Friday, March 29
Winston-Salem, NC
6 p.m.
Wake Forest University
17-8, 4-6
5
vs
6
North Carolina
23-4, 8-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
North Carolina
1
4
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
6
10
4
Wake Forest
1
2
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
5
7
0
Ninth-Inning Comeback Falls Short Against No. 14 North Carolina
3/29/2024 10:24:00 PM | Baseball
The No. 12 Demon Deacons dropped the Friday night opener to No. 14 North Carolina, 6-5, at David F. Couch despite near late inning heroics in the ninth inning.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Despite a ninth-inning rally that had the potential tying runner on third and the potential go-ahead runner on second, the No. 12 Wake Forest Baseball team dropped the Friday night series opener against No. 14 North Carolina, 6-5, at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Junior righthander Chase Burns continued his double-digit strikeout streak, extending it to five consecutive outings.
Burns fanned a career-high matching 14 of the 28 batters he faced Friday which is tied for the second-highest single-game strikeout total in Wake Forest (17-8, 4-6 ACC) history.
In total, 19 of the 27 outs Wake Forest recorded came via the strikeout with bullpen arm Zach Johnston striking out five of the 10 North Carolina (23-4, 8-2 ACC) batters he faced over 2.0 innings of work in relief.
Burns became the first player in program history to have 12 or more strikeouts in four-straight games as he had 14 strikeouts in a victory over No. 12 Duke three weeks ago, 13 strikeouts in a win over No. 17 Virginia two weeks ago and 12 strikeouts in a win over Louisville last Friday.
With the 14 strikeouts, Burns now has a nation-leading 82 punchouts in 43.2 innings of work this season while holding a 2.89 ERA.
At the plate, the Demon Deacons were paced by a three-hit performance from infielder Adam Tellier. The graduate student from Ada, Mich. has now had three or more hits in six games this season and has had 11 multi-hit games.
Tellier finished 3-of-5 at the plate with one of the three Wake Forest extra base hits while also scoring a run and has reached base in all 25 games for the Deacs.
Senior Jake Reinisch hit his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth. He led the Deacs with a pair of RBI improving his total to 28 RBI for the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Top-10 Regular Season David F. Couch Ballpark Crowds
STAGGERING STATISTICS
FROM COACH WALTER
"That was a disappointing loss. If you would have told me we were going to strikeout 19 and walk three I would have told you we were going to win. I thought about walking [Casey] Cook in the second and third inning with two outs and I didn't pull the trigger on it so I have to make a better decision there.
We left some runs on the board early. We had second and third with nobody out and only cashed one of those runs. We also had a runner on second that we didn't score in the seventh inning. There was another situation early in the game that we didn't convert that cost us two or three runs. We aren't going to convert all of those, but if we can convert one or two of those situations it's certainly a different ending.
Those two guys that North Carolina threw at the end of the game are very good. Matthijs and Pence are outstanding. They made big pitches when they needed to and obviously we fell a bit short. I'm happy with the way Chase Burns responded after the second inning. Maybe I should have taken him out after six but that was a 305-foot fly ball. It is hard to second guess that one but maybe I should have taken him out after six. I might have done that differently or walked Cook but otherwise on the pitching side we made the decisions we needed to make." - head coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Deacs continue the three-game set against the Tar Heels tomorrow on the ACC Network at 7 p.m.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Junior righthander Chase Burns continued his double-digit strikeout streak, extending it to five consecutive outings.
Burns fanned a career-high matching 14 of the 28 batters he faced Friday which is tied for the second-highest single-game strikeout total in Wake Forest (17-8, 4-6 ACC) history.
In total, 19 of the 27 outs Wake Forest recorded came via the strikeout with bullpen arm Zach Johnston striking out five of the 10 North Carolina (23-4, 8-2 ACC) batters he faced over 2.0 innings of work in relief.
Burns became the first player in program history to have 12 or more strikeouts in four-straight games as he had 14 strikeouts in a victory over No. 12 Duke three weeks ago, 13 strikeouts in a win over No. 17 Virginia two weeks ago and 12 strikeouts in a win over Louisville last Friday.
With the 14 strikeouts, Burns now has a nation-leading 82 punchouts in 43.2 innings of work this season while holding a 2.89 ERA.
At the plate, the Demon Deacons were paced by a three-hit performance from infielder Adam Tellier. The graduate student from Ada, Mich. has now had three or more hits in six games this season and has had 11 multi-hit games.
Tellier finished 3-of-5 at the plate with one of the three Wake Forest extra base hits while also scoring a run and has reached base in all 25 games for the Deacs.
Senior Jake Reinisch hit his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth. He led the Deacs with a pair of RBI improving his total to 28 RBI for the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- North Carolina grabbed a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the top of the first.
- Sophomore Marek Houston led off the Deacs half of the opening frame with a double to right field and scampered home on a two-out RBI single from right fielder Jake Reinisch, beating the shift through the right side to tie the game at one after an inning of play.
- The Tar Heels stretched their lead to 5-1 in the second.
- Wake Forest took advantage of a pair of UNC errors to draw within a pair at 5-3 after two complete innings of play.
- Burns settled in with three strikeouts in the top of the third for an important shutdown frame for the Deacs.
