WINSTON-SALEM – The seventh inning was the magic one for Wake Forest in both games of a doubleheader sweep against N.C. State on Sunday.

That’s when the runs came, at least. On the other side of those innings were two lock-down performances by the Deacons’ bullpen that highlight what this team, leading the ACC, does best.

Pitch and play defense.

“We’re finding different ways to win and we’re winning primarily with pitching and defense,” coach Tom Walter said after wins of 6-4 and 6-3 against the visiting Wolfpack at David F. Couch Ballpark. “Which is good, because I do think this is going to be a good offensive club before it’s all said and done.”

After rallying from a one-run deficit in the seventh during the first game, Wake Forest (28-4, 12-2 ACC) broke a 3-3 tie with a two-out RBI double by Pierce Bennett — who was a combined 4-for-8 with four RBI on Sunday — and scored two more on a dropped pop-up.

That was all Sean Sullivan (5-1) needed, as Wake’s Saturday starter who morphed back into a reliever for this doubleheader pitched the final 4 2/3 innings. He retired the first 11 batters he faced, entering and exiting a bases-loaded, one-out situation left by Josh Hartle, and had eight strikeouts.

“All of our guys in the bullpen have been so great this year,” Sullivan said. “Especially as a starter, it’s very confident handing the ball to the next guy.

“I figured I’ll pick up my end of the slack this time and pull my weight.”

That, coming from a lefty who has 71 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings this season and sports a 1.56 ERA.

The defensive element was on display in Wake's eighth straight ACC win with center fielder Tommy Hawke making two diving catches coming in on balls in the first game, and with three double plays between the games — including the final two outs of the day on a liner to shortstop Marek Houston and his flip to Justin Johnson at second.

Wake’s lineup isn’t whole and without Nick Kurtz and Adam Cecere — both of whom might be back next weekend, depending on how the next several days go — it becomes easier to pitch around Brock Wilken.

In what might be a preview of what’s to come in June — when teams have to win two games in a day sometimes — the Deacons flashed the depth of their pitching staff.

Seth Keener relieved a somewhat ineffective Rhett Lowder and pitched four hitless in the first game.

Four pitchers accounted for 17 of the 18 innings in Saturday’s doubleheader, with Camden Minacci pitching the ninth inning of the first game for his eighth save of the year.

First, consider: Lowder and Hartle combined for 8 1/3 innings, 13 hits, three walks, three hit batters and seven runs, with nine strikeouts.

But then, this: Keener and Sullivan combined for 8 2/3 innings, one hit, two walks, zero runs or walks, with 12 strikeouts.

“It’s fun to play on this team, we go out there with a lot of confidence every weekend,” Sullivan said. “You know, even with some injuries right now to Kurtz and (Cecere), we just know that somebody is going to step up, fill that role and just go have fun out there.”

Both teams entered the weekend looking for palette-cleanser wins after losing mid-week games to in-state rivals — Wake Forest to Elon, N.C. State (20-11, 5-9) to East Carolina.

They had to wait long enough for these games to happen, as Friday’s game was pushed to Saturday, and Saturday’s game was canceled because of the rain that settled over the area for the past three days.

“It was a long two days for all of us, for sure,” Walter said. “That loss from Tuesday is still kind of sour in your mouth.”

Wake Forest has a four-game lead on Louisville in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, and that’s where the Deacons are headed next weekend for a three-game series. Across the aisle in the ACC, Virginia leads the Coastal with an 11-4 league mark.

Walter said the rotation next weekend will be jumbled a bit because of this weekend’s schedule, with Lowder pitching Saturday and Hartle remaining on his Sunday routine. That means Friday will be a combination of Keener and Sullivan, and possibly Chase Mascolo.

“We’ve got some options to consider,” Walter said.

The difference this year — and why this team is set up for the long haul — is how strong each of those options is.

**********

In the first game, a seventh-inning rally gave the Deacons their seventh straight ACC win.

Wake Forest manufactured each of the three runs in the seventh. The game-tying run scored on a bases-loaded walk by Bennett. The go-ahead run was scored on a passed ball, with Lucas Costello initially called out but that being overturned after a replay review.

The insurance run came in on a sacrifice fly by Justin Johnson, which drove in Wilken.

Keener (4-0) entered after an uncharacteristically short start by Lowder and pitched four hitless innings. N.C. State took a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth when it tagged Lowder with back-to-back doubles, followed by Chase Nixon’s three-run homer.

Keener faced the minimum (12) in his four innings, surrendering a walk to start the sixth but getting a 3-6-1 double play on the next batter.

Lowder’s four-plus-inning outing was the shortest start of his career. The only appearances in which he pitched less than four innings were the first and third of his career, when he was coming out of the bullpen.

He issued a season-high three walks and gave up seven hits. Three of the four runs he allowed were earned.

Both teams scored an early run on a two-out single; Wake’s by Bennett and N.C. State’s by Kalae Harrison. Wake Forest took a 3-1 lead in the fourth when Bennett Lee’s grounder was bobbled by shortstop Payton Green, and Marek Houston drove in a run with a sac fly.