Deacs Win Winston-Salem Regional, Set to Host Super Regionals
6/5/2023 12:33:00 AM | Baseball
No. 1 Wake Forest is scheduled to host the first Super Regional in program history next weekend at David F. Couch Ballpark on Friday June 9-Sunday, June 11 or Saturday, June 10- Monday, June 12.
INDIANAPOLIS – 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.
Wake Forest earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and went a perfect 3-0 in the Winston-Salem Regional, its first time hosting since 2017, with victories over Maryland and George Mason (twice).
With its win over George Mason to clinch the regional title, the Deacs became the first team in program history and the nation to reach the 50-win mark.
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)
The Deacs claimed its first ACC regular season title thanks to a program-record 45 wins, 22 conference wins and 10 conference series wins. Additionally, the Deacs finished the regular season No. 1 in RPI and posted a 32-9 record against Top-100 RPI teams.
The Deacs clinched the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship title with a 7-3 win over Florida State in Tallahassee on May 13.
This marked Wake Forest's fourth ACC regular-season title in program history, with the last coming in 1963 (1955, 1962, 1963).
Thanks to its 7-5 win on Friday night against Virginia Tech, the Demon Deacons became the first ACC team to run the table and go a perfect 10-for-10 in conference series since 2017 (North Carolina).
Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter was named the 2023 ACC Coach of the Year, becoming just the third Wake Forest skipper in program history to receive the honor for his effort in leading the Deacs to a historical regular season.
For the second year in a row, Wake Forest baseball righthander Rhett Lowder was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year. After becoming the first Demon Deacon ever to receive the award last season, Lowder is just the second pitcher in conference history to garner back-to-back Pitcher of the Year honors (Danny Hultzen, 2010-11).
Lowder finished the regular season as the conference's leader in ERA (1.73), wins (12), innings pitched (88.2) and strikeouts (108). In ACC play, Lowder also leads the conference in those same categories.
Wake Forest baseball placed a league high and tied a program best with nine selections to the 2023 All-Atlantic Coast Conference teams.
Josh Hartle (first team), Rhett Lowder (first team), Sean Sullivan (first team), Nick Kurtz (first team), Justin Johnson (first team), Tommy Hawke (second team), Brock Wilken (second team), Seth Keener (third team) and Camden Minacci (third team) earned recognition for their efforts in helping Wake Forest post its greatest regular season in program history.
Wake Forest's nine honorees led the league and tied the 2017 team for the most all-conference honorees in program history. Hartle, Lowder, Sullivan, Kurtz and Johnson's selections marked the most first team honors in Wake Forest history.
Ticket Information
All-session super regional tickets will be sold to season ticket holders, Deacon Club members and ILC members as a presale. Based on availability, all-session tickets will become available to the general public starting Tuesday at noon.
- All-Session Ticket Options
- Reserved All-Session: $60
- General All-Session: $50
- High Top Tables: $280
- Loge Boxes: $300
- All-American Club All-Session add on: $50
Students will claim their free tickets on their Screamin' Deacon Rewards app as normal, with limited availability.
Parking Information
Premium Reserved Parking will be sold in advance only to All-Session ticket holders for $30. Those passes can be redeemed at the David F. Couch Ballpark & McCreary Tower Lots.
General public parking will be available in the Truist Field Lots (Gold, Red, Blue & Orange on parking map). $10 at point of entry only, no advanced sales. MUST ENTER from Reynolds Blvd. due to heavy traffic for other events on Deacon Blvd. & University Parkway.
Record-Breaking Crowds Create Electric Environment at David F. Couch Ballpark in 2023
Deacon Nation showed tremendous support at David F. Couch Ballpark in 2023 as multiple attendance records were broken during the regular season.
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.
Over the course of the season, Deacon Nation broke weekend attendance records three times, highlighted by the current weekend attendance record of 8,096 fans over the course of the final weekend series of the regular season.
On May 19, Wake Forest set a new single-game regular season attendance record against Virginia Tech (May 19) with an attendance of 3,023.
NCAA Tournament Information
The winner of the best-of-three Super Regional will advance as one of eight teams to the Men's College World Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb.
A complete schedule can be found below:
2023 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament Schedule
- Super Regionals: Friday June 9- Monday, June 12
- CWS opening celebration day: Thursday, June 15
- First day of MCWS games — Friday, June 16
- MCWS Finals — Start Saturday, June 24 (best out of 3)
Season Highlights
- In the Deacs first home regional since 2017, Wake Forest totaled 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.
- 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)
- Became the first No. 1 seed to successfully advance out of pool play since the ACC switched to its current championship format in 2017 after going a perfect 2-0 in the opening games of the tournament against eighth-seeded Notre Dame and 12th-seeded Pitt.
