Saturday, June 1
Greenville, N.C.
Noon
Wake Forest University
38-22
6
vs
7
ECU
44-16
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Wake Forest
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
5
6
6
1
East Carolina
0
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
3
7
11
1
Deacs Comeback Effort Falls Short at NCAA Greenville Regional
6/1/2024 4:47:00 PM | Baseball
The Demon Deacons scored five runs in the ninth to take a 6-4 lead, but fell in the ninth 7-6 to No. 16-seed ECU as the season came to a close.
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Despite a five-run ninth inning to take the lead, the No. 19 Wake Forest baseball team saw its season come to a close following a 7-6 defeat to No. 16-seed East Carolina in game three of the Greenville Regional.
Facing a 4-1 deficit entering the top of the ninth, the Demon Deacons (38-22) made it a one-run ballgame after a pair of RBI singles from freshman duo Antonio Morales and Javar Williams before sophomore Marek Houston walked in the tying run.
Junior Nick Kurtz and sophomore Jack Winnay then gave Wake Forest a 6-4 lead with a fielder's choice and a single up the middle, respectively.
East Carolina (44-16) added three runs in the bottom half of the inning to walk it off and advance.
Starting pitcher Chase Burns fanned seven batters Saturday afternoon in 5.0 innings pitched.
Burns (408 career strikeouts) currently leads Arkansas' Hagen Smith (353 career strikeouts) by 55 strikeouts as the active Division-I baseball strikeout leaders. Already holding the single-season strikeout record in Wake Forest history, Burns finished the season with 191 strikeouts.
With his first strikeout of the game, Burns moved into solo possession of third in ACC history in strikeouts:
At the plate, Kurtz led the team with two RBI in addition to his nation-leading 78th walk of the campaign. In three seasons, he is the all-time walk leader in program history, totaling 184 walks and averaging better than a walk per game over the course of his career.
He holds a staggering .512 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.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FROM COACH WALTER
"I'm proud of our ballclub. I just want to thank our seniors and our guys that are going to be drafted for all they gave to our program. The past couple of years in the program have been truly special because of guys like Nick Kurtz and his group. I'm just really proud of them. Obviously, we got stung for eight innings, but found a way to have a good ninth. We had Michael Massey on the mound but just couldn't close it out. Out of 18 innings of baseball, we only have one good offensive inning and that's just not good enough. Our bats went cold at the wrong time. For the most part, we pitched pretty well. It's a disappointing end to the season, but we're proud of this team and our guys." - head coach Tom Walter
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Facing a 4-1 deficit entering the top of the ninth, the Demon Deacons (38-22) made it a one-run ballgame after a pair of RBI singles from freshman duo Antonio Morales and Javar Williams before sophomore Marek Houston walked in the tying run.
Junior Nick Kurtz and sophomore Jack Winnay then gave Wake Forest a 6-4 lead with a fielder's choice and a single up the middle, respectively.
East Carolina (44-16) added three runs in the bottom half of the inning to walk it off and advance.
Starting pitcher Chase Burns fanned seven batters Saturday afternoon in 5.0 innings pitched.
Burns (408 career strikeouts) currently leads Arkansas' Hagen Smith (353 career strikeouts) by 55 strikeouts as the active Division-I baseball strikeout leaders. Already holding the single-season strikeout record in Wake Forest history, Burns finished the season with 191 strikeouts.
With his first strikeout of the game, Burns moved into solo possession of third in ACC history in strikeouts:
| Rank | Player | Single-Season Strikeouts |
| 1. | Brian Barnes (Clemson; 1989) | 208 |
| 2. | Chris Benson (Clemson; 1996) | 204 |
| 3. | Chase Burns (Wake Forest; 2024) | 191 |
| T4. | Carlos Rodon (NC State; 2013) | 184 |
| T4. | Brad Rigby (Georgia Tech; 1994) | 184 |
At the plate, Kurtz led the team with two RBI in addition to his nation-leading 78th walk of the campaign. In three seasons, he is the all-time walk leader in program history, totaling 184 walks and averaging better than a walk per game over the course of his career.
