In front of a near-capacity crowd, which included thousands of Wake Forest fans, the #1-seeded Demon Deacons earned a come-from-behind win on Saturday afternoon over Stanford inside at Charles Schwab Field Omaha, 3-2.
Wake Forest, who is competing in their third Men’s College World Series in program history and first since 1955, executed offensively down the stretch of the game as the 8th inning of Saturday’s game featured a pair of walks, sacrifice bunt and a go-ahead two-RBI single by sophomore designated hitter Danny Corona.
Dating back to the Winston-Salem Regional two weeks ago, Corona has 19 RBI in the Deacs last five games. Not to be outdone, junior third baseman Brock Wilken launched his 31st homer of the season in the bottom half of the 2nd inning to start the scoring for Wake Forest.
On the mound for the Demon Deacons, two-time ACC Pitcher of the Year Rhett Lowder tossed a stellar 5.1 innings on Saturday and allowed just two runs while striking out six Cardinal hitters. He was relieved by sophomore Sean Sullivan who faced five hitters, picked off two runners who were on base and was forced to leave the game when the contest was halted in the middle of the 7th inning due to inclement weather.
Junior Seth Keener (8-1), who earned the win, took over after the lightning delay and struck out all four hitters he faced as he completed the 7th inning and worked a clean 8th frame. Junior Camden Minacci took over on the bump in the 9th for the Deacs and induced three ground balls, including a game-ending double play to secure the win for Wake Forest and earn his 13th save this season.
Saturday marked Wake Forest’s third victory in 11 tries this season when trailing after seven innings. Finally, the victory in game one moves the Demon Deacons into the winner’s bracket where they will play LSU, who defeated Tennessee, on Monday night.
Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter, along with players Danny Corona, Rhett Lowder, and Brock Wilken all talked about the win after the game. Video is courtesy of the NCAA.