick Kurtz, an RBI single by Brock Wilken and Pierce Bennett single scoring two increased the Deacon advantage to 15-1.
USA Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist Josh Hartle started the game on the hill for Wake Forest in Sunday's contest. Not only was Hartle able to record the victory, making him the 12th pitcher in program history to reach double digit wins in a single season, but also recorded nine punchouts which places him fourth in program history in single season strikeouts (120).
The lefty held George Mason to one run before handing the pitching duties to teammate, and fellow lefty, Sean Sullivan. Sullivan held the Patriots scoreless in his relief outing and retired seven of the ten batters he faced on strikes.
Will Andrews and Reed Mascolo each entered the game in relief, both recording scoreless outings.
In its two wins over George Mason, the Wake Forest staff held the Patriots to one run and eight hits , compared to George Mason's two other contests against Maryland and Northeastern in which they totaled 22 runs on 20 hits.
How It Happened
- After a scoreless top of the first, Josh Hartle made his first appearance of NCAA Regional play.
- Harle pitched a scoreless bottom of the first with the help of Tommy Hawke.
- After a Hartle strikeout, he got the next batter to fly out to center. Hawke threw out the tagging runner at third to end the inning.
- Harle pitched a scoreless bottom of the first with the help of Tommy Hawke.
- Brock Wilken worked a walk to kickoff the next frame.
- Two batters later, Pierce Bennett continued his hot hitting with a big fly over the left field wall, putting the Deacs in front, 2-0.
- It marked his seventh of the season.
- Danny Corona made it back-to-back home runs when he connected a few pitches later over the right field wall.
- This was his ninth of the season and the second in as many at-bats after hitting a grand slam in the eighth of game four of the regional.
- Additionally, this moved Wake Forest to 116 home runs this season, just six away from tying the single-season record set last season.
- Two batters later, Pierce Bennett continued his hot hitting with a big fly over the left field wall, putting the Deacs in front, 2-0.
- In his second inning of work, Hartle took the mound with a 3-0 lead.
- He quickly shutdown the Patriots in order with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout.
- Hawke started the next inning off with a bang, doubling to set the table.
- He was out at third on a fielder's choice and Lee reached first.
- Kurtz and Wilken reached on back-to-back walks to load the bases.
- It was the second walk of the game for Wilken who came into the game ranked fourth in the nation in walks with 62.
- Justin Johnson continued to drive in runs, clearing the bases with a double down the left field line which plated his 11th, 12th and 13th RBIs of the regional.
- This increased the Wake Forest lead to 6-0.
- Johnson increased his season total to 74 RBIs, just two behind Wilken for the team lead.
- After a Bennett walk, Corona launched his second home run of the game to left field, netting three more runs for the Deacs and pushing the advantage to 9-0.
- The line kept moving with Cecere singling to right field.
- Hartle continued his work in the third behind a nine-run lead.
- Kurtz made a nice diving play to record the first out of the inning on an unassisted putout.
- He got the next two via the strikeout, moving his total to five through three innings.
- Kurtz got his first knock of the game in the fourth as the Deacs continued to apply pressure on the base paths.
- Wilken followed that with a single of his own to left.
- Bennett got an infield single two batters later, scoring Kurtz while advancing Wilken to third.
- After two home runs earlier in the game, Corona walked to load the bases.
- With a 10-run lead in hand, Hartle pushed his strikeout streak to three straight.
- He grabbed another one for the second out of the inning with multiple swings and missed on his breaking balls.
- Lee took care of the runner as he tried to reach second on a ball in the dirt, firing to second for the final out of the inning.
- Hawke legged out an infield single to get the 10th hit of the game for the Deacs and put another runner on base.
- Hawke moved to second on a balk.
- He came home to score on a double from Kurtz, making it the fourth-consecutive inning the Deacs had scored a run.
- With an 11-run lead, Hartle struck out his eighth batter of the night to lead off the fifth.
- He collected his ninth strikeout of the game before turning the ball over to Sean Sullivan.
- Sullivan recorded the final out via a strikeout to preserve the double-digit lead.
- In the next inning, Sullivan collected two more strikeouts to his tally and retired the Patriots, 1-2-3.
- Cecere lined a single to center to start the seventh.
- Marek Houston singled almost in an identical spot to get two runners on.
- Hawke loaded the bases with a single through the right side.
- Kurtz walked in a run to reach base for the fourth time and score Wake Forest's 12th run of the game.
- A Wilken single scored Houston, pushing the advantage to 13-1.
- Two more came home on a Bennett single.
- Sullivan came back out in the seventh with a 15-1 lead.
- He struck out the side in order, increasing his total for the game to six punchouts and 15 combined between Hartle and Sullivan.
- Sullivan returned to the mound to begin the bottom of the frame.
- After recording two outs courtesy of a strikeout (seventh) and a fielder's choice, Will Andrews took over on the hill to record the final out by way of another fielder's choice.
- Reed Mascolo was called upon to record the final outs of the game in the bottom of the ninth.
- With three strikeouts under his belt, Mascolo was able to solidify the 15-1 Wake Forest victory.
"Obviously, I'm just super proud of this club and what we've accomplished to date. We all know we have more work to do but we're going to celebrate and enjoy this one for the next 24-36 hours and then get back to work on Tuesday. Everything that's been building, starting with last year, with the leadership group we have – Pierce Bennett and Adam Cecere being right at the heart of that. Josh Hartle and his class as well. Brock Wilken and Cam Minacci in the junior class. It's really just been a complete kind of transformation of our program over the last couple of years. I'm just really proud.