- The righty added strikeouts eight and nine in the top of the fourth to keep Carolina off the board for the second-straight inning.
- Burns retired the Tar Heels in order for the second-straight inning in the top of the fifth to keep it 5-3.
- Reinisch cut the lead to just one, destroying a 3-2 pitch 466-feet over the right field wall to make it 5-4, after five complete innings.
- Carolina extended their lead with another solo homer in the top of the seventh to make it 6-4.
- Sophomore Zach Johnston fanned three batters and posted a scoreless frame in the top of eighth.
- The Deacs added one run in the ninth inning but fell 6-5 to the Tar Heels.
- After a season record-setting attendance during the 2023 season, Deacon Nation has set the tone throughout the 2024 season as tonight's crowd tied the largest regular season crowd in program history and is the fourth top-10 regular season crowd in program history this season.
Top-10 Regular Season David F. Couch Ballpark Crowds
| Rank | Attendance | Date | Opponent |
| T1. | 3,514 | Mar. 29, 2024 | North Carolina |
| T1. | 3,514 | Feb. 16, 2024 | Fordham |
| 3. | 3,023 | May 19, 2023 | Virginia Tech |
| 4. | 2,847 | March 8, 2024 | Duke |
| 5. | 2,750 | March 29, 2002 | Florida State |
| 6. | 2,568 | May 20, 2023 | Virginia Tech |
| 7. | 2,563 | March 3, 2024 | Elon |
| 8. | 2,519 | April 7, 2003 | North Carolina |
| 9. | 2,505 | May 18, 2023 | Virginia Tech |
| 10. | 2,477 | April 12, 2023 | NC State |
STAGGERING STATISTICS
- In 196.0 career innings pitched, Chase Burns has now struckout 299 career batters. The righty finished last season ranked third nationally with 14.3 K/9 and currently sits at 16.9 K/9 through his first seven outings.
- For the 11th time in his career and the fifth consecutive outing, the junior struck out 10 or more as he fanned 14 Tar Heels on Friday afternoon.
- Burns became the first player in program history to have 12 or more strikeouts in back-to-back-to-back-to-back games as he had a career-high 14 strikeouts in a victory over No. 12 Duke three weeks ago, 13 strikeouts in a win over No. 17 Virginia two weeks ago and 12 against Louisville last Friday.
- For the 11th time in his career and the fifth consecutive outing, the junior struck out 10 or more as he fanned 14 Tar Heels on Friday afternoon.
- Burns (299 career strikeouts) surpassed South Carolina's Ty Good (296 career strikeouts) on Friday as the active Division-I baseball strikeout leaders.
- The righty also ranks inside the top-five in strikeout-per-nine among active career players, sitting at 13.52 prior to Friday's start.
- Additionally, 14 strikeouts tied for the second-highest single-game strikeout total in program history.
- Rank Player Strikeout Total Date
- 1. Erik Hanson 18 April 17, 1985
- T2. Chase Burns 14 March 29, 2024
- T2. Chase Burns 14 March 9, 2024
- T2. John Stokoe 14 1957
- T2. Tim Cooney 14 March 6, 2011
- T5. Chase Burns 13 March 16, 2024
- T5. Nine other tied 13 Last: June 2, 2023
FROM COACH WALTER
"That was a disappointing loss. If you would have told me we were going to strikeout 19 and walk three I would have told you we were going to win. I thought about walking [Casey] Cook in the second and third inning with two outs and I didn't pull the trigger on it so I have to make a better decision there.
We left some runs on the board early. We had second and third with nobody out and only cashed one of those runs. We also had a runner on second that we didn't score in the seventh inning. There was another situation early in the game that we didn't convert that cost us two or three runs. We aren't going to convert all of those, but if we can convert one or two of those situations it's certainly a different ending.
Those two guys that North Carolina threw at the end of the game are very good. Matthijs and Pence are outstanding. They made big pitches when they needed to and obviously we fell a bit short. I'm happy with the way Chase Burns responded after the second inning. Maybe I should have taken him out after six but that was a 305-foot fly ball. It is hard to second guess that one but maybe I should have taken him out after six. I might have done that differently or walked Cook but otherwise on the pitching side we made the decisions we needed to make." - head coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Deacs continue the three-game set against the Tar Heels tomorrow on the ACC Network at 7 p.m.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Boaz (3-1)
L: Burns, Chase (5-1)
S: Pence (3)
Batting:
2B: Wilkerson 1
HR: Cook 2 ; Harber 1 ; Wilkerson 1
RBI: Cook 4 ; Harber 1 ; Wilkerson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cook 2 ; Harber 1 ; Madera 1 ; Wilkerson 2
SB: Donofrio 1
Batting:
2B: Houston, Marek 1 ; Tellier, Adam 1
HR: Reinisch, Jake 1
RBI: Houston, Marek 1 ; Reinisch, Jake 2 ; Winnay, Jack 1
SH: Hawke, Austin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Houston, Marek 1 ; Tellier, Adam 1 ; Reinisch, Jake 1 ; Williams, Javar 1 ; Gill, Cameron 1
SB: Williams, Javar 1 ; Hawke, Austin 1
HBP: King, Seaver 1
Game Leaders
3b/2b
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballINF
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