He holds a staggering .512 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.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- With the Demon Deacons due up first, Wake Forest was retired in order to start the game.
- After allowing a leadoff single, junior righthander Chase Burns struck out a pair of batters and got the third batter to ground out to first to keep the game scoreless.
- The Demon Deacons were unable to get anything going in the top of the second inning, going down in order.
- After a hit by pitch and walk, Burns got out of the jam with the help of a pair of strikeouts and a grounder to first, sending the game to the third tied at 0-0.
- Catcher Cameron Gill earned a two-out walk on five pitches, the first Wake Forest base runner of the game.
- Gill advanced to second on a wild pitch.
- Sophomore Marek Houston earned a walk on eight pitches to put runners on first and second with two outs.
- Junior first baseman Kurtz delivered a single to right field, scoring Gill from second and moving Houston to third.
- Pitching with the 1-0 lead into the bottom of the third, Burns had a shutdown frame against the Pirates and added one more to his strikeout total, moving him to four for the day and 188 on the season.
- Jake Reinisch earned a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth on six pitches.
- Adam Tellier traded places with Reinisch at first base, reaching on a fielder's choice with one out.
- He was left there and the Deacs took the 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth.
- Adam Tellier traded places with Reinisch at first base, reaching on a fielder's choice with one out.
- Despite having two singles allowed to start the inning, Burns fanned the next two batters and then got a weak groundout to second base to get out of the inning without any damage.
- Battling and having good at-bats, Wake Forest did not have a runner reach base in the top half of the fifth inning.
- Going bottom of the fifth with a 1-0 lead, ECU plated its first runs of the game, taking a 4-1 advantage.
- Left fielder Javar Williams made a great diving catch to end the inning.
- Kurtz led off the top of the sixth with a six-pitch walk.
- The threat ended there as a popup and double play ended the inning.
- After the first Pirate runner reached, Burns was lifted in favor of lefthander Joe Ariola.
- Ariola got a pair of flyouts and a ground out to send the game to the seventh.
- Wake Forest went down in order in the top of the seventh as it went to the bottom half a 4-1 ECU advantage.
- Ariola stranded a pair of runners including a leadoff double to keep the deficit at three runs heading into the eighth inning.
- Gill reached on a one-out hit by pitch.
- Houston followed that up with an infield single to the right side to put two runners on with one out.
- Both runners were left stranded and the score remained 4-1 in favor of ECU.
- Sophomore lefthander Zach Johnston entered the game in the bottom of the eighth.
- After Johnston got a flyout to left, freshman lefthander Hayden Leffew took the bump.
- Leffew got a flyout to left and a strikeout looking to push the game to the ninth.
- After Johnston got a flyout to left, freshman lefthander Hayden Leffew took the bump.
- In the top of the ninth, Reinisch reached to lead off the inning on a hit by pitch.
- Junior Seaver King followed that up with a single through the left side to put runners on first and second with no outs.
- Freshman Antonio Morales singled to right field bringing in Reinisch from second and moving King to third.
- Freshman Javar Williams singled up the middle to make it a one-run game with Morales getting to third.
- An attempted squeeze play allowed Gill to reach on a throwing error and loaded the bases for the top of the order with one out.
- Houston worked a walk to force in a run and tie the game at 4-4 with one out.
- On an infield ground ball, Kurtz legged out the fielder's choice to prevent the double play and Williams came into score and give the Deacs the 5-4 lead, it's first since the fifth inning.
- A Jack Winnay single to center scored an insurance run and gave the Deacs a 6-4 lead.
- Reinisch got hit by a pitch to load the bases.
- After ECU tied the game, Wake Forest turned to Cole Roland with the bases loaded and no outs.
- He got a groundout for the first out but the next hitter snuck one through the right side with the infield in to win the game for ECU, 7-6.
- He got a groundout for the first out but the next hitter snuck one through the right side with the infield in to win the game for ECU, 7-6.
- In 252.1 career innings pitched, Chase Burns has now struckout 408 career batters. The righty finished last season ranked third nationally with 14.3 K/9 and finished the season at 17.43 K/9 through 16 starts.