- Heads into NCAA Tournament tied for a program-record record in wins (47)
- Finished the regular season with program records in wins (45), conference wins (22) and conference series victories (10)
- Led the nation in wins (45) and winning percentage (.833)
- Posted the eighth 40-win season in program history
- The 2023 Deacs are just the second team in program history to reach the mark in the regular season (2002).
- Became the first team since North Carolina in 2017 to run the table and win all 10 ACC series in a season
- Clinched the program's first Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title since 1963
- ACC Regular Season Championships
- 2023
- 1963
- 1962
- 1955
- ACC Regular Season Championships
- Clinched its first ever ACC Atlantic Division title
- Became the fastest team in program history and the first team in the nation to reach the 40-win mark with its 14-4 win against UNC Greensboro on May 9
- Finished with the third-highest conference winningest percentage in program history (.759)
- Finished regular season No. 1 in the RPI
- After taking two out of three against Duke and Notre Dame to open ACC play, Wake Forest posted three-straight perfect weekends against Miami (first time ever), Clemson (first time since 2012) and NC State (second-straight season). The Deacs earned its first ever series win in Louisville and became the first team since 2021 to win a series at Jim Patterson Stadium. Wake Forest won its fourth-straight series against Pitt, outscoring the Panthers, 40-5, in its two wins. Two weekends ago, the Deacs claimed its third series over a top-25 opponent, taking two out of three from Boston College before claiming its second-straight series in Tallahassee this last weekend. This weekend, Wake Forest earned its first series win over the Hokies since 2019.
- Deacon Nation showed tremendous support at David F. Couch Ballpark in 2023 as this year's season attendance of 44,650 fans set a new program record.
- Broke weekend attendance records three times, highlighted by its regular-season weekend attendance record of 8,096 fans to close out the regular season
- Broke single-game attendance record against Virginia Tech (May 19) with an attendance of 3,023
- Led nation in virtually every pitching category
- ERA
- Hits-per-nine innings
- WHIP
- Strikeouts-per-nine innings
- Strikeout-to-walk ratio
- Strikeouts
- Ranked in the top six in the ACC in every offensive category
Wake Forest Honors
- Adam Cecere
- ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
- Josh Hartle
- 2023 Collegiate Baseball Second Team All-American
- Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist
- 2023 First Team All-ACC
- Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List
- Perfect Game Midseason All-American
- D1Baseball Midseason All-American
- Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (March 6)
- Tommy Hawke
- 2023 Second Team All-ACC
- Perfect Game Midseason All-American
- Justin Johnson
- 2023 First Team All-ACC
- Seth Keener
- 2023 Third Team All-ACC
- Nick Kurtz
- Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist
- 2023 Collegiate Baseball Third Team All-American
- 2023 First Team All-ACC
- 2023 ACC All-Tournament Team
- ACC Player of the Week (April 24)
- Perfect Game Midseason All-American
- D1Baseball Midseason All-American
- ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
- D1 Baseball Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
- Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
- Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
- D1Baseball First Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game Second Team Preseason All-America
- Baseball America Third Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
- Rhett Lowder
- 2023 ACC Pitcher of the Year
- 2023 Collegiate Baseball First Team All-American
- 2023 Pitcher of the Year Finalist
- Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist
- 2023 First Team All-ACC
- 2023 ACC All-Tournament Team
- 2023 ACC Pitcher of the Week (May 9)
- 2023 ACC Pitcher of the Week (April 17)
- Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List
- D1Baseball Midseason All-American
- Perfect Game Midseason All-American
- 2023 ACC Pitcher of the Week (March 27)
- 2023 Perfect Game Pitcher of the Week (March 27)
- Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
- Collegiate Baseball First Team Preseason All-America
- D1Baseball First Team Preseason All-America
- NCBWA First Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game First Team Preseason All-America
- Baseball America First Team Preseason All-America
- D1Baseball Preseason ACC Pitcher of the Year
- Perfect Game Preseason ACC Pitcher of the Year
- Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
- Teddy McGraw
- Perfect Game Third Team Preseason All-America
- Prospects Live Third Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
- Camden Minacci
- Third Team All-ACC
- D1Baseball Third Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game Third Team Preseason All-America
- Sean Sullivan
- 2023 Collegiate Baseball Second Team All-American
- First Team All-ACC
- Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List
- Perfect Game Midseason All-American
- D1Baseball Midseason All-American
- ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
- Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
- ACC Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 20)
- Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
- Tom Walter
- 2023 ACC Coach of the Year
- Brock Wilken
- 2023 Collegiate Baseball Third Team All-American
- Second Team All-ACC
- Perfect Game Midseason All-American
- Collegiate Baseball Second Team Preseason All-America
- NCBWA Second Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game Second Team Preseason All-America
- Prospects Live Second Team Preseason All-America
- Baseball America Third Team Preseason All-America
- Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
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