The Deacs and Flames conclude season series at 3:00 p.m. at The Couch.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.- Wake Forest baseball welcomes Liberty to David F. Couch Ballpark for the second contest of a home-and-home non-conference set on May 4 at 3:00 p.m.
The Deacs (15-22, 7-19 ACC) will look to extend their midweek win streak to four games against the Flames (30-11, 14-1 ASun), who posted an 8-4 victory in the first meeting between the teams on April 7 in Lynchburg, Va.
The non-league matchup will be broadcasted live on ACC Network, while fans can also stream the radio broadcast live through the Wake Forest Athletics app.
Stay tuned to the Demon Deacons social media accounts (@WakeBaseball) for all in-game updates and information.
Seymour Makes History
Bobby Seymour, the 2019 ACC Player of the Year, has been on a hot streak since Wake Forest's matchup on April 11 against Virginia Tech, batting .400 with 22 hits, 30 RBIs, 12 HRs, five doubles, 21 runs scored and four walks.
The junior became the 28th player in program history to amass 200 career hits in the first game of Wake Forest's doubleheader with a single in the fourth inning.
With 211 career hits, see where the junior stands with 9 games remaining in the 2021 season:
Wake Forest 200-Hit Club
23. Matt Antonelli, 212, (2004-06)
24. Bobby Seymour, 211 (2018-Pres.)
25. Corey Sullivan, 205 (2000-01)
Evan Ocheltree, 205 (2006-09)
28. Jake Mueller, 203 (2016-19)
In four games last week, Seymour recorded a .588 batting average with 10 hits, 11 RBIs, six homers, 10 runs scored, two doubles and a trio of walks.
Currently, the St. Johns, Ind. native is second in the ACC in RBIs and third in home runs. He will look to add to his career-high 15 home runs with 9 games remaining.
Lanzilli Cements Himself Among Wake Forest Greats
In Wake Forest's 12-0 midweek victory against App State, Chris Lanzilli smashed a grand slam to deep left center field, marking his 37th career home run to jump into the top-10 list for home runs in Demon Deacons history.
Lanzilli moved up into ninth-place all time with a pair of solo home runs in the series finale on Sunday against NC State.
In Wake Forest's doubleheader on April 25 at Clemson, the Stoneham, Mass. native took sole possession of 10th place with a home run in each game, upping his career total to 39. Previously, Lanzilli was tied with Will Craig (2014-16), Danny Borrell (1998-00) and Jason Kramer (1992-95), who all sat in 10th with 37 blasts.
His 41 HRs is currently tied for fourth-most amongst active players in Division I Baseball.
Lanzilli needs one more HR to tie for eighth all-time:
All-Time Wake Forest Home Run Leaders
8. Dave Lardieri, 42 (1994-87)
9. Chris Lanzilli, 41 (2018-Pres)
Jamie D'Antonna is the all-time leader in program history with 58 homers.
Overall, Lanzilli's 10 home runs are good for the 10th-most in the ACC this season
One of Two
Wake Forest is just one of two teams in the nation with five active players that have tallied at least 100 hits during their collegiate careers:
• Bobby Seymour- 211
• Chris Lanzilli- 183
• Shane Muntz- 133
• Michael Ludowig- 128
• Michael Turconi - 111
Now that Seymour has hit the 200-hit mark, Lanzilli will look to become the 29th player in program history to join the club as the junior is just 17 hits away.
Turconi joined the group in a non-conference matchup on April 20 versus Western Carolina with his second base hit in the second inning.
Mascolo's Midweek Magic
The Deacs have posted a perfect 6-0 record when Reed Mascolo starts on the mound, posting wins over Charlotte, Appalachian State (twice), Elon, Western Carolina and Davidson.
In those games, Mascolo has recorded a 3-0 record, tossing 23.2 innings and striking out 21 batters. His ERA over that span is just 3.01 as the Seton Hall transfer has given up just eight earned runs.
