Winston-Salem, NC – The Wake Forest baseball team was selected to the 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament as the No. 1 national seed, as announced on ESPN2 on Monday afternoon
“To be the No. 1 national seed is a tremendous accomplishment for our program.” head coach Tom Walter said. “To do that, you have to demonstrate both consistency and toughness. We have battled through four season-ending injuries on the mound, four temporary injuries to key position players and rebounded quickly from tough losses. Our Deacon Nation has shown up for this team in droves during the second half of this season. Friday night will be an electric atmosphere. We look forward to seeing everyone at The Couch!”
This is the Demon Deacons’ 15th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and the only time in program history Wake Forest has been selected as the No. 1 overall seed.
Wake Forest has made two College World Series appearances, highlighted by winning the program’s first national championship in 1955. Overall, the Demon Deacons hold a 45-31 record at the national tournament.
Additionally, the Deacs are the first ACC team to be selected as the No. 1 overall seed since 2013 (North Carolina) and are the eighth ACC team to be the No. 1 overall seed in the national tournament since 1999.
In addition to the top-seeded Demon Deacons (47-10), the Winston-Salem Regional will include No. 2 seed Maryland (41-19), No. 3 seed Northeastern (44-14) and No. 4 seed George Mason (34-25).
Wake Forest will open NCAA Tournament play against the Patriots on Friday, June 2 at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ in the second game of the regional. The Terrapins and Huskies will open the regional at 1 p.m.
The Winston-Salem Regional is paired with the Tuscaloosa Regional. The winners of those two regionals will play in a Super Regional the following weekend (Friday, June 9-Monday, June 12). In addition to No. 16 national seed Alabama, the regional features Boston College, Troy and Nichols State..
Winston-Salem Regional
Wake Forest- 47-10 (ACC)
Maryland- 41-19 (Big Ten)
Northeastern – 44-14 (CAA)
George Mason – 34-25 (A10)
Winston-Salem Regional Schedule
Game 1: No. 2 Maryland vs. No. 3 Northeastern | Fri. June 2 | 1 p.m.| ESPN+
Game 2: No. 1 Wake Forest vs. No. 4 George Mason | Fri. June 2 | 7 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser | Sat. June 3 | TBD | TBD
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner | Sat. June 3 | TBD | TBD
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser | Sun. June 4 | TBD | TBD
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner | Sun. June 4 | TBD | TBD
Game 7*: Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser | Mon. June 5 | TBD | TBD
*-Game 7 will only be necessary if the winner of Game 5 also wins Game 6.
Ticket Information
All-session tickets for the Winston-Salem Regional are now on sale here. Please note, all-session reserved seats are sold out and a limited number of general admission tickets are still available.
All Session Ticket Options
General Admission Seats- $75
All-American Club Add-on- $100
Due to the Memorial Day holiday, online orders will only be accepted until the Wake Forest Ticket Office opens on Tuesday, May 30 at 8:30 a.m.
Subject to availability, single-game session tickets will go on sale Wednesday, May 31 at Noon:
Single-Game Session Ticket Options (Based on Availability)
Adult Reserved- $20
Adult General Admission-$15
Youth Reserved- $15
Youth General- $10
All-American Club Add-on- $20
Students will claim their free tickets on their Screamin’ Deacon Rewards app as normal, with limited availability.
For more ticketing information, please visit the Wake Forest Ticket office here.
Parking Information
While Premium Reserved Parking is sold out, general public parking will be available at the Starry and Diet Pepsi Lots at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum for $10. Enter from Deacon Blvd.
Record-Breaking Crowds Create Electric Environment at David F. Couch Ballpark in 2023
Deacon Nation showed tremendous support at David F. Couch Ballpark in 2023 as multiple attendance records were broken during the regular season.
Overall, this year’s season attendance of 44,650 fans set a new program record.
Over the course of the season, Deacon Nation broke weekend attendance records three times, highlighted by the current weekend attendance record of 8,096 fans over the course of the final weekend series of the regular season.
On May 19, Wake Forest set a new single-game attendance record against Virginia Tech (May 19) with an attendance of 3,023.
