Historic postseason run has No. 1 Wake Forest baseball ready for College World Series

The last time Wake Forest baseball made the trip to Omaha, a carton of eggs cost 55 cents, McDonald’s was a first-year franchise and cellphones didn’t exist.

The 1955 Demon Deacons won the NCAA championship that year, but since then, Wake Forest hasn’t seen college baseball’s biggest stage.

Until this week.

Nearly 70 years after that victorious season, Wake Forest is making its third appearance in the College World Series in program history, this time as the No. 1 overall seed.

“We’re going to celebrate this one for 36 hours, and then we’re going to get back to work,” Wake Forest head coach Tom Walters said last Sunday after the Deacs eliminated Alabama to advance to Omaha, Nebraska. “Because this team, we’ve got even bigger goals. Checked another box.”

Walking into Charles Schwab Field as one of the most dominant teams of late, Wake Forest’s offense brings along a new home run king and a super regionals record after sweeping No. 16 Alabama last week, 5-4 and 22-5.

Brock Wilken broke the ACC career home run record in Game 2, launching his 70th into left field, along with the team tying the NCAA tournament record of nine home runs in the same game and plus-59 run differential, the highest-ever for a team entering the College World Series, highlighted the super regional victory over the Crimson Tide.

“It’s one of those things you’ll remember everything in your lifetime,” Wilken said about breaking the record. “This was one of those moments I’ll never forget anything.”

Wake Forest hasn’t lost a game in the NCAA tournament, nor have the Demon Deacons trailed in a game, only boosting the level of confidence of the team.

Walter said following the Game 2 victory over Alabama he knew the day would come, even after two less-than-stellar finishes in the last two seasons. In 2021, Wake Forest didn’t make it into the conference tournament, then it lost in regional play to Maryland in 2022.

“I think we all believed it could happen, and would happen, quite honestly,” Walter said. “We felt like we had the pieces, and thankfully with the transfer portal we were able to add pieces, too.”

That next step starts with a first-round game against Stanford, which defeated Texas in a walk-off Game 3 win and is making its third straight appearance in Omaha.

Wake Forest’s lineup has already proven it can handle Stanford’s playing style while still putting up numbers of its own. But these two programs have never faced off against each other, much less in the CWS.

The Cardinal isn’t nearly the slugging, go-for-the-wall style offense the Demon Deacons have, but there’s still some power throughout their lineup. Stanford also plays a little more small ball, with 57 stolen bases this season, led by Tommy Troy.

Regardless, Stanford struggled some with offspeed pitches in super regionals, giving an opening for Wake Forest’s ace pitchers a chance to force the Cardinals in uncomfortable situations. That doesn’t mean Stanford is afraid of Wake Forest’s pitching staff, but rather, head coach David Esquer said it’s a challenge they’re ready to navigate.

“Whether it means having a plan and what’s going to give us the best opportunity to face the most elite pitching in the country,” Esquer said, “you know, I think our guys do a great job preparing and executing the plan.”

One question remains for Stanford leading up to Saturday’s game — who will start on the mound? It’s a question Esquer is asking himself, while he waits to see if Quinn Matthews is ready, or if he’ll opt for Joey Dixon.

“We’re still monitoring Quinn to see physically how he comes off of that,” Esquer said. “He wants to pitch, and he is pushing, but again, we’re looking into his well-being, too.

“I would be surprised if he didn’t, but we are leaving that open based on we’re going to make sure that he is physically at his best.”

The hard-hitting lineup the Demon Deacons put together this year tested the waters on Charles Schwab Field during a Thursday practice. Similarly to Wake Forest’s home field, the Omaha stadium aids batters in getting on base — something Wilken immediately noticed when arriving at the field.

“It actually looks a lot bigger on TV than it is in person,” Wilken said. “It carries a good bit here. So going out there and trying to stay within our plan and in our approach, if we do that, we’ll be all right.”

The work ahead for Wake Forest hasn’t changed any of the players’ thoughts on relishing the moment of leaving their field as the Winston-Salem Super Regional champions. The glitz and glamour of Omaha hasn’t shaken Walters and his staff. He’s reiterated how the College World Series is just any other weekend series or regional.

Plus, the rankings disappear. The Demon Deacons have hrld the No. 1 position throughout the regular season and into the postseason, but in Omaha, that’s gone. Everyone is on an equal field — two losses and you’re going home.

“It kind of doesn’t really matter the seeding anymore. Everyone is going to be good, so if we play a good, clean game, that’s all we can really do,” Rhett Lowder said. “If we don’t play great, then it’s going to be a tough road ahead. Everyone is pretty good here.”

So with pictures in the dugout and a group of athletes Walters said help create this path to Omaha two years ago, Wake Forest is waiting for its opportunity to make history by playing its best version of baseball yet.

“They’ve certainly exceeded expectations in every way, shape, or form,” Walters said, “but the good news is I’m not even sure we’ve played our best baseball yet. I feel like we can play better than we’ve been playing.”