Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Tied for the National Lead with Four Named 2024 Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist
5/16/2024 3:00:00 PM | Baseball
For the second-straight year, the Demon Deacons pace the country, having placed nine student-athletes on the semifinalist list in the past two seasons.
DALLAS – The No. 8 Wake Forest baseball team tied for the national lead with four semifinalists for the 2024 Dick Howser Trophy presented by The Game Headwear as announced by The Dick Howser Trophy Committee, in conjunction with the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, on Thursday afternoon.
Senior Jake Reinisch is joined by juniors Chase Burns, Seaver King and Nick Kurtz as four of this year's 68 candidates coming from 18 different conferences and 48 different schools.
Recently named captain, Reinisch has been Mr. Consistent for the Deacs, as he is one of just three Deacs to start every game so far, and has reached base in all but five. So far this season, the New York-native has racked up 63 hits, 63 RBIs, 16 home runs, 32 extra-base hits and 36 walks. Additionally, Reinisch ranks highly in multiple offensive categories with a .321 batting average, .428 on-base percentage and .658 slugging percentage to go with a team-leading 63 RBI.
The senior has homered in five of the last seven, including a moon shot in the series finale against No. 2 Clemson and had a homer in each game of the three-game series against Western Carolina.
Reinisch had a hit in all three games of the series in the road series at Boston College, including doubles on Friday and Sunday and three RBI over the three-game set against the Eagles.
Against No. 8 Florida State, he hit a home run in both games of the Saturday doubleheader and helped the Demon Deacons take their third-consecutive ACC series with the wins over the Seminoles.
Reinisch has at least two RBIs 19 times this season to go with 15 multi-hit efforts during his senior campaign. His four hits against High Point tied a career high and marked his first time doing so since his four-hit performance against Georgetown in early March.
Burns has been lights out in his first season with the Demon Deacons, posting a 10-1 record in his first 13 starts. He ranks inside the top five in the ACC in nearly every pitching statistical category and leads the nation with 156 punchouts on the season.
With his fourth strikeout against Clemson, Burns surpassed Deac legend Rhett Lowder for the single-season strikeout record with 144 and added 12 more for good measure.
Over his four starts against Duke, Virginia, Louisville and Florida State he allowed just six runs in 25 innings pitched (2.16 ERA) with a stellar 47 strikeouts to just six walks (7.83 K/BB) and took home three-consecutive ACC Pitcher of the Week honors.
Burns is believed to be the first ACC pitcher to take home three-straight Pitcher of the Week honors since at least 2000. He joined elite company this week, becoming just one of four Atlantic Coast Conference pitchers to win the award five times in a season. Burns is the only five-time winner in Wake Forest baseball program history.
The transfer has fanned at least 10 batters in 10 of his 13 starts this season, setting a new career high with 16 against Clemson last week In his start vs. Western Carolina, Burns allowed no hits and no earned runs over 6.0 IP against the Catamounts with 13 punchouts.
King has started to heat up over the last month, as the third baseman is hitting .360 (36-of-100), including recording at least one hit in 23 of 25 games after April 1.
He ranks second on the team and ranks sixth in the conference with 62 total RBI this campaign.
The Athens, Ga. native has reached base in 25-straight contests and recorded a hit in 11-straight. He paces Wake Forest with 23 multi-hit efforts on the season and in the last 25 games, has added 35 RBI, including 12 games with two or more.
On the year, nearly 60 percent of King's base hits have left the bat at 95 mph or harder.
Kurtz ranks first nationally with 1.43 bases on balls per game, as he has earned 66 free passes so far this season in 46 games played. The junior has now reached base 380 total times in his career in 745 plate appearances. He holds a staggering .511 career on-base percentage over the course of his three seasons in a Wake Forest uniform. Additionally, Kurtz is the one of two players in Division-I to play more than 100 career games and have a career OBP of .500 or better.
This season he has a team-best .538 on-base percentage, following up his sophomore campaign where Kurtz had an eye-popping .527 on-base percentage. Kurtz has now walked 177 times in 156 career games played (1.1 walks per game) and ranks second in program history for his career. He sits just four free passes away from the program walk record.
The pop matches his patience, as Kurtz ranks fourth among active Division-I players with 59 home runs, and moved into second all-time in program history with 17 homers in the last 26 games.
This is the 37th year of the Dick Howser Trophy (first presented in 1987 to Mike Fiore of Miami and not awarded in 2020 due to COVID-19 suspension of the season). Finalists will be announced on Thursday, June 8.
