Box Score | Bracket
DURHAM, N.C. (theACC.com) – Nick Kurtz hit two home runs, and Brock Wilken moved closer to Atlantic Coast Conference history by hitting another as top-seeded Wake Forest edged Notre Dame 7-5 in the ACC Baseball Championship Friday night finale at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
The Demon Deacons (47-9) will now turn their attention to Saturday’s semifinal versus fourth-seeded Miami (39-18). The game is still set to begin at 1 p.m. as scheduled but will now be played at Boshamer Stadium on the campus of the University of North Carolina and be shown on ACCNX.
Saturday’s other semifinal matchup between No. 3 seed Clemson and No. 7 North Carolina will also start at 1 p.m. at Durham Bulls Athletic Park and will be shown on ACC Network. The schedule adjustments were due to impending rain in Saturday’s forecast and to allow for the prioritization of the participating student-athletes’ health and safety coming off Friday’s games.
The winners of Saturday’s games are scheduled to play for the championship at DBAP on Sunday at noon (ESPN2).
All four teams in this year’s ACC Championship semifinals advanced by posting a 2-0 mark in pool play.
Fans in attendance Friday night were treated to a postgame fireworks show, but Kurtz got things off to an early start with a solo home run in the first inning and then led off the bottom of the fifth with another that jump-started Wake’s comeback from a 4-2 two-run. The Demon Deacons tacked on two more runs for a 5-4 lead, with Tommy Hawkes’ RBI infield single producing the go-ahead run.
Wilken added yet another solo shot in the eighth inning to put the Demon Deacons for the final 7-5 margin. The home run was Wilken’s 27th of this season and the 67th of his career – two shy of the ACC record of 69 shared by Anthony Maisano (Georgia Tech/Wake Forest, 1986-90) and Florida State’s J.D, Drew (1995-97). Wilken’s 27 home runs tie for the third-most in an ACC single season and are four behind Drew’s record 31 set in 1997.
DM Jefferson had two RBI for the Fighting Irish (31-24), who made a gallant effort to snare a win that would have been a definite NCAA tournament resume-builder. Zack Prajzner and Estevan Moreno added two hits and one RBI apiece.
Derek Crum (1-0), the second of five Wake Forest pitchers, picked up the win on the mound while Jackson Dennies (0-4) took the loss for Notre Dame.
2023 ACC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Durham, N.C.
Friday, May 26
Clemson 4, Boston College 1
Miami 7, Duke 6
Wake Forest 7, Notre Dame 5
Saturday, May 27
Semifinals
1 p.m. - #4 Miami vs. #1 Wake Forest (ACC Network Extra)*
1 p.m. – #7 North Carolina vs. #3 Clemson (ACC Network)
*- at UNC's Boshamer Stadium
Sunday, May 28
Championship
Noon – Winners of Saturday’s games (ESPN2)