WS Chronicle

From GoDeacs.com

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – In front of record-breaking crowds inside David F. Couch Ballpark all weekend, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball team went a perfect 3-0 en route to a regional championship. The title means that Winston-Salem will be one of the eight Super Regional hosts for the 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament. 

The Deacs and the winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional (No. 16 national seed Alabama, No. 2 Boston College, No. 3 Troy and No. 4 Nicholls State) will face off in Wake Forest and Winston-Salem’s first-ever Super Regional from Friday June 9-Sunday, June 11 or Saturday, June 10- Monday, June 12.

Wake Forest earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and went a perfect 3-0 in the Winston-Salem Regional, its first time hosting since 2017, with victories over Maryland and George Mason (twice). 

With its win over George Mason to clinch the regional title, the Deacs became the first team in program history and the nation to reach the 50-win mark. 

The Deacs 48 runs scored over the course of the regional is the second-highest total in the opening rounds in their NCAA Tournament history:

*50 in four games (1999)

*48 runs in three games (2023)

*Most runs per game in NCAA opening round history (16.0 runs/game).

*44 in five games (2001)

*37 in four games (2002)

*33 in four games (1998)

The Deacs claimed its first ACC regular season title thanks to a program-record 45 wins, 22 conference wins and 10 conference series wins. Additionally, the Deacs finished the regular season No. 1 in RPI and posted a 32-9 record against Top-100 RPI teams. 

The Deacs clinched the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship title with a 7-3 win over Florida State in Tallahassee on May 13. 

This marked Wake Forest’s fourth ACC regular-season title in program history, with the last coming in 1963 (1955, 1962, 1963).

Thanks to its 7-5 win on Friday night against Virginia Tech, the Demon Deacons became the first ACC team to run the table and go a perfect 10-for-10 in conference series since 2017 (North Carolina). 

Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter was named the 2023 ACC Coach of the Year, becoming just the third Wake Forest skipper in program history to receive the honor for his effort in leading the Deacs to a historical regular season. 

For the second year in a row, Wake Forest baseball righthander Rhett Lowder was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year. After becoming the first Demon Deacon ever to receive the award last season, Lowder is just the second pitcher in conference history to garner back-to-back Pitcher of the Year honors (Danny Hultzen, 2010-11).

Lowder finished the regular season as the conference’s leader in ERA (1.73), wins (12), innings pitched (88.2) and strikeouts (108). In ACC play, Lowder also leads the conference in those same categories. 

Wake Forest baseball placed a league high and tied a program best with nine selections to the 2023 All-Atlantic Coast Conference teams. 

Josh Hartle (first team), Rhett Lowder (first team), Sean Sullivan (first team), Nick Kurtz (first team), Justin Johnson (first team), Tommy Hawke (second team), Brock Wilken (second team), Seth Keener (third team) and Camden Minacci (third team) earned recognition for their efforts in helping Wake Forest post its greatest regular season in program history.