2023 Wake Forest Baseball Top Moment: Rout Over Maryland

Justin Johnson celebrates after scoring:

On June 3rd, Wake Forest took on Maryland in the second game of the Winston-Salem Regional. The game looked to be in question due to weather, but ended up starting five hours after the intended start time. Thanks to a rousing video from Wake Forest head basketball coach Steve Forbes in which he encouraged fans to show up and stay up late at the park (along with announcing free admission), the Deacs saw nearly 2,500 fans attend the game.

Looking to follow up the dominant performance over George Mason in the opener of the regional, Wake Forest didn't waste time to get on the board. The Deacs knocked in four runs in the opening frame thanks to RBI singles from Brock Wilken and Pierce Bennett and an RBI double from Justin Johnson. This ambush from the Wake offense ignited the crowd and set the stage for what was to come. After two solid innings put together by Rhett Lowder, Wake added two more runs to their total. In the bottom of the third, Johnson tripled home Nick Kurtz. Shortly after, Bennett doubled home Johnson. In the top of the fourth, Maryland got one back thanks to a solo shot from star infielder Nick Lorusso. In the bottom of the fifth, Danny Corona knocked in Wilken and Marek Houston drove in Bennett Lee and Johnson to extend the Wake lead to 9-1. Fast forward to the top of the seventh, when Lorusso got the best of Lowder again, hammering a two run home run to cut the lead to 9-3. In the bottom half of the inning, the Deacs retaliated with a six run outburst. Bennett drove in a run with another hit, while Corona knocked in a runner via the sacrifice fly. The other four runners scored on bases loaded walks, three of which came consecutively. Joe Ariola surrendered a three run home run in the top of the eighth, which concluded the scoring for the Terps. In the bottom half of the eighth, Johnson singled home a run and Bennett drove another in with a sac fly. After a pitching change, Corona hammered a grand slam into the night (or early morning) to bring the lead to 21-6, which held after Cam Minacci closed the game out in the ninth.

Justin Johnson and Pierce Bennett combined to go eight for nine with nine runs batted in. Johnson was a home run shy of the cycle. Danny Corona had an impressive showing as well with two hits and six runs batted in.

Rhett Lowders final line was six innings pitched, three hits allowed, two earned runs allowed, and eleven strikeouts versus one walk. With this effort, he earned his 14th consecutive win without a loss.