- Burns (408 career strikeouts) currently leads Arkansas' Hagen Smith by 55 strikeouts as the active Division-I baseball strikeout leaders.
- The righty also ranks inside the top-three in strikeout-per-nine among active career players, sitting at 14.40 prior to Friday's start.
- When he exited the game, he had 191 strikeouts on the season which was the third most in ACC history and the most in Wake Forest history by 48 strikeouts:
| Rank | Player | Single-Season Strikeouts |
| 1. | Brian Barnes (Clemson; 1989) | 208 |
| 2. | Chris Benson (Clemson; 1996) | 204 |
| 3. | Chase Burns (Wake Forest; 2024) | 191 |
| T4. | Carlos Rodon (NC State; 2013) | 184 |
| T4. | Brad Rigby (Georgia Tech; 1994) | 184 |
- The 113 Demon Deacon home runs mark the third consecutive season the Deacs have reached the century mark and is now the third-highest home run total in program history. Of note, the three-highest totals have all come in the last three seasons.
| Rank | Season | Home Runs |
| 1. | 2023 | 130 |
| 2. | 2022 | 122 |
| 3. | 2024 | 113 |
| 4. | 2017 | 106 |
- Wake Forest homered in 15 of the last 19 contests of the season with 38 bombs over the span.
- Coming into Regionals, only 31 teams in the country had 100 or more home runs with the Deacs total entering Friday's postseason action ranking tied for ninth nationally.
- Over the last three seasons, Wake Forest has totaled 365 home runs which leads the ACC and also ranks fourth nationally during that time and the Deacs are one of just five teams nationally to have 100 or more home runs in each of the last three seasons:
| Rank | School | Home Runs |
| 1. | Tennessee | 434 |
| 2. | Florida | 385 |
| 3. | LSU | 367 |
| 4. | Wake Forest | 365 |
| 5. | Campbell | 353 |
- Additionally, four Demon Deacons rank inside the top 20 of the ACC in home runs.
| Name | Home Runs | ACC Rank | National Rank |
| Nick Kurtz | 22 | 5 | 23 |
| Jack Winnay | 20 | 9 | 40 |
| Jake Reinisch | 18 | 13 | 84 |
| Seaver King | 16 | 18 | 119 |
- Since Corey Muscara joined the Demon Deacons in 2022, Wake Forest starting pitchers have outlasted their counterparts in 140 of 185 games. During that time frame the Deacs are 113-26-1 going 49-7 in 2023, 32-10-1 in 2022 and 32-9 during the 2024 campaign.
- On the flip side, Wake Forest is 20-27 in the 47 games that opposing pitchers have had a longer outing.
- Wake Forest was the best team in the country in 2023 at drawing a free 90 feet with 424 on the season, good for 11 more than any other team.
- With five walks Saturday night against ECU, Wake Forest drew 378 free passes in 2024.
- The Deacs came into the NCAA Regional leading the ACC and ranking second nationally in that category.
- Wake Forest's 688 strikeouts through 60 games currently is tops in the ACC and tied for first nationally.
- Additionally, the Deacs rank second in the country with a 11.9 K/9 at the start of Regional action.
- In 2024, Wake Forest had struck out at least 10 in 38 contests and 15 or more in 14 games.
- Third Team All-ACC SS Marek Houston hit safely in 34 of his last 42 games with 17 multi-hit efforts.
- The sophomore reached base at a .500 clip during the NC State series and hit safely in 15 of the last 17 games with an RBI in 11 of the last 16.
- Houston finished 26-for-80 (.325) at the plate with 19 runs scored from the leadoff spot over the last 22 games.
- Senior captain Jake Reinisch was Mr. Consistent for the Deacs, being just one of three Deacs to start every game, and reached base in all but six.
- The New York-native racked up 69 hits, a team-leading 67 RBI, 18 home runs, 35 extra-base hits and 39 walks.
- Additionally, Reinisch ranked highly in multiple offensive categories with a .314 batting average, .421 on-base percentage and .651 slugging percentage to go with a team-best 67 RBI.
- The senior homered in seven of the last 15 games, including getting Wake Forest on the board at the ACC Tournament with a shot to left field and homered in each game of the three-game series against WCU.
