Top-25 Draft prospect hits 3 of Wake Forest's 9 HRs vs. Alabama
In a game with a score more reminiscent of football than baseball, Wake Forest routed Alabama, 22-5, to advance to the Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The team’s nine home runs marks a record for the most by any team in a super regional.
No. 24 Draft prospect Brock Wilken had a career day, with four extra-base hits, including three home runs. He paced his team with four hits and five runs scored.
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Wilken’s first homer was the second half of a first inning back-to-back with first baseman Nick Kurtz. He wasn’t fooled by Alabama pitcher Jacob McNairy’s breaking ball, beating the 3-2 count with a drive beyond the left-field wall.
McNairy threw another high pitch to Wilken in the third, and Wilken made the most of it. His second roundtripper of the game cleared not just the field, but the signage and shrubbery beyond the outfield.
The third baseman made Alabama pay for intentionally walking him in the sixth. In the top of the ninth, he sent a third ball out of the park off a breaking ball from Alabama reliever Hunter Hoopes. If no one had picked up his second home run ball by the final frame, the two might have very well been found next to each other.
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Wilken enters a 13-way tie atop Wake Forest’s single-game home run leaderboard. However, because he had another three-dinger night last season (May 7, 2022 vs. Louisville), he became the only player to appear multiple times on the list. In just his junior season, he has 70 career home runs to his name, a mark that tops both Wake Forest and ACC record books.
The Demon Deacons return to Omaha for the first time since their 1955 national championship. This season marks Wake Forest’s first World Series appearance and third super regional appearance since 1999, when the bracket expanded to 64 teams with regional and super regional tournaments.