Wake Forest picked a bad time for its first two-game losing streak of the season. The Demon Deacons lost to LSU on back-to-back days at the College World Series to end their magical year one game shy of the championship series.
Wake beat LSU 3-2 on Monday of last week, putting the Deacs in the favorable position of needing one win in two games to advance to the weekend’s best-of-three championship round. Instead, Wake scored just two runs in the two games, losing 5-2 to eventual champion LSU on Wednesday and dropping the rematch in an 11-inning pitcher’s duel on a two-run walk-off home run.
“We just slayed a giant tonight,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “And that was special.”
The Deacs continued their Omaha power outage in the two games against LSU. After scoring 75 runs in five home games and setting an NCAA Tournament record with a run differential of plus-59 entering the College World Series, Wake’s bats went cold. In their four games in Omaha, the Deacs hit just .158. Justin Johnson, a .306 hitter with .954 OPS this year, went just 1-for-15 in Omaha. Nick Kurtz (.345, 1.247) was hitless in nine at-bats and missed the final game after injuring his rib in pregame warmups, reaggravating a problem that had persisted throughout the CWS.
“The stuff that happened today was kind of a holdover from the Alabama super, truthfully, and he’s been battling all week,” Wake coach Tom Walter said of Kurtz. “We have a healthy Nick Kurtz, maybe, who knows, maybe (Wednesday’s loss) is different too.”
Wake scored first in Wednesday’s game and was seven innings away from a date with Florida for the title, but LSU erupted for four runs in the third inning. Meanwhile, Wake turned in the first seven innings of its 18-inning season-ending scoreless stretch.
“We had people on base all day,” Walter said. “We were 2-for-17 with runners on base today. And that’s going to be hard-pressed to win a game with those kind of numbers with people on base.”
That set up a winner-take-all game on Thursday, with each team starting their ace on short rest. Wake had won all 18 previous games started by ACC Pitcher of the Year Rhett Lowder this season. LSU gave the ball to Paul Skenes, a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, given to college baseball’s player of the year.
Both pitchers lived up to the hype in what may have been the college game of the year. Lowder allowed three hits over seven scoreless innings, striking out six in an 88-pitch outing that came two games after he threw 100 pitches against Stanford. Skenes did Lowder one better, allowing just two hits in eight innings, and striking out nine in a 120-pitch day, coming five days after a 123-pitch outing.
“Paul Skenes was fantastic, and Rhett matched him pitch for pitch,” Walter said. “It was one of the best-pitched college baseball games I’ve ever seen.”
The bullpens took over after that, with three Wake relievers allowing two hits over three innings. Michael Massey led the way for the Deacs, getting five of his eight outs by strikeout. LSU turned to Thatcher Hurd, who had three one-hit innings.
In the end, it was a familiar face who downed the Deacs. With one on in the 11th inning, closer Camden Minacci entered and threw the 573rd and final Wake Forest pitch in the College World Series.
Tommy White, a transfer from NC State, sent that pitch over the left field wall for a game- and season-ending home run.
“There weren’t any mistakes (all game),” Walter said. “We made one bad pitch and Tommy White didn’t miss it.”
As the Tigers celebrated on the field, White approached Minacci and hugged his former ACC rival.
“Their season is over,” White said. “It’s a very hard time. They had had high expectations coming into this. And they played great. I’ve known Camden and Bennett Lee for quite some time. We’re all from Tampa. I played with him, against him growing up my whole life. And he’s one of my closest friends. So I didn’t want him to feel anything. I just wanted to make sure he was all right.”
Like most of Wake’s players and fans, Minacci was not all right in the moment, as a season that saw the team set school and conference records ended in heartbreak.
“I’d rather coach this team and not win the national championship than coach any other team,” Walter said. “And I’m just beyond proud of them.”
