Saturday, April 20
Winston-Salem, NC
4 p.m.
Wake Forest University
25-13, 10-10
6
vs
9
Florida State
31-7, 11-6
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9
R
H
E
Florida State
0
0
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0
0
2
1
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9
13
1
Wake Forest
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
3
0
6
7
2
Photo by: Seth Seebaugh
No. 12 Demon Deacons Take Series Against No. 8 Florida State Behind Record Crowds
4/21/2024 1:02:00 AM | Baseball
Catcher Cameron Gill scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth to secure game three and the series against the Seminoles behind the fifth and sixth sellouts of the season on Saturday.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In front of a raucous sellout crowd, the No. 12 Wake Forest baseball team took the second of two games against No. 8 Florida State Saturday and claimed its third-consecutive ACC series win. After a hard-fought 9-6 defeat in game one, the Demon Deacons bounced back to take the series with a 10-9 walk-off victory in the rubber match.
Senior Jake Reinisch and junior Seaver King led the Deacs (26-13, 11-10 ACC) with four home runs and seven RBI across the two games. King's solo shot in the bottom of the second in game two brought his total to 15 on the year which ties him with sophomore Jack Winnay, who launched his 15th homer in the earlier game, for second on the team.
In game one, the Deacs erased a 6-3 deficit in the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer from King followed by a two-run blast from Reinisch two batters later, but the Seminoles (31-8, 11-7 ACC) added three runs in the top of the ninth to even the series. On the mound, Josh Hartle allowed just two earned runs in 6.2 innings of work with seven strikeouts to just one walk.
After facing a 5-1 deficit in the series finale, the Demon Deacons scored six runs across the fourth and fifth innings, capped off by a two-run home run from grad transfer Cameron Gill in a pinch-hit situation, to even the contest at 8-8. The Seminoles took the lead back in the top of the eighth, but Wake Forest added two in the bottom of the inning. A solo shot in the top of the ninth tied the game once again before the Demon Deacons walked it off as Gill scored on a wild pitch. Graduate student Cole Roland earned his first win of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game One)
STAGGERING STATISTICS
Top-10 Regular Season David F. Couch Ballpark Crowds
FROM COACH WALTER
"That was a tough day, those were three really great baseball games. We were disappointed with how game one ended today, we got it back tied and had it right where we wanted it. I thought Josh Hartle threw the ball the best he has all year. He made one bad pitch to Tibbs. He hung a breaking ball but other than that I thought that was Josh's best performance of the year. As far as his stuff, I'm really happy with him.
I was proud of our offense in the first game battling back and tying it up. Reinisch had the big homer to tie the game up. Again, I'm disappointed we didn't win the first one but in the second game we fell behind 5-1 like in the first one. We battled back and scored three to make it 5-4. Then Florida State scored two. The first game we were 0-4 in shutdown innings and in the second game we were trending that way again until Will Ray settled things down and got us a huge shutdown inning. That gave our offense a chance to catch their breath and get big hits. That's what we did down the stretch there. Obviously, Jake Reinisch with two outs in the eighth was a huge hit.
We got a little unfortunate a couple times with the ball bouncing over the wall in right-center. They made a couple of very good defensive diving plays to take some runs off the board for us. But our guys showed some great toughness today and it was a huge series win." - head coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons will now prepare for six-consecutive games away from The Couch, with the first coming against the Elon Phoenix on Tuesday, April 23 at 6 p.m. For those unable to attend, the game will be streamed live on FloBaseball and live stats will be available here.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Senior Jake Reinisch and junior Seaver King led the Deacs (26-13, 11-10 ACC) with four home runs and seven RBI across the two games. King's solo shot in the bottom of the second in game two brought his total to 15 on the year which ties him with sophomore Jack Winnay, who launched his 15th homer in the earlier game, for second on the team.
In game one, the Deacs erased a 6-3 deficit in the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer from King followed by a two-run blast from Reinisch two batters later, but the Seminoles (31-8, 11-7 ACC) added three runs in the top of the ninth to even the series. On the mound, Josh Hartle allowed just two earned runs in 6.2 innings of work with seven strikeouts to just one walk.