In his last appearance on the mound against Davidson, Mascolo fanned a career-high seven batters in 4.2 innings.
Instant Impact
Freshman Brock Wilken has smashed 13 home runs, the most by a true freshman in the entire nation.
The Valrico, Fla. native has hit the sixth-most HRs by a Wake Forest batter in their first collegiate season and became the second Wake Forest batter since 2009 to reach the double-digit mark in just 25 games, joining Brendan Tinsman (2019) with 10 blasts.
Wilken needs four more home runs in the Deacs' 9 remaining games to tie the freshman record held by Jamie D'Antona in 2001.
All-Time Wake Forest Freshman Home Run Leaders
4. Pat Malloy, 14 (1996)
Kevin Bunn, 14 (1981)
6. Brock Wilken, 13 (2021)
Nine of his 13 home runs have come in Wake Forest wins. Additionally, he has posted a pair of two-home run games in a span of four games.
Long Ball Powering Offense
The Deacs have been using the long ball to lead their offensive punch, totaling a ACC-best 65 in 37 games this season.
Of Wake Forest's 235 runs this season, 118 have come from home runs, good for 50.2 percent of all runs scored.
Here's how the HRs breakdown:
• 38 runs by 38 solo home runs (Led by Lanzilli /Seymour with 8)
• 20 runs by 10 two-run home runs (Led by Wilken with 6)
• 24 runs by 8 three-run home runs (Led by Seymour with 3)
• 36 runs by 9 grand slams (Led by Wilken with 3)
The Deacs have hit six home runs in two games this season, with the first coming against App State on March 30, the most since 2017. The second came in their latest midweek game against Davidson on April 27.
Six HR Games:
• April 27, 2021- Turconi (2), Wilken, Seymour (2), Costello
• March 30, 2021- Wilken (2), Muntz, Ludowig, Cecere, Costello
• Feb. 24, 2017- Rios, Pryor, Fairchild, Sheets (3)
Additionally, in those same games, the Deacs hit back to back to back HRs:
• Wilken, Michael Ludowig and Shane Muntz- App State (first time since March 26, 1991 against Division II C.W. Post)
• Turconi, Wilken, Seymour- Davidson
In their last contest on Sunday, May 2, Bobby Seymour and Chris Lanzilli went yard back-to-back twice (second and seventh inning).
Three Deacs sit in the top 10 for home runs in the ACC: Bobby Seymour (2nd), Brock Wilken (3rd) and Chris Lanzilli (10th).
Last Time Out
Wake Forest fell in the series finale against NC State by a final tally of 15-8 on Sunday at David F. Couch Ballpark.
The Deacs had five different batters come around to score, led by three runs from Bobby Seymour. Seymour and Chris Lanzilli combined for four home runs and six RBIs to keep the Demon Deacon offense humming as the duo blasted back-to-back home runs twice.
Brendan Tinsman joined Seymour with a team-high three hits on the afternoon, while Brock Wilken also tallied a multi-hit game as the Valrico, Fla. native knocked in a pair of singles.
Opponent & Series History
The Demon Deacons and Flames hit the field on Tuesday in the 33rd matchup between the two schools. Tuesday's game marks the second leg of a home-and-home series in 2021 as Wake Forest looks to avenge an 8-4 loss on April 7 in Lynchburg, Va.
The Deacs secured a 1-0 lead following a RBI double from Bobby Seymour to open the game, Liberty scored five-straight to take a 5-1 lead after two innings. A base knock from Chris Lanzilli in the third scored Wake Forest's second run of the game before Liberty answered with a run in the fourth and their final two runs in the sixth. Wake Forest dug into the lead in the eighth, plating a pair of runs behind a double from Adam Cecere.
On Deck
After a four-day break following Tuesday's game, Wake Forest concludes their six-game homestand with against Elon on Sunday at David F. Couch Ballpark at 1:00 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
