Wake Forest won the series opener in decisive fashion but lost a Sunday doubleheader against visiting Florida State in the ACC series opener.
The Deacons (13-3, 1-2 ACC) pounded out nine runs in the opener, but managed a combined three runs and nine hits in the Sunday doubleheader (Saturday’s game was postponed because of inclement weather).
Florida State was the preseason ACC champ, based on voting of the league’s 14 head coaches. The Seminoles received eight votes to win the ACC.
Here is a quick recap of each game this weekend:
Wake Forest 9, Florida State 3
Wake Forest got off to a sterling start in ACC play, led by the bat of freshman second baseman Danny Corona and the arm of sophomore righty Rhett Lowder.
Corona put Wake Forest on the board with a solo home run in the fifth inning and the Deacons trailing 2-0. A two-run single by Adam Cecere gave the Deacons a lead later in the inning, and Jake Reinisch drove in another run in the sixth.
Later in the sixth, Corona launched his second homer of the day and fourth of the season – he had two homers in Wake’s first 13 games, both against UNC Greensboro. This was a three-run blast that opened up a 7-2 lead.
His big day wasn’t complete – Corona added a two-run single in the eighth for insurance, bringing his RBI total to six.
The Deacons got six strong innings from Lowder, who has won in each of his four starts this season. He gave up five hits, four walks and two runs, while striking out four.
Camden Minacci pitched two hitless innings of relief, and Derek Crum allowed a run in the ninth inning as he finished the game.
Florida State 5, Wake Forest 1 (Sunday Game 1)
Florida State outhit Wake Forest 13-4 in the middle game of the series and got 3 1/3 scoreless innings from Jonah Scolaro to beat the Deacons.
Logan Lacey broke a 1-1 tie with an RBI groundout in the fifth, and FSU broke the game open with three runs in the sixth.
Freshman lefty Josh Hartle lost for the first time, giving up 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Relievers Crawford Wade, Gabe Golob and Brennen Oxford combined for 3 1/3 innings in relief, each with two strikeouts.
Florida State 3, Wake Forest (Sunday Game 2)
Brock Wilken got the series finale started on the right note with a two-run homer in the first inning, but FSU scored three in the second and that wound up being the only scoring in the game.
Alex Toral homered to start the Seminoles’ scoring, Jackson Greene hit a sacrifice fly, and the eventual game-winning run was scored Jaime Ferrer’s two-out single.
Wake Forest put two runners on base in the seventh and one in the eighth, but couldn’t push across any more runs. The Deacons struck out 18 times in 32 at-bats.
Seth Keener got the start and pitched five innings. He had six strikeouts and gave up five hits, and didn’t walk a batter. Minacci, Crum and Adler combined for another four innings, giving up zero runs and only three baserunners.