ACC Roundup: Craig Pitches Wake Past Duke

DURHAM, N.C.—When most think of Wake Forest’s Will Craig, they think of the imposing slugger, the big 6-foot-3, 235-pound body in the batter’s box. It’s with good reason. Craig will get drafted as a hitter this June, likely in the first round, and with a slash line of .385/.532/.758 and 15 home runs, he’s a national leader in most offensive categories.

But in a do-or-die play-in game with Duke in the ACC Baseball Championship on Tuesday, it wasn’t Craig’s bat that won the game for Wake Forest (he went 0-for-3 with a walk). It was his right arm.

With two outs and a runner on second in the 7th inning, the Demon Deacons moved Craig from third base to the pitcher’s mound—as they usually do in close games. Craig wasn’t perfect by any means, but he pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for Wake Forest and shut the door on the Blue Devils, eliminating them with a 4-3 win.

That was Craig’s seventh save. He has a 1.80 ERA and 23 strikeouts to 12 walks in 25 innings this season; in a thin bullpen, he’s been nearly as important to Wake Forest on the mound as he has been at the plate. Just ask head coach Tom Walter; the Deacons sorely missed Craig when he tweaked his oblique earlier this season.

“For Will, what can you say?” Walter said Tuesday. “He’s got seven saves. I guess all you have to say is in the four games he wasn’t available to hit, we went 0-4 in the league, and the one game he wasn’t available to pitch at Notre Dame, we lost the lead late.”

But, thankfully, for the Demon Deacons, Craig had 47 pitches in him Tuesday. He worked mainly 91-93 mph and touched 94 mph. At times, command eluded him, but he had the guts to throw a 3-2 breaking ball to Duke’s Jack Labosky—another two-way ACC player—and strike him out in the bottom of the ninth inning. Duke coach Chris Pollard said he tipped his hat to Craig for the execution on that pitch. A few batters later, Craig struck out pinch-hitter Michael Smiciklas with the tying and winning runs on the corners to end the game.

His pitching performance, in conjunction with ace junior righthander Parker Dunshee (6 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 10 K), extended the Demon Deacons’ ACC tournament run, advancing them to pool play. It perhaps could have solidified their at-large prospects, as well. A bubble team, Wake Forest is in the latest projected field of 64 but certainly could use some added security. Duke, with an RPI in the top 30, still has a strong case for an at-large bid despite the loss.

“This is one of those teams you don’t want to end early with,” Craig said. “We knew at the beginning today a win would really help us for the NCAA regional. The next three days we are going to play and have fun. We are going to play like it’s our last game. We want to keep playing. We don’t want to stop.

“It’s going to come eventually to an end, but hopefully it’s in a regional or super regional or maybe even Omaha.”

All That Glitters


Just three days ago, righthander Brandon Gold and his Georgia Tech teammates watched visiting Boston College celebrate on their home field, after sweeping a doubleheader in Atlanta and sneaking into the ACC tournament. The Yellow Jackets, clearly, did not enjoy those festivities.

As fate would have it, those two teams would match up again in the second play-in game of the ACC tournament, and the Yellow Jackets ensured they wouldn’t have to bear witness to a second Boston College celebration, blanking the Eagles, 6-0.

“It’s weird playing these guys agains after we played them the last weekend, so (we had) a huge chip on our shoulder,” Gold said. “You never like somebody coming into your place and taking a series from you the last weekend of the season.”

Georgia Tech hitters slugged three home runs—from Matt Gonzalez, Tristin English and Trevor Craport—in the late innings to create an insurmountable lead, but Gold was the man who kept the Yellow Jackets in the game over the first seven innings.

Sitting around 88 mph with his fastball and spotting a mid-70s breaking ball and changeup, Gold scattered seven hits and struck out five in 6 2/3, pitching his way out of some precarious situations. The Eagles loaded the bases twice. The second time, righthanded reliever Matthew Gorst came in to put out the fire. Both pitchers have been key pieces on the Georgia Tech pitching staff, with Gold going 8-3, 2.38 this season and Gorst boasting 0.46 ERA and 12 saves in 39 innings.

Much like Wake Forest’s Craig, Gold has been a two-way player for Georgia Tech in the past, but he’s made his mark this season as the team’s steady Friday ace.

“The kid we were facing, he was awesome,” said Boston College head coach Mike Gambino, whose team remains in the running for an at-large bid. “Any time he got in trouble, he was awesome. Complete poise, executing his pitches . . . Yeah, we didn’t get a run, but two premium, premium ACC arms.”

For Georgia Tech, another ACC team on the bubble, Tuesday’s game was an important one for bolstering its NCAA tournament resume. The Yellow Jackets treated it like a must-win game, which was the main reason why they leaned on and Gold and Gorst so heavily.

“I think we are going to throw Gold and Gorst again tomorrow,” said head coach Danny Hall, laughing. “We honestly didn’t want to look past this game. Felt like we needed a win, and that’s why we pitched Brandon. He did a tremendous job.”