Keegan Maronpot homered twice, including a grand slam, as the Deacs wrapped up the regular season by clinching a program-record eighth ACC series.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- No. 15 Wake Forest broke a 3-3 tie with a nine-run fifth inning in a 14-4 series-clinching win over Pittsburgh at David F. Couch Ballpark on Saturday afternoon.
The Demon Deacons (38-17, 19-11 ACC) clinch the third seed at the upcoming Baseball Championship, and will feature No. 6 seed Miami and No. 10 seed Georgia Tech in their pod. The full schedule will be announced Sunday.
Wake Forest also clinches its program-record eighth ACC series win of the season. Seven of those were tied at a game apiece heading into the rubber game.
The Panthers conclude their season at 23-30 overall and 9-21 in the ACC.
Keegan Maronpot blasted two home runs, including a grand slam which broke the game open. In addition to his five RBIs, Johnny Aiello and Gavin Sheets tallied three RBIs apiece and both Jake Mueller and Stuart Fairchild had three hits.
Meanwhile, Pitt loaded the bases with less than two outs in the fourth, fifth and ninth innings and didn't get any runs to show for it, as the Panthers went just 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Wake Forest hit .407 (11-for-27) with runners on base.
Pitt took a 3-0 first inning lead, including a leadoff homer by Jacob Wright. Wake Forest tied it up in the third on a Fairchild RBI single and Aiello two-run double.
After Pitt chased starter Connor Johnstone in the fourth, Chris Farish entered and struck out back-to-back batters to leave the bases juiced and keep the game knotted at 3-3.
Morgan McSweeney, who earned the win to improve to 5-1, worked out of his own jam in the fifth by forcing an inning-ending double play.
Wake Forest's bats broke it open in the fifth. After RBI singles by Sheets and Ben Breazeale put the Deacs up 5-3, Maronpot blasted the team's 10th grand slam of the season to make it 9-3. Sheets added another two-run single and Aiello was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 12-3.
Caleb Perry hit a solo shot for Pitt in the top of the sixth but Maronpot answered with his second homer in the bottom of the inning to extend the advantage back to 13-4, and a Mueller RBI in the eighth made it 14-4.
Seniors John McCarren (2.1 IP, 1 R, 2 Ks) and Parker Johnson (1.0 IP, K), as well as Carter Bach (0.2 IP) also pitched in relief to close out the game for the Deacs.
THREE DAYS, THREE RECORDS
• After Parker Dunshee set the career strikeouts record on Thursday and the team hit its record 91st homer on Friday, Wake Forest set another record Saturday.
• With Chris Farish's first fourth-inning strikeout, the Deacs surpassed the 1998 record of 482 strikeouts in a season. Wake Forest now has 486.
THANK YOU, SENIORS
• Wake Forest honored nine graduating seniors before the game: Ben Breazeale, Parker Dunshee, Chris Farish, Parker Johnson, Connor Johnstone, John McCarren and Jonathan Pryor, plus bullpen catcher Larry Mascolino and student manager Chas Cantrell.
• Those seniors recorded their 130th win of the last four years, most by a graduating class in the eight-year Tom Walter era.
BIG INNING MAGIC
• Wake Forest's nine-run fifth was its third-biggest inning of the year, and largest in ACC play. The Deacs plated 11 against Southern Cal (Feb. 26) and 10 in an inning against Coastal Carolina (Apr. 11).
• The Deacs have scored six-or-more runs in an inning 16 times and are 14-0 in those games (did so twice in a game vs. Radford on March 5 and vs. Elon on Apr. 4). Wake Forest has only allowed a six-run inning once all season, a loss to USC on Feb. 25.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- No. 15 Wake Forest broke a 3-3 tie with a nine-run fifth inning in a 14-4 series-clinching win over Pittsburgh at David F. Couch Ballpark on Saturday afternoon.
The Demon Deacons (38-17, 19-11 ACC) clinch the third seed at the upcoming Baseball Championship, and will feature No. 6 seed Miami and No. 10 seed Georgia Tech in their pod. The full schedule will be announced Sunday.
Wake Forest also clinches its program-record eighth ACC series win of the season. Seven of those were tied at a game apiece heading into the rubber game.
The Panthers conclude their season at 23-30 overall and 9-21 in the ACC.
Keegan Maronpot blasted two home runs, including a grand slam which broke the game open. In addition to his five RBIs, Johnny Aiello and Gavin Sheets tallied three RBIs apiece and both Jake Mueller and Stuart Fairchild had three hits.
Meanwhile, Pitt loaded the bases with less than two outs in the fourth, fifth and ninth innings and didn't get any runs to show for it, as the Panthers went just 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Wake Forest hit .407 (11-for-27) with runners on base.
Pitt took a 3-0 first inning lead, including a leadoff homer by Jacob Wright. Wake Forest tied it up in the third on a Fairchild RBI single and Aiello two-run double.
After Pitt chased starter Connor Johnstone in the fourth, Chris Farish entered and struck out back-to-back batters to leave the bases juiced and keep the game knotted at 3-3.
Morgan McSweeney, who earned the win to improve to 5-1, worked out of his own jam in the fifth by forcing an inning-ending double play.
Wake Forest's bats broke it open in the fifth. After RBI singles by Sheets and Ben Breazeale put the Deacs up 5-3, Maronpot blasted the team's 10th grand slam of the season to make it 9-3. Sheets added another two-run single and Aiello was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 12-3.
Caleb Perry hit a solo shot for Pitt in the top of the sixth but Maronpot answered with his second homer in the bottom of the inning to extend the advantage back to 13-4, and a Mueller RBI in the eighth made it 14-4.
Seniors John McCarren (2.1 IP, 1 R, 2 Ks) and Parker Johnson (1.0 IP, K), as well as Carter Bach (0.2 IP) also pitched in relief to close out the game for the Deacs.
THREE DAYS, THREE RECORDS
• After Parker Dunshee set the career strikeouts record on Thursday and the team hit its record 91st homer on Friday, Wake Forest set another record Saturday.
• With Chris Farish's first fourth-inning strikeout, the Deacs surpassed the 1998 record of 482 strikeouts in a season. Wake Forest now has 486.
THANK YOU, SENIORS
• Wake Forest honored nine graduating seniors before the game: Ben Breazeale, Parker Dunshee, Chris Farish, Parker Johnson, Connor Johnstone, John McCarren and Jonathan Pryor, plus bullpen catcher Larry Mascolino and student manager Chas Cantrell.
• Those seniors recorded their 130th win of the last four years, most by a graduating class in the eight-year Tom Walter era.
BIG INNING MAGIC
• Wake Forest's nine-run fifth was its third-biggest inning of the year, and largest in ACC play. The Deacs plated 11 against Southern Cal (Feb. 26) and 10 in an inning against Coastal Carolina (Apr. 11).
• The Deacs have scored six-or-more runs in an inning 16 times and are 14-0 in those games (did so twice in a game vs. Radford on March 5 and vs. Elon on Apr. 4). Wake Forest has only allowed a six-run inning once all season, a loss to USC on Feb. 25.
