Richmond, Virginia – Wake Forest defeated Virginia by six runs on Saturday afternoon, bringing their total for the series to three runs, one day after giving up sixteen in a defeat on Friday.
With seven nearly perfect innings pitched, Chase Burns recorded his second ACC victory of the year. He was impressive on the mound once more. It was the Tennessee transfer’s third straight game with at least ten strikeouts. He finished with just one run, a solo home run in the second.
From the last out of the second inning to the end of the fourth, when he struck out the side, Burns retired seven straight batters. Battling a pitch count that approached 100 on his sixth outing, Burns worked his way out of a jam with runners on second and third to prevent more runs from being scored.
Due to the junior’s performance, Wake Forest was spared from using more of its bullpen; on Friday, the Deacs used seven pitchers, starting Josh Hartle. Will Ray got the first four outs before David Falco, the closer, got the last two. Together, the two only made 27 pitches.
The Wake Forest baseball team continued to dominate on Saturday, amassing 14 hits. With three apiece, Marek Houston and Adam Tellier took the lead, followed by Jack Winnay, Seaver King, and Javar Williams with two each.
The Deacs saw a lull until catcher Cameron Gill’s RBI triple in the fourth inning, after Tellier’s first-inning single to bring the score to one.
In the team’s next at-bat, Winnay blasted his first home run of the afternoon, and his second drove in the eighth to cap a three-RBI day.
The next three innings saw a crucial insurance run attempt that started with the latter home run. Wake Forest scored three additional runs in the ninth inning off the bats of Williams, Tellier, and Seaver King, after tying the game in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk.
A two-run homer to right center by Virginia in the ninth inning would have cut Wake Forest’s advantage to one in the absence of the five extra runs.
The Deacs, who lost their first rubber match to Duke last week, will play their second straight on Sunday with the series tied at one. Wake Forest might manage without two key players. Coach Tom Walter stated on the ACCN broadcast that Nick Kurtz’s shoulder injury is expected to keep him out for several weeks. It was also mentioned that Michael Massey, the starting pitcher on Sunday, might not be available.
Wake Forest freshman Haiden Leffew is expected to start on the mound tomorrow, according to a source.
First pitch on ACCNX is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
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