Four Demon Deacons Named to All-ACC Teams
5/20/2024 2:05:00 PM | Baseball
Junior Nick Kurtz earned his third-straight All-ACC honor, while Chase Burns, Marek Houston and Seaver King all received the first All-ACC honors of their career.
CHARLOTTE – For the third-straight year at least four Wake Forest baseball student-athletes were named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference teams, as voted on by the ACC head coaches and announced by the league on Monday afternoon.
ACC Pitcher of the Year Chase Burns and first baseman Nick Kurtz both earned First-Team honors while shortstop Marek Houston and junior Seaver King garnered Third-Team honors.
The Demon Deacons have now placed at least one athlete on the First-Team ballot in eight of the last 10 All-ACC teams.
"Congratulations to all of our All-Conference selections," head coach Tom Walter said of the recognitions. "Chase Burns has had as dominant a season as I have ever witnessed. Nick Kurtz has been the centerpiece of our offense for three years running now. When he goes, we go.
"Seaver King and Marek Houston have consistently given us good at-bats while making big time plays in the field.
"I was disappointed to not see Jake Reinisch or Jack Winnay on the list. When you look at their statistics in conference play, they deserved recognition."
All-ACC Demon Deacons
The quartet and the rest of the Demon Deacons open the 2024 ACC Tournament against Pitt on Wednesday, May 22 at 3 p.m. on the ACC Network.
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ACC Pitcher of the Year Chase Burns and first baseman Nick Kurtz both earned First-Team honors while shortstop Marek Houston and junior Seaver King garnered Third-Team honors.
The Demon Deacons have now placed at least one athlete on the First-Team ballot in eight of the last 10 All-ACC teams.
"Congratulations to all of our All-Conference selections," head coach Tom Walter said of the recognitions. "Chase Burns has had as dominant a season as I have ever witnessed. Nick Kurtz has been the centerpiece of our offense for three years running now. When he goes, we go.
"Seaver King and Marek Houston have consistently given us good at-bats while making big time plays in the field.
"I was disappointed to not see Jake Reinisch or Jack Winnay on the list. When you look at their statistics in conference play, they deserved recognition."
All-ACC Demon Deacons
- Chase Burns (First Team)
- 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 Deacs 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 last 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.
- Nick Kurtz (First Team)
- 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 an 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.
- Marek Houston (Third Team)
- Raised his batting average 110 points from his freshman to sophomore year.
- Houston has hit safely in 30 of his last 37 games, including 16 multi-hit efforts.
- The sophomore reached base at a .500 clip during the Clemson series and has hit safely in 11 of the last 12 with an RBI in seven of the last 11.
- Houston is 23-for-75 (.307) at the plate with 17 runs scored from the leadoff spot over the last 20 games.
- Seaver King (Third Team)
- One of just three Deacs to start every game this season.
- Came on strong towards the end of the regular season, as the third baseman is hitting .348 (39-of-112), including recording at least one hit in 26 of 28 games after April 1.
- He ranks second on the team and ranks eighth in the conference with 63 total RBI this campaign.
- The Athens, Ga. native has reached base in 28-straight contests and recorded a hit in 14-straight.
- He paces Wake Forest with 23 multi-hit efforts on the season and in the last 28 games has added 36 RBI, including 12 games with two or more.
- One of just 19 hitters in the ACC with 70 or more hits this season.
- Finished the regular season ranked eighth in the ACC in total bases with 142.
The quartet and the rest of the Demon Deacons open the 2024 ACC Tournament against Pitt on Wednesday, May 22 at 3 p.m. on the ACC Network.
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