2023 Wake Forest Baseball Top Moment: ACC Opener

Adam Cecere got the Deacs on the board with a 2-run home run:

On March 10, Wake Forest took on Duke in the opening game of conference play at DBAP. Wake had ace Rhett Lowder on the mound against Duke's Jonathan Santucci. Wake Forest entered the game 13-1 on the season.

Note: This will likely be one of the shorter recaps I'll post on this page. The highlights I'll be putting on @wfbbcenter on Instagram provide most of the recap you really need.

Duke started off the scoring via a walk with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second. Lowder retired the next hitter. Duke added three more runs in the bottom of the third thanks to a two-run double and an RBI groundout. In the top of the fourth, the man pictured above rocketed a laser over the right-center field wall to cut the Duke lead in half. Following a scoreless inning from Lowder in the bottom half, Nick Kurtz singled home Tommy Hawke and Justin Johnson singled home Kurtz to tie the game in the top of the fifth inning. Rhett Lowder notched another scoreless inning in the bottom of the fifth to bring his day to a close. His final line was 5.0 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. In the top of the seventh, Brock Wilken launched a three-run big fly over the massive wall in left. Bennett Lee drove in a run later in the half-inning with a sacrifice fly. Duke added two runs on a home run in the bottom of the eigth, bringing the Wake lead to 8-6. That score held thanks to a save from lockdown closer Cam Minacci. It was his third save of the year.

This was just one of many (22) ACC wins for the Deacs. Wake Forest and Duke split the two games following the opener, giving Wake an early season ACC series victory.