Wake Forest earns program’s first No. 1 national ranking

WINSTON SALEM, NC – Just once in its long-tenured history, Wake Forest baseball hit the peak of the game — a national championship in 1955. Monday, the Deacs achieved something never done before in program history, a No. 1 national ranking.

Ever since March 20, Wake Forest has been the No. 2 team in the nation, trailing LSU. But with the Deacs taking an eighth-straight ACC series behind Sunday’s rubber match victory over Boston College, and LSU getting run-ruled to drop a series at Auburn, the tide finally turned.

At 39-7 overall and 18-5 in the ACC, Wake Forest sits four games above Duke — the closest team — in the standings and four-and-a-half games above the nearest Atlantic club, Clemson.

If they can hold serve in the final two conference series of the season against Florida State and Virginia Tech, both of whom are under .500 in the league, the Deacs will enter the ACC Tournament with the coveted No. 1 seed. And, that will give them a solid chance at making more history — winning the conference crown for the first time since 2001.

Though not the end goal, a regular season championship would make history too. Wake Forest hasn’t earned that title in exactly 60 years.

A No. 1 ranking means something, no doubt, as does a regular-season title. An ACC Championship would be worth much more. But, at the end of the day, Wake Forest’s true desire is to be the last team standing at the College World Series in Omaha come June. And that journey is just getting started.