Wake Forest Defeats Duke in ACC Baseball Tournament

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons got off to a hot start and held on long enough to outlast the Duke Blue Devils, 4-3, and advance to pool play in the ACC Tournament. Will Craig is typically known for his batting heroics, but today he was a hero because of his tremendous work on the mound. He went 2.1 innings and, although he gave up 4 hits, he threw 3 strikeouts and allowed zero runs and earned his 7th save of the season. With the win, Wake improved to 33-23 on the season and is now 26th in RPI.

Starting pitcher Parker Dunshee was excellent for Wake Forest today. He tossed 10 strikeouts in 6.1 innings, and had just 3 earned rungs. He allowed 9 hits and 2 walks, but was able to consistently get out of jams and strand Duke base runners. In total, Duke stranded an astounding 12 base runners.

Stuart Fairchild was the offensive MVP for the Deacs. He started things in the top of the first inning with a 2-run home run. In the sixth inning he hit a single, and then eventually scored after Gavin Sheets knocked him home.

Wake Forest will take on Louisville on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. They are also scheduled to take on Virginia on Friday at 3 p.m., and Clemson on Saturday at 11 a.m. The Deacs should now be in solid shape to earn a NCAA Tournament berth, but one win in pool play would do wonders. Wake Forest will probably be battling against Duke and North Carolina to earn that berth, and fortunately the Deacs went a combined 6-1 against those two teams. Today was a major win for the Wake Forest baseball program.