"The momentum of the season started early in the year but it kind of built as the season went on and the culmination of that is what you saw today. Just an electric crowd. A total support from the town of Winston-Salem. Our fan experience people did an amazing job all weekend. The Rhino support staff. The video content staff. Ryan Sosic and his team. A total team effort. My mom says all the time that it takes a village and she's right. To accomplish what we've accomplished this year, it takes people coming together to do great things and that's what we experienced all year. I'm really proud of this club. I'm proud of these two guys to my left (Pierce Bennett and Josh Hartle) and we can't wait to play next weekend."
Winston-Salem Regional Results
- Game 1: No. 2 Maryland defeated No. 3 Northeastern | Fri. June 2
- Game 2: No. 1 Wake Forest defeated No. 4 George Mason | Fri. June 2
- Game 3: No. 4 George Mason defeated No. 3 Northeastern | Sat. June 3
- Game 4: No. 1 Wake Forest defeated No. 2 Maryland | Sat. June 3
- Game 5: No. 4 George Mason defeated No. 2 Maryland | Sun. June 4
- Game 6: No. 1 Wake Forest defeated No. 4 George Mason | Sun. June 4
Overall, this year's season attendance of 54,721 fans set a new program record. This includes a record-breaking crowds during the NCAA Regional opener against George Mason Friday night and its final game of the weekend against the Patriots when the Deacs had a sellout crowd of 3,823 fans in each game.
After breaking the program record for wins in its opening game of the regional on Friday, Wake Forest has broken the program record for regular season wins, ACC wins, ACC series wins and overall wins this season. Additionally, this year's ballclub became the only team in program history to reach the 50-win mark.
Wake Forest Baseball 40-Win Seasons
- 2023- 50 overall wins (45 regular season, four 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)
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
- Youngstown State (Feb. 17): Six runs (second inning)
- Youngstown State (Feb. 19): 12 runs (fourth inning)
- UNCG (Feb. 21): Eight runs (first inning)
- Mount St. Mary's (Feb. 24): Six runs (fifth inning)
- Towson (Feb. 25): Five runs (third inning)
- Towson (Feb. 25: Five runs (eighth inning)
- UNC Wilmington (Feb. 28): Five runs (first inning)
- Elon (March 21): Seven runs (first inning)
- Elon (March 21): Seven runs (fifth inning)
- App State (April 11): Five runs (fifth inning)
- Louisville (April 14): Five runs (third inning)
- Pitt (April 22): Six runs (second inning)
- Pitt (April 23): Five runs (second inning)
- Pitt (April 23): Five runs (ninth inning
- Coastal Carolina (April 25): Five runs (fifth inning)
- Wofford (April 29): Eight runs (sixth inning)
- High Point (April 30): Seven runs (first inning)
- Boston College (May 6): Five runs (sixth inning)
- UNC Greensboro (May 9): Nine runs (fourth inning)
- Maryland (June 3): Six runs (seventh inning)
- Maryland (June 3): Six runs (eighth inning)
- George Mason (June 4): Six runs (third inning)
After Sunday's victory, Josh Hartle became the 12th pitcher in program history to reach double-digit wins in a season.
Wake Forest Single Season Wins
1. Rhett Lowder 2023 14
Kyle Sleeth 2002 14
3. Mike MacDougal 1999 13
John Hendricks 1998 13
5. Scott Siemon 1999 12
6. Rhett Lowder 2022 11
Scott Siemon 2000 11
Moe Bauer 1950 11
9. Josh Hartle 2023 10
Parker Dunshee 2016 10
Kyle Sleeth 2001 10
John Hendricks 1999 10
Jeremy Ward 1998 10
Ross Atkins 1995 10
Mike Buddie 1992 10
Lefty Davis 1955 10
Additionally, Hartle continues to climb the single-season strikeout list as his nine strikeouts on Sunday increased his season total to 120 punchouts which now ranks fourth all-time in Wake Forest history.
Wake Forest Single Season Strikeouts
1. Mike Buddie 1992 138
2. Griffin Roberts 2018 130
3. Rhett Lowder 2023 125
4. Josh Hartle 2023 120
5. Mike MacDougal 1999 117
6. Kyle Sleeth 2002 113
Parker Dunshee 2017 111
John Hendricks 1998 111
Coming into tournament play, Hartle was the ACC leader in walks-per-nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio while ranking in the top 10 in every other category.
Hartle has allowed two earned runs or less in 13 of his 16 starts this year.
On Deck
In front of record-breaking crowds inside David F. Couch Ballpark all weekend, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball team went a perfect 3-0 en route to a regional championship. The title means that Winston-Salem will be one of the eight Super Regional hosts for the 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament.
The Deacs and the winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional (No. 16 national seed Alabama, No. 2 Boston College, No. 3 Troy and No. 4 Nicholls State) will face off in Wake Forest and Winston-Salem's first-ever Super Regional from Friday June 9-Sunday, June 11 or Saturday, June 10- Monday, June 12.
Stay tuned to Wake Forest's social media accounts (@WakeBaseball) for all in-game updates and information.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hartle, Josh (10-2)
L: Logan Rumberg (4-2)
Batting:
2B: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Johnson, Justin 1
HR: Bennett, Pierce 1 ; Corona, Danny 2
RBI: Kurtz, Nick 2 ; Wilken, Brock 1 ; Johnson, Justin 3 ; Bennett, Pierce 5 ; Corona, Danny 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Hawke, Tommy 2 ; Lee, Bennett 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 3 ; Wilken, Brock 2 ; Johnson, Justin 1 ; Bennett, Pierce 2 ; Corona, Danny 2 ; Cecere, Adam 1 ; Houston, Marek 1
SB: Lee, Bennett 1
Batting:
RBI: Derek Wood 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Evan Blanchard 1
CS: Reece Woody 1
HBP: South Trimble 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
5
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballOF/INF
/ BaseballOF/INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF/INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF/INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF/C
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