- Reinisch had at least two RBIs 21 times this season to go with 17 multi-hit efforts during his senior campaign.
- Coming into the NCAA Regional round, two-time First Team All-ACC first baseman Nick Kurtz ranks first nationally with 1.46 bases on balls per game, as he has earned a nation's leading 78 free passes this season in 53 games played.
- Kurtz became the Wake Forest program record holder with 184 free passes throughout his career, surpassing Pat Blair (180 / 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 had 19 multi-walk performances and eight with at least three.
- The junior has reached base 399 total times in his career in 784 plate appearances.
- He holds a staggering .512 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 had a team-best .535 on-base percentage, following up his sophomore campaign where Kurtz had an eye-popping .527 OBP.
- He holds a staggering .512 career on-base percentage over the course of his three seasons in a Wake Forest uniform.
- The pop matches his patience, as Kurtz ranks tied for fourth among active Division-I players with 61 home runs, and moved into second all-time in program history, as he paced the team with 22 homers on the year.
- The junior sits at third all-time with 206 runs scored and was just 11 hits away from becoming one of just 30 hitters in Wake Forest history to join the 200 hit club.
- Kurtz became the Wake Forest program record holder with 184 free passes throughout his career, surpassing Pat Blair (180 / 2010-13).
- Joining the Deacs from Ball State, Tellier reached base in 53 of 60 games, including the first 25 of his Wake Forest career.
- The Ada, Mich. native was second on the squad in average and ranked third in OBP.
- Additionally, he was the first ACC player this season to reach 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases.
- The infielder put together 23 multi-hit efforts on the year, including his seventh with three or more at NC State in the series finale.
- Third Team All-ACC third baseman Seaver King was one of just three Deacs to start every game this season.
- King came on strong towards the end of the regular season, as the third baseman hit .333 (43-of-129), including recording at least one hit in 29 of 33 games after April 1.
- He ranked second on the team and ranks ninth in the conference with 64 total RBI this campaign.
- The Athens, Ga. native reached base in 32 of the last 33 contests and recorded a hit in 17 of the last 19.
- He paced Wake Forest with 24 multi-hit efforts on the season and in the last 33 games had added 37 RBI, including 12 games with two or more.
- King is one of just 17 hitters in the ACC with 75 or more hits this season and ranked 10th in the conference in total bases with 146.
FROM COACH WALTER
"I'm proud of our ballclub. I just want to thank our seniors and our guys that are going to be drafted for all they gave to our program. The past couple of years in the program have been truly special because of guys like Nick Kurtz and his group. I'm just really proud of them. Obviously, we got stung for eight innings, but found a way to have a good ninth. We had Michael Massey on the mound but just couldn't close it out. Out of 18 innings of baseball, we only have one good offensive inning and that's just not good enough. Our bats went cold at the wrong time. For the most part, we pitched pretty well. It's a disappointing end to the season, but we're proud of this team and our guys." - head coach Tom Walter
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: HODGES, C. (1-0)
L: Massey, Michael (4-2)
Batting:
RBI: Houston, Marek 1 ; Kurtz, Nick 2 ; Winnay, Jack 1 ; Morales, Antonio 1 ; Williams, Javar 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Reinisch, Jake 1 ; King, Seaver 1 ; Morales, Antonio 1 ; Williams, Javar 1 ; Gill, Cameron 2
HBP: Reinisch, Jake 2 ; Gill, Cameron 1
Batting:
2B: JOHNSON, R. 1 ; MCCRYSTAL 1
HR: WILLIAMS, D. 1
RBI: MCCRYSTAL 1 ; JNKS-COWART 1 ; WILLIAMS, D. 4 ; NOWAK, L. 1
SH: NOWAK, L. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: JOHNSON, R. 1 ; MCCRYSTAL 1 ; CHRISMON, N. 1 ; JNKS-COWART 1 ; WILLIAMS, D. 2 ; BERINI, J. 1
SB: CUNNINGHAM 1 ; STARLING, J. 1
HBP: STARLING, J. 2
Game Leaders
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1
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5
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1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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