OMAHA, Neb (AP) — Tommy White hit Camden Minacci's first pitch into the left-field seats for a two-run homer in the 11th inning, giving LSU a 2-0 walk-off victory over No. 1 national seed Wake Forest on Thursday night and clinching a spot in the College World Series finals.
The win sends the Tigers (52-16) to the best-of-three CWS championship series against Florida beginning Saturday night in a rematch of the 2017 All-SEC final that the Gators won for their first national title.
LSU became the first team to hand Wake Forest (54-12) consecutive losses this season. The Tigers had won 5-2 on Wednesday to set up a second bracket final.
Dylan Crews singled to left leading off the bottom of the 11th against Michael Massey (3-1), prompting Deacons coach Tom Walter to call on his star closer. Minacci's first pitch to LSU's home run leader was a 90 mph slider, and White sent it out for his 23rd homer of the year and the 50th of his career. White hit an NCAA freshman record 27 home runs for NC State in 2022 before transferring to LSU at the end of last season.
It was a fitting end to one of the most anticipated non-championship CWS games. LSU was the consensus No. 1 team in the major polls from the start of the season until May 8. Wake Forest was the consensus No. 1 the rest of the way. The teams split their first two games here this week.
The pitching matchup between LSU's Paul Skenes and Rhett Lowder set this one apart from the first two. The two are projected top-10 overall picks in next month's amateur draft, and they matched zeroes deep into the game. Wake Forest came in 18-0 in games Lowder had started.
Skenes allowed two hits and walked one before turning the game over to Thatcher Hurd (7-3) to start the ninth, and his nine strikeouts made him the Southeastern Conference's single-season record holder. Skenes has 209 strikeouts in 122 2/3 innings; previous record holder Ben McDonald had 202 in 152 1/3 for LSU in 1989.
Skenes’ fastball was a tick down from Saturday, when he hit at least 100 mph 46 times against Tennessee, but it was still plenty good — as were his slider and changeup.
Lowder mixed his mid-90s fastball with a sharp slider and allowed three hits, walked two and struck out six in an efficient seven innings. Of his 88 pitches, 63 were strikes.
Skenes was backed up by a spot-on defense, never more than in the eighth inning when Justin Johnson drew a leadoff walk and ended up on third on a wild pitch.
Johnson started running for home when Marek Houston bunted to the right side. First baseman Tre' Morgan charged, picked up the ball and made a diving flip to catcher Alex Milazzo, who tagged Johnson for the second out. Skenes got out of the inning when left fielder Josh Pearson, playing shallow, caught Tommy Hawke's liner.
Wake Forest also had some anxious moments in the eighth. Cole Roland took over for Lowder and issued a leadoff walk to Pearson, who moved to second on Milazzo’s sacrifice.
Massey relieved, and he pitched to Crews with first base open and one out. Massey struck out the projected No. 1 draft pick and then intentionally walked White to get to Tre’ Morgan, who flew out to center.
The Deacons played without Nick Kurtz, a .353 hitter with 24 home runs. He aggravated a rib injury in pregame warmups and was scratched from the lineup 20 minutes before first pitch.
MORE FROM WAKE FOREST
The Deacs (54-12) finished the 2023 season with program records in regular season wins, ACC wins, ACC series wins, postseason wins and overall wins.
Additionally, this year's Demon Deacons squad became the 13th ACC team since 2010 to reach the 50-win mark and the 28th to do so since 2000. Additionally, the 54 wins this season marks the first 50-win season by an ACC team since 2019, the most wins by an ACC team since 2013 and is the third highest win total since 2010.
The 2023 Wake Forest baseball team made the program’s third ever Men’s College World Series appearance this season, and its first since capturing the program’s first national championship in 1955.
Wake Forest earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and went a perfect 3-0 in the Winston-Salem Regional, its first time hosting since 2017, with victories over Maryland and George Mason (twice) to host Winston-Salem’s first ever super regional.
With its win over George Mason to clinch the regional title, the Deacs became the first team in program history and the nation to reach the 50-win mark.
Additionally, Wake Forest became the first team since North Carolina in 2017 to run the table and win all 10 ACC series in a season and clinched the program's first Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title since 1963
The Deacs continued their winning ways in Omaha, defeating No. 8 Stanford and No. 5 LSU.
In the opening game of the MCWS, Wake Forest came from behind to take a one-run lead in the eighth inning before Camden Minacci slammed the door in the ninth, recording a save.
In its first of three games against LSU, Bennett Lee delivered with a clutch RBI-single down the left field line to break a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth before Minacci once again slammed the door in the top of the ninth to clinch the victory.
The Demon Deacons strikeout numbers have been historic, ranking third in NCAA history in single-season strikeouts with a program-record 779 strikeouts:
- Mississippi St. 2021 68 603.2 817
- Vanderbilt 2021 67 598.0 790
- Wake Forest 2023 66 581.2 779
- Ole Miss 2021 67 586.1 765
- Vanderbilt 2019 71 633.2 765
- Southern Miss. 2022 66 596.1 746
- LSU 2023 67 572.1 745
- Arizona St. 1972 72 625.0 732
- Mississippi St. 2019 67 600.0 718
- Florida St. 1986 74 637.0 718
Wake Forest also set new program highs in strikeouts-per-nine innings (12.1), fielding percentage (.979), shutouts (10), runs (591), home runs (130), RBIs (541) and walks (424).
