Burns and Kurtz Named 2024 Golden Spikes Semifinalist

CARY, N.C. – The Wake Forest baseball team tied for the national lead with two semifinalists for the 2024 Golden Spikes Award, as juniors Chase Burns and Nick Kurtz both were named semifinalists for the second time in their careers, announced by USA Baseball Monday afternoon.

Kurtz joins a group of four semifinalists from last season to return to the list in 2024 as Jac Caglianone (Florida), Charlie Condon (Georgia) and Hagen Smith (Arkansas) join the Deacs first baseman as repeat semifinalists from a season ago, while Burns appears as a semifinalist after making the list in 2022. Burns has now appeared on six Golden Spikes Award watch lists in his three-year career.

Wake Forest's Golden Spikes Award Semifinalists
Allan Dykstra 2007
Allan Dysktra 2008
Wil Craig 2016
Stuart Fairchild 2017
Josh Hartle 2023
Nick Kurtz 2023
Rhett Lowder 2023
Nick Kurtz 2024
Chase Burns 2024

2024 Wake Forest Golden Spikes Award Semifinalists

Chase Burns
- Named ACC Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-ACC, Burns has been lights out in his first season with the Demon Deacons, posting a 10-1 record in his first 14 starts.
- He ranks inside the top five in the ACC in nearly every pitching statistical category and leads the nation with 169 punchouts on the season.
- For the fourth-consecutive start, Burns fanned 13 or more on Friday, as the righty fanned 13 Wolfpack hitters.
  - It marked the 11th time in 14 starts this season he struck out at least 10 batters and ninth time he finished with at least 13 punch outs.
  - He allowed just one unearned run on five hits over 7.0 innings and did not allow a walk.
- Of his 14 starts, the junior has compiled 10 quality starts in his junior season.
- Burns has been untouchable in the month of May, compiling 42 strikeouts to just three walks for a 14.00 K/BB ratio and a ridiculous 18.90 K/9 ratio to go along with a 0.45 ERA in three starts.
- Additionally, Burns now holds eight of the top 11 single-game strikeout performances in Wake Forest history.
- 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 morning, becoming one of two Atlantic Coast Conference pitchers to win the award six times in a season.
Nick Kurtz
- Named First Team All-ACC, Kurtz ranks first nationally with 1.45 bases on balls per game, as he has earned 71 free passes so far this season in 49 games played.
- Kurtz became the Wake Forest program record holder with 181 free passes throughout his career, surpassing Pat Blair (2010-13).
- Additionally, he also set the single-season walk record with his nation-leading 70th of the campaign, surpassing Brock Wilken's 69 bases on balls a season ago.
- This season, Kurtz has 17 multi-walk performances and eight with at least three.
- The junior has now reached base 386 total times in his career in 758 plate appearances.
- He holds a staggering .509 career on-base percentage over the course of his three seasons in a Wake Forest uniform. Additionally, Kurtz is the one of three 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 .532 on-base percentage, following up his sophomore campaign where Kurtz had an eye-popping .527 on-base percentage.
- The pop matches his patience, as Kurtz ranks fifth among active Division-I players with 60 home runs, and moved into second all-time in program history, as he currently paces the team with 21 homers on the year.
- Kurtz was named ACC Player of the Week following a 8-for-14 (.571) week with six homers, a double, 11 RBI and nine runs scored back in April.
- He followed it up with a second-straight ACC Player of the Week honor after slugging a ridiculous 1.733 over four games. Kurtz finished the week 8-of-15 with 12 RBI, 8 R, 7 XBH (5 HR, 3B, 2B), 25 TB and five walks.
- The junior sits at third all-time with 203 runs scored and is just fifteen hits away from becoming one of just 30 hitters in Wake Forest history to join the 200 hit club.

Fan voting will again play a part in the Golden Spikes Award in 2024. Baseball fans can vote for their favorite players on GoldenSpikesAward.com, beginning today with the naming of the semifinalists. USA Baseball will announce the finalists for the award on June 5, and fan voting will once again open at GoldenSpikesAward.com before closing on June 21.

The 46th Golden Spikes Award will be presented on June 22 at 7:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. CT) on ESPN ahead of Game 1 of the College World Series finals.

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Burns and Kurtz Named 2024 Golden Spikes Semifinalist

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