After facing a 5-1 deficit in the series finale, the Demon Deacons scored six runs across the fourth and fifth innings, capped off by a two-run home run from grad transfer Cameron Gill in a pinch-hit situation, to even the contest at 8-8. The Seminoles took the lead back in the top of the eighth, but Wake Forest added two in the bottom of the inning. A solo shot in the top of the ninth tied the game once again before the Demon Deacons walked it off as Gill scored on a wild pitch. Graduate student Cole Roland earned his first win of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game One)
- Lefty Josh Hartle needed just 10 pitches to get through a 1-2-3 top of the first.
- Shortstop Marek Houston led off the bottom half with a double to the right field, but the Deacs were unable to draw first blood in the contest.
- A nine-pitch top of the second for Hartle got the Demon Deacons back in the dugout.
- Sophomore Jack Winnay gave Wake Forest the early lead with his 14th homer of the year.
- The right fielder sent a blast off the North Carolina Education Lottery sign in the left field to give the Deacs a 1-0 advantage.
- Florida State answered with a run in the third and two in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead.
- Hartle bounced back with a pair of strikeouts in the fifth to keep the deficit at two.
- Left fielder Mitchell Salvino brought a ball back into the yard with an unbelievable catch against the wall to keep the Noles at bay in the sixth.
- Wake Forest cut the Seminole lead in half on an RBI groundout from junior Seaver King in the bottom of the sixth.
- The Deacs looked to have taken the lead off the bat of Winnay but another great play in left field, this time by FSU, kept the score at 3-2.
- A two-out homer extended the Florida State lead to 5-2 at the stretch.
- After a single to right center by freshman Cam Nelson and a walk by pinch hitter Austin Hawke, the Deacs got a run back in the bottom of the seventh on a Seminole miscue to cut the lead to two at 5-3.
- Florida State got the lead back to three with a solo homer in the eighth.
- Continuing to put pressure on the Seminoles, Wake Forest tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the eighth.
- The Deacs once cut the lead to two with a solo homer of their own from King for his 12th of the season.
- Winnay worked a seven-pitch walk to bring the tying run to the plate with one-out.
- Senior Jake Reinisch ambushed the first pitch sending it 412-feet over the scoreboard to tie the game at 6-6.
- Florida State scored three in the top of the ninth to take game one, 9-6.
- Starter Michael Massey got out of the top of the first unscathed.
- Wake got the go-ahead run to third in their half of the first but were unable to scratch a run across.
- King launched his second homer of the day with an opposite field shot over the right field wall to make it 1-0 in favor of the Deacs.
- Florida State answered with five runs in the third inning.
- Sophomore Zach Johnston settled things with a scoreless fourth.
- The Deacs cut into the Seminole lead with three runs in the bottom half with no hits.
- Reinisch was hit by a pitch to leadoff the frame.
- King earned a four-pitch walk to put a pair of runners on.
- Left fielder Javar Williams was the second Deac hit by a pitch in the frame to load the bases.
- Pinch hitter Antonio Morales was the third hit batter of the inning to bring home the Deacs first run.
- Houston and Kurtz both walked on five pitches to make it 5-4 after four complete innings.
- The Seminoles scored a pair of unearned runs to make a 7-4 lead in the fifth.
- Wake Forest immediately answered with three runs in the second-straight inning.
- Reinisch mashed a solo shot to right field for his 10th of the year to cut the deficit to two.
- With two down in the inning, catcher Cameron Gill picked the perfect time for his homer as a Demon Deacon, sending a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left center to tie the game at 7-7.
- Junior Will Ray and freshman Haiden Leffew each worked a scoreless inning to keep the game knotted at the stretch.
- Florida State took the lead with a run in the top of the eighth.
- The back-and-forth battle continued with Wake taking their first lead of the night with two runs in the eighth.
- Houston led off the inning with a five-pitch walk.
- A single through the right side from Tellier put a pair of runners on with nobody out.
- After a passed ball moved both runners up 90 feet, Kurtz grounded out to plate Houston and tie the game at 8-8.
- A soft liner off the bat of Reinisch was just out of reach of the Noles first baseman and ended up in right field to plate Tellier and give the Deacs their first lead of the contest.