Despite the no decision on Thursday, Rhett Lowder put together another spectacular performance. Lowder tossed seven innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out six.
With his fourth strikeout of the game in the top of the fifth inning, Lowder jumped teammate Josh Hartle for the top of the record book in single-season strikeouts with his 141st K of the season. Lowder finished with six strikeouts and finished the season with 143 strikeouts.
Wake Forest Single Season Strikeouts
1.
Rhett Lowder 2023 143
2. Josh Hartle 2023 140
3. Mike Buddie 1992 138
Additionally, Lowder’s 325 career strikeouts rank second in program history.
Wake Forest Career Strikeouts
1. Parker Dunshee 2014-17 330
2. Rhett Lowder 2021-Pres. 325
Out of the bullpen, Michael Massey fanned five in 2.2 innings, pushing the scoreless game into the 11th.
Head coach Tom Walter Says:
“First off, congratulations to LSU and to Florida, two great baseball teams who are going to play this weekend for a national championship. They both earned their way there, so kudos to that club. So proud of our guys, not only for the way we battled today but really all season, our consistency and toughness all season. You heard me say this time and time again this week, but the way that these guys love each other, as a coach, I'd rather coach this team and not win the national championship than coach any other team. I'm just beyond proud of them. Rhett today, what can you say about Rhett Lowder today? Paul Skenes was fantastic, and Rhett matched him pitch for pitch. It was one of the best pitched college baseball games I've ever seen. Michael Massey behind him was dominant and Hurd was too for LSU. Runs were hard to come by. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a way to scratch one across there those first 10 or so innings. Again, proud of this club. Brock Wilken, the season he put together, to be the ACC home run leader for a career in three years and to become the defensive player he's become and the athlete he's become but also the teammate he's become. I’m just proud of these two guys on my left. I can't wait to watch them play for the next 15 years on my television. Proud of this team. Proud to be a small part of it. Our coaching staff, I want to thank those guys for everything they poured into our season and honored to be a small part of it.”
Season Highlights
- Led by the program-record 15th win of the season from Rhett Lowder and three solo home runs, the No. 1 Demon Deacons secured game one in the best-of-three game Super Regional on Saturday against No. 16 Alabama, putting the Deacs on the precipice of their first trip to Omaha since winning it all in 1955.
- Rhett Lowder captured his program-record 15th victory of the year as he improved to 15-0 on the season and the Deacs moved to 17-0 when Lowder has taken the mound this season.
- In the Deacs first home regional since 2017, Wake Forest totaled 48 runs, struck out 50 batters, and allowed just seven runs in three consecutive regional wins as the Deacs punched their ticket to Super Regional weekend.
- The Deacs 48 runs scored over the course of the regional is the second-highest total in the opening rounds in their NCAA Tournament history:
- 50 in four games (1999)
- 48 runs in three games (2023)
- Most runs per game in NCAA opening round history (16.0 runs/game).
- 44 in five games (2001)
- 37 in four games (2002)
- 33 in four games (1998)
- The 2023 Deacs have broken the program record for regular season wins, ACC wins, ACC series wins and overall wins this season. Additionally, the Deacs became the first team in Wake Forest history to have 50 or more wins in a single season last week.
- Became the first No. 1 seed to successfully advance out of pool play since the ACC switched to its current championship format in 2017 after going a perfect 2-0 in the opening games of the tournament against eighth-seeded Notre Dame and 12th-seeded Pitt.
- Posted the eighth 40-win season in program history
- The 2023 Deacs are just the second team in program history to reach the mark in the regular season (2002).
- Became the first team since North Carolina in 2017 to run the table and win all 10 ACC series in a season
- Clinched the program's first Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title since 1963
- ACC Regular Season Championships
- Clinched its first ever ACC Atlantic Division title
- Became the fastest team in program history and the first team in the nation to reach the 40-win mark with its 14-4 win against UNC Greensboro on May 9
- Finished with the third-highest conference winningest percentage in program history (.759)
- Finished regular season No. 1 in the RPI
- After taking two out of three against Duke and Notre Dame to open ACC play, Wake Forest posted three-straight perfect weekends against Miami (first time ever), Clemson (first time since 2012) and NC State (second-straight season). The Deacs earned its first ever series win in Louisville and became the first team since 2021 to win a series at Jim Patterson Stadium. Wake Forest won its fourth-straight series against Pitt, outscoring the Panthers, 40-5, in its two wins. Two weekends ago, the Deacs claimed its third series over a top-25 opponent, taking two out of three from Boston College before claiming its second-straight series in Tallahassee this last weekend. This weekend, Wake Forest earned its first series win over the Hokies since 2019.
- Deacon Nation showed tremendous support at David F. Couch Ballpark in 2023 as this year's season attendance of 57,814 fans set a new program record.
- Deacon Nation has sold out The Couch four times during the NCAA Tournament run, highlighted by back-to-back attendances of 3,903 in the Winston-Salem Super Regional against Alabama, the highest-attended games in program history.
- Broke weekend attendance records three times, highlighted by its regular-season weekend attendance record of 8,096 fans to close out the regular season
- Broke single-game attendance record against Virginia Tech (May 19) with an attendance of 3,023
- Led nation in virtually every pitching category
- ERA
- Hits-per-nine innings
- WHIP
- Strikeouts-per-nine innings
- Strikeout-to-walk ratio
- Strikeouts
- Ranked in the top six in the ACC in every offensive category