The '24 award will be presented at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, the home of the College World Series, for the 12th year. The winner also will be unveiled on MLB Network on Thursday, June 13, in the 9 a.m. (CDT) highlight show hour. A Friday, June 14, news conference with the winner will be held at 10 a.m., the opening day just prior to the first game of the 77th NCAA College World Series, in the Schwab Stadium Media Room.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Senior Jake Reinisch is joined by juniors Chase Burns, Seaver King and Nick Kurtz as four of this year's 68 candidates coming from 18 different conferences and 48 different schools.
Recently named captain, Reinisch has been Mr. Consistent for the Deacs, as he is one of just three Deacs to start every game so far, and has reached base in all but five. So far this season, the New York-native has racked up 63 hits, 63 RBIs, 16 home runs, 32 extra-base hits and 36 walks. Additionally, Reinisch ranks highly in multiple offensive categories with a .321 batting average, .428 on-base percentage and .658 slugging percentage to go with a team-leading 63 RBI.
The senior has homered in five of the last seven, including a moon shot in the series finale against No. 2 Clemson and had a homer in each game of the three-game series against Western Carolina.
Reinisch had a hit in all three games of the series in the road series at Boston College, including doubles on Friday and Sunday and three RBI over the three-game set against the Eagles.
Against No. 8 Florida State, he hit a home run in both games of the Saturday doubleheader and helped the Demon Deacons take their third-consecutive ACC series with the wins over the Seminoles.
Reinisch has at least two RBIs 19 times this season to go with 15 multi-hit efforts during his senior campaign. His four hits against High Point tied a career high and marked his first time doing so since his four-hit performance against Georgetown in early March.
Burns has been lights out in his first season with the Demon Deacons, posting a 10-1 record in his first 13 starts. He ranks inside the top five in the ACC in nearly every pitching statistical category and leads the nation with 156 punchouts on the season.
With his fourth strikeout against Clemson, Burns surpassed Deac legend Rhett Lowder for the single-season strikeout record with 144 and added 12 more for good measure.
Over his four starts against Duke, Virginia, Louisville and Florida State he allowed just six runs in 25 innings pitched (2.16 ERA) with a stellar 47 strikeouts to just six walks (7.83 K/BB) and took home three-consecutive ACC Pitcher of the Week honors.
Burns is believed to be the first ACC pitcher to take home three-straight Pitcher of the Week honors since at least 2000. He joined elite company this week, becoming just one of four Atlantic Coast Conference pitchers to win the award five times in a season. Burns is the only five-time winner in Wake Forest baseball program history.
The transfer has fanned at least 10 batters in 10 of his 13 starts this season, setting a new career high with 16 against Clemson last week In his start vs. Western Carolina, Burns allowed no hits and no earned runs over 6.0 IP against the Catamounts with 13 punchouts.
King has started to heat up over the last month, as the third baseman is hitting .360 (36-of-100), including recording at least one hit in 23 of 25 games after April 1.
He ranks second on the team and ranks sixth in the conference with 62 total RBI this campaign.
The Athens, Ga. native has reached base in 25-straight contests and recorded a hit in 11-straight. He paces Wake Forest with 23 multi-hit efforts on the season and in the last 25 games, has added 35 RBI, including 12 games with two or more.
On the year, nearly 60 percent of King's base hits have left the bat at 95 mph or harder.
Kurtz ranks first nationally with 1.43 bases on balls per game, as he has earned 66 free passes so far this season in 46 games played. The junior has now reached base 380 total times in his career in 745 plate appearances. He holds a staggering .511 career on-base percentage over the course of his three seasons in a Wake Forest uniform. Additionally, Kurtz is the one of two players in Division-I to play more than 100 career games and have a career OBP of .500 or better.
This season he has a team-best .538 on-base percentage, following up his sophomore campaign where Kurtz had an eye-popping .527 on-base percentage. Kurtz has now walked 177 times in 156 career games played (1.1 walks per game) and ranks second in program history for his career. He sits just four free passes away from the program walk record.
The pop matches his patience, as Kurtz ranks fourth among active Division-I players with 59 home runs, and moved into second all-time in program history with 17 homers in the last 26 games.
This is the 37th year of the Dick Howser Trophy (first presented in 1987 to Mike Fiore of Miami and not awarded in 2020 due to COVID-19 suspension of the season). Finalists will be announced on Thursday, June 8.
The '24 award will be presented at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, the home of the College World Series, for the 12th year. The winner also will be unveiled on MLB Network on Thursday, June 13, in the 9 a.m. (CDT) highlight show hour. A Friday, June 14, news conference with the winner will be held at 10 a.m., the opening day just prior to the first game of the 77th NCAA College World Series, in the Schwab Stadium Media Room.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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