- A solo homer for Florida State in the top of the ninth tied the game once again.
- Wake Forest walked out the Noles for a 10-9 series clinching win.
- Back-to-back walks by Gill and Houston put the winning run in scoring position with nobody out.
- A wild pitch moved Gill 90 feet away and another would plate the Alpharetta, Ga. native and give the Deacs their second walk-off win of the 2024 campaign.
- Cameron Gill was the difference maker in the series finale, as the graduate transfer recorded his first home run as a Demon Deacon with his two-run blast in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at 8-8.
- After drawing a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth with the game level at 9-9, Gill made his way around the bases and scored on a wild pitch to win the game, and the series, for Wake Forest.
- Defensively, he caught a runner stealing in the top of the fifth for the second out of the inning.
STAGGERING STATISTICS
- After a season record-setting attendance during the 2023 season, Deacon Nation has set the tone throughout the 2024 season as tonight's crowds tied the largest regular season crowds in program history, marked the sixth and seventh sellout of the season and is the eighth 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 | Apr. 20, 2024 | Florida State (DH) |
| T1. | 3,514 | Apr. 20, 2024 | Florida State (DH) |
| T1. | 3,514 | Mar. 31, 2024 | North Carolina |
| T1. | 3,514 | Mar. 30, 2024 | North Carolina |
| T1. | 3,514 | Mar. 29, 2024 | North Carolina |
| T1. | 3,514 | Feb. 16, 2024 | Fordham |
| 7. | 3,275 | April 19, 2024 | Florida State |
| 8. | 3,023 | May 19, 2023 | Virginia Tech |
| 9. | 2,847 | March 8, 2024 | Duke |
| 10. | 2,750 | March 29, 2002 | Florida State |
FROM COACH WALTER
"That was a tough day, those were three really great baseball games. We were disappointed with how game one ended today, we got it back tied and had it right where we wanted it. I thought Josh Hartle threw the ball the best he has all year. He made one bad pitch to Tibbs. He hung a breaking ball but other than that I thought that was Josh's best performance of the year. As far as his stuff, I'm really happy with him.
I was proud of our offense in the first game battling back and tying it up. Reinisch had the big homer to tie the game up. Again, I'm disappointed we didn't win the first one but in the second game we fell behind 5-1 like in the first one. We battled back and scored three to make it 5-4. Then Florida State scored two. The first game we were 0-4 in shutdown innings and in the second game we were trending that way again until Will Ray settled things down and got us a huge shutdown inning. That gave our offense a chance to catch their breath and get big hits. That's what we did down the stretch there. Obviously, Jake Reinisch with two outs in the eighth was a huge hit.
We got a little unfortunate a couple times with the ball bouncing over the wall in right-center. They made a couple of very good defensive diving plays to take some runs off the board for us. But our guys showed some great toughness today and it was a huge series win." - head coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons will now prepare for six-consecutive games away from The Couch, with the first coming against the Elon Phoenix on Tuesday, April 23 at 6 p.m. For those unable to attend, the game will be streamed live on FloBaseball and live stats will be available here.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: HULTS, C. (1-1)
L: Morningstar, Blake (2-1)
Batting:
2B: DINGES, M. 1 ; CANTU, D. 1 ; LODISE, A. 1
HR: TIBBS, J. 1 ; FERRER, J. 1 ; HOLBROOK, M. 1
RBI: TIBBS, J. 2 ; DINGES, M. 1 ; FERRER, J. 2 ; HOLBROOK, M. 1 ; LODISE, A. 1
SH: WILLIAMS, M. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TIBBS, J. 2 ; DINGES, M. 2 ; FERRER, J. 1 ; CANTU, D. 1 ; HOLBROOK, M. 1 ; LODISE, A. 2
Batting:
2B: Houston, Marek 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 1
HR: King, Seaver 1 ; Winnay, Jack 1 ; Reinisch, Jake 1
RBI: King, Seaver 2 ; Winnay, Jack 1 ; Reinisch, Jake 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Houston, Marek 1 ; King, Seaver 1 ; Winnay, Jack 2 ; Reinisch, Jake 1 ; Nelson, Cam 1
Game Leaders
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2
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
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