The Deacs head to Durham for a three-game set on April 16-18.
DURHAM, N.C. - Wake Forest is set to continue their eight-game road trip with a three-game ACC series against Big 4 rival Duke on April 16-18 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C.
The Deacs (11-15, 5-12 ACC) and Blue Devils (14-15, 6-12 ACC) both head into the weekend fresh off midweek victories as Wake Forest posted a dominating 12-0 shutout victory to sweep the season series against non-conference foe Appalachian State on April 13, while Duke doubled up Campbell 14-7 on Tuesday night in Durham.
The trio of games will be shown entirely on ACC Network Extra, with Friday's first pitch slated for 6:00 p.m. ET. Saturday's game is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. ET, while the teams will hit the diamond at 1:00 p.m. ET for the series finale on Sunday. 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.
Cusick Reaches Milestone
In his sixth start of the 2021 season, Wake Forest's Friday night starter Ryan Cusick recorded multiple career milestones. The sophomore set a new career-high for strikeouts in a season, tossing 56 strikeouts in just 33 innings across six starts.
His previous career high was set during his freshman season in almost double the game action, tossing 55 K's in 65.2 frames (19 appearances).
With his fifth strikeout in the third inning against Virginia Tech, the Sudbury, Mass. native threw his 150th career strikeout.
Dating back to last season, Cusick has thrown double-digit strikeouts in six of his previous 10 starts.
Currently, he leads the ACC in strikeouts per nine innings (15.27), while ranking fourth in total strikeouts with 59. Everyone with more strikeouts than him has thrown two more games.
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.
The Stoneham, Mass. native is currently tied with Will Craig (2014-16), Danny Borrell (1998-00) and Jason Kramer (1992-95) all sit in 10th with 37.
Lanzilli needs three more HRs to move into ninth all-time. Jamie D'Antonna is the all-time leader in program history with 58 homers.
Milestone Watch- 100-Hit Club
Wake Forest is just one of two teams in the nation with four active players that have tallied at least 100 hits during their collegiate careers:
• Bobby Seymour- 193
• Chris Lanzilli- 173
• Michael Ludowig- 124
• Shane Muntz- 124
Seymour is set to become the 28th player in Wake Forest history to join the 200-Hit club as the unior is just seven base hits away from the mark.
Jake Mueller (2016-19) was the last Deac to reach the mark with 203 base hits.
Michael Turconi is currently 6 hits from joining the 100-hit crew, as the sophomore has recorded 92 hits through 88 career games.
Wilken Off To Historic Freshman Start
Freshman Brock Wilken has smashed 10 home runs, the most by a true freshman in the entire nation.
The Valrico, Fla. native became the second Wake Forest batter this decade to reach the double-digit mark in just 25 games, joining Brendan Tinsman (2019) with 10 blasts.
Through his first eight games, he posted the most home runs by a freshman Demon Deacon since Carlos Lopez in 2009.Wilken needs eight more home runs in the Deacs' 20 remaining games to set the freshman record held by Jamie D'Antona in 2001.
Wilken also holds the highest slugging percentage (.697) for a true freshman in the conference and is seventh in total bases (69).
Long Ball Powering Offense
The Deacs have been using the long ball to lead their offensive punch, totaling 43 in 26 games so far in 2021. Wake Forest has hit at least three home runs in seven games this season, including reaching the mark in their last two games.
Against Virginia Tech on April 11, Wake Forest launched five home runs. Bobby Seymour led the Deacs with two home runs, marking the third time in his career posting a multi-HR game. His solo shot in the bottom of the seventh traveled 490 feet.
During their 6-3 win in the series finale at Louisville, a trio of home runs from Adam Cecere, Chris Lanzilli and Brock Wilken marked the fifth game of the 2021 season that Wake Forest has hit at least three home runs.
In their last non-conference win against Appalachian State on March 30, the Deacs totaled a season-high 15 runs on 12 hits, including six home runs, the most in a game since 2017.
Wilken, Michael Ludowig and Shane Muntz hit back-to-back-to-back solo home runs in the fourth inning, the first time the Deacs hit three consecutive home runs since Wake Forest accomplished this feat against Division II C.W. Post on March 26, 1991.
Following his solo home run against the Mountaineers, Muntz smashed a ball out of Jim Patterson Stadium in the first two games against Louisville, the second time in his the catcher has gone at least three-consecutive games with a home run since he did so four times at the tail end of the 2019 season.
Floridian Freshmen In Midst of Hit Streaks
The freshmen duo of Lucas Costello and Brock Wilken extended their hit streaks to 13 and 11 games, respectively, in Tuesday's shutout win over App State.
Over Costello's team-best 13 game streak, the Miami, Fla. native has totaled 19 hits, 13 RBIs, four HRs and 12 runs scored. Batting leadoff for the Deacs, Costello is hitting .352 over the last 13 games and has tallied a hit in 20-of-25 contests he has received playing time.
The Valrico, Fla. native, has been on a tear in Wake Forest's last 11 games. The third baseman is batting .395 with 17 hits, 15 RBIs , six HRs, six walks and 14 runs scored.
Wilken, who has started in all 26 games this season, has nine games with at least two hits and only five contests where he has been held hitless.
Last Time Out
Wake Forest picked up their second win of the season against Appalachian State in a dominating 12-0 shutout victory on April 13 in Boone, N.C.
Behind the arms of Reed Mascolo, Crawford Wade, Teddy McGraw, Cole McNamee and Seth Keener, the Deacs blanked the Mountaineers, holding them hitless for seven innings, giving up zero hits after the fourth inning.
Mascolo picked up his second victory of 2021 as the right-hander tossed five innings, striking out a career-high tying five batters and only allowing two hits.
Bobby Seymour and Brendan Tinsman got the offense going, knocking home runs in the second and third inning before a seven-run fifth frame that blew the game open. The Deacs began the big inning with three runs via a pair of bases-loaded walks and a hit by pitch, before Chris Lanzilli launched a grand slam to extend Wake Forest's lead to 9-0.
Opponent & Series History
Wake Forest and Duke have been longtime rivals, facing off 170 times prior to this weekend's series. The first matchup between the two came in 1954.
The Deacs reeled in a series victory against the Blue Devils in 2019, recording two-straight wins to grab the series in Durham. After the Blue Devils earned a 16-2 victory in the opener, Wake Forest rattled off a pair of one-run wins to claim the set, including a 5-4 victory in extra innings.
On Deck
Wake Forest continues their road trip with games at Western Carolina (April 20) and Clemson (April 23-25). The Deacs return to David F. Couch Ballpark for a home contest with Davidson on April 27.
