Late Rally Falls Short, Demon Deacons Drop Midweek Clash with UNCW

DURHAM, N.C. – Bringing the tying run to the plate in the ninth, No. 12 Wake Forest ultimately fell to UNC Wilmington, 8-5, at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park Tuesday night.

Homering for the 14th time in the last 10 games, junior Nick Kurtz put Wake Forest on the board first with a two-run blast in the bottom of the first. He leads the team with 17 home runs this season and has 57 home runs over the course of his career, moving him into sole position of third in program history, surpassing Jake Austin (1989-92).

Kurtz added a single in the bottom of the fifth and was one of two Demon Deacons with multiple hits.
Senior Jake Reinisch finished 2-for-5 with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the ninth in addition to a lead-off double in the sixth.

Freshman Javar Williams and sophomore Jack Winnay also added doubles for Wake Forest. Catcher Cameron Gill recorded his 11th RBI of the season as he reached on a bunt single and scored Williams in the bottom of the second.

Lefty Haiden Leffew had an effective night as the first Deac out of the pen, tossing 1.1 hitless innings with a pair of strikeouts to preserve an early lead for Wake Forest. Freshman Josh Gunther and graduate student Cole Roland closed out the game as the pair combined for 2.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Starter Ben Shenosky worked a 1-2-3 top of the first with a pair of strikeouts.
After a one-out walk from second baseman Adam Tellier, junior Nick Kurtz launched his 14th homer in the last 10 games to grab a 2-0 advantage for Wake after the first inning.
UNC Wilmington got on the board with a single run in the top of the second.
The Deacs immediately answered on a perfectly placed squeeze bunt by catcher Cameron Gill to drive in freshman Javar Williams, who reached on a double to right field.
Entering with the bases loaded and two down in the top of the third, reliever Haiden Leffew needed just one pitch, enticing a groundball to Tellier at second base to get the Deacs out of the jam.
Leffew worked around trouble again in the fourth, punching out a pair in the frame to throw another zero on the board.
The Seahawks took the lead with four runs in the top of the fifth.
A two-run home run in the sixth extended the UNCW lead to 7-3.
Trailing 8-3, Wake Forest loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but were unable to scratch a run across.
In the bottom of the ninth, Reinisch knocked in a pair with a two-out single to center.
The Deacs brought the tying run to the plate but were unable to complete the late rally.
Wake Forest fell, 8-5, on Tuesday night in Durham.

FROM COACH WALTER
"That's a disappointing loss. We played pretty well defensively but didn't really play well in any of the other phases of the game. We didn't stack quality at-bats, going 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position and one of those was a bunt hit. We couldn't get them off the field with two outs a couple of different times. We just didn't execute pitches.

The lefty that UNCW threw there at the end was really good and we didn't have very many good at-bats against him. We had some chances early in the game that we didn't cash in on and then again in the seventh with the right guys up for us. That's baseball. It happens. We have to bounce back and be ready to go on Friday." - head coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
Wake Forest is home for a weekend series against No. 8 Florida State. First pitch on Friday from The Couch is set for 6 p.m. Tickets for the top-15 matchup can be purchased by clicking here.

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Late Rally Falls Short, Demon Deacons Drop Midweek Clash with UNCW

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Team Stats

Nick Kurtz

Jake Reinisch

Marek Houston

Adam Tellier

Players Mentioned

Cameron Gill

Josh Gunther

Nick Kurtz

Haiden Leffew

Jake Reinisch

Cole Roland

Ben Shenosky

Adam Tellier

Javar Williams

Jack Winnay

Wake Forest Athletics