Durham, North Carolina and the Durham Bulls Athletic Park will host the ACC Baseball Championship this week. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
The Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament starts Tuesday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C., and all eyes will be on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest, 45-9 overall and 22-7 in the ACC, has been ranked No. 1 in the D1Baseball.com’s NCAA Division I rankings the last three weeks after wrestling the top spot away from Louisiana State. The Demon Deacons also hold the top spot in the NCAA RPI ranking, ahead of Kentucky, Arkansas, LSU, and Florida, who make up the remainder of the top five.
Two years ago, Wake Forest posted a 20-27 overall record and went 10-22 in ACC play, failing to qualify for the conference tournament – an ignominious distinction cast upon the two worst teams in conference play each season. The Demon Deacons rebounded last season, going 41-19 overall and 15-14-1 in ACC play and earning a berth in the NCAA Regional at College Park, Maryland, where they went 1-2.
Perhaps the biggest key for the Demon Deacons has been Rhett Lowder, a wild-haired, 6-foot-2 righthander who was the ACC Pitcher of the Year in 2022, the first ever for Wake Forest, and an All-America selection as a sophomore. In 88.2 innings this season, Lowder has allowed just 69 hits and 17 walks against 108 strikeouts, while allowing just 17 earned runs and posting a 1.73 ERA.
Brock Wilken leads the Demon Deacons at the dish with 69 RBI, 150 total bases and 24 home runs, and is batting .341 in 185 at-bats. In total, Wake Forest has six hitters batting over .300 with at least 100 at-bats, who have combined for 304 runs scored, 71 homers, and 346 hits this season.
A Player To Watch From Each of the Other Teams (In Order of Seeding)
*Stats used are from all games played, not conference games only.
Virginia (44-11, 19-11 ACC) – Kyle Teel (.414) and Griff O’Ferrall (.404) were the top two players in the ACC in batting average this season, and tied for the conference lead in hits with 91 apiece. Teel also led the ACC in doubles, and their teammate Jake Gelof led the league in RBI (81) and was second in homers with 22, so it’s hard to pick just one player to watch from Virginia.
Clemson (39-17, 20-10 ACC) – Junior Caden Grice held opponents to a .199 batting average over 62.1 innings of work for the Tigers this year, while striking out 82. He’s a two-way threat, batting .296 with 14 homers, 54 RBIs, 50 runs scored, and a .408 on-base percentage. He’s a semi-finalist for the Golden Spikes Award.
Miami (37-18, 18-12 ACC) – Yohandy Morales finished third in the ACC with a .395 batting average, got on base at a .467 clip and slugged .649 this year. He hit 13 doubles and 13home runs, scored 48 runs and drove in 53.