NCAA Tournament Information
The field of 64 teams will be placed in 16 different four-team regions, with teams seeded one through four to compete in a double-elimination format.
The winner of the Winston-Salem Regional will advance to the best-of-three Super Regional to be held the following weekend at eight different sites.
Thanks to its top-eight national seed, if Wake Forest wins the Winston-Salem Regional it will host a Super Regional at David F. Couch Ballpark over the second weekend of June.
A complete schedule can be found below:
2023 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament Schedule
Regionals: Friday-Monday, June 2-5
Super Regionals: Friday June 9- Monday, June 12
CWS opening celebration day: Thursday, June 15
First day of MCWS games — Friday, June 16
MCWS Finals — Start Saturday, June 24 (best out of 3)
Demon Deacons in the NCAA Tournament
This is the Demon Deacons’ 15th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and the only time in program history Wake Forest has been selected as the No. 1 overall seed.
Wake Forest has made two College World Series Appearances, highlighted by winning the program’s first national championship in 1955. Overall, the Demon Deacons hold a 45-31 record at the national tournament.
In 2017, Wake Forest hosted West Virginia, Maryland and UMBC at David F. Couch Ballpark. After going a perfect 3-0, the Deacs advanced to the Gainesville Super Regional, where Wake Forest fell in three games to the eventual national champion Gators.
This year’s opening tournament game against George Mason marks the first time the Deacs and Patriots have faced off in the NCAA Tournament.
Additionally, Wake Forest has never faced off against the Huskies in postseason play.
Last season, the Demon Deacons were selected to the College Park Regional and faced off against Maryland in its final game of the 2022 season.
Season Highlights
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.
Heads into NCAA Tournament tied for a program-record record in wins (47)
Finished the regular season with program records in wins (45), conference wins (22) and conference series victories (10)
Led the nation in wins (45) and winning percentage (.833)
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
2023
1963
1962
1955
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 44,650 fans set a new program record.
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
Wake Forest Honors
Adam Cecere
ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
Josh Hartle
Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist
2023 First Team All-ACC
Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List
Perfect Game Midseason All-American
D1Baseball Midseason All-American
Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (March 6)
Tommy Hawke
2023 Second Team All-ACC
Perfect Game Midseason All-American
Justin Johnson
2023 First Team All-ACC
Seth Keener
2023 Third Team All-ACC
Nick Kurtz
Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist
2023 First Team All-ACC
ACC Player of the Week (April 24)
Perfect Game Midseason All-American
D1Baseball Midseason All-American
ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
D1 Baseball Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
D1Baseball First Team Preseason All-America
Perfect Game Second Team Preseason All-America
Baseball America Third Team Preseason All-America
Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
Rhett Lowder
2023 ACC Pitcher of the Year
Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist
2023 First Team All-ACC
2023 ACC Pitcher of the Week (May 9)
2023 ACC Pitcher of the Week (April 17)
Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List
D1Baseball Midseason All-American
Perfect Game Midseason All-American
2023 ACC Pitcher of the Week (March 27)
2023 Perfect Game Pitcher of the Week (March 27)
Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
Collegiate Baseball First Team Preseason All-America
D1Baseball First Team Preseason All-America
NCBWA First Team Preseason All-America
Perfect Game First Team Preseason All-America
Baseball America First Team Preseason All-America
D1Baseball Preseason ACC Pitcher of the Year
Perfect Game Preseason ACC Pitcher of the Year
Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
Teddy McGraw
Perfect Game Third Team Preseason All-America
Prospects Live Third Team Preseason All-America
Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC
Camden Minacci
Third Team All-ACC
D1Baseball Third Team Preseason All-America
Perfect Game Third Team Preseason All-America
Sean Sullivan
First Team All-ACC
Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List
Perfect Game Midseason All-American
D1Baseball Midseason All-American
ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
ACC Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 20)
Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Feb. 20)
Tom Walter
2023 ACC Coach of the Year
Brock Wilken
Second Team All-ACC
Perfect Game Midseason All-American
Collegiate Baseball Second Team Preseason All-America
NCBWA Second Team Preseason All-America
Perfect Game Second Team Preseason All-America
Prospects Live Second Team Preseason All-America
Baseball America Third Team Preseason All-America
Perfect Game Preseason All-ACC