Wake Forest players share emotions of season-ending loss

Wake Forest fell one swing short of their first College World Series final berth in seven decades during Thursday’s 2-0 loss to LSU in 11 innings.

After the game, Demon Deacon slugger Brock Wilken revealed the raw emotions of having come up just shy of making a national title series, while also reflecting on how much his team has meant to him over the years.

“It was a tough one there. We kind of just embraced each other and reiterated how much we love one another,” Wilken said postgame. “This is the last time a lot of us will get to put on this jersey. I’m glad I got to do it with two guys to my right and all 30 guys in the dugout.

“Those are my best friends. And I got to go to war with those guys every single day. I’m lucky and proud to say I played for Wake Forest baseball.”

Wilken finishes his career having tallied the most career home runs in ACC history (71), while also boasting a .299/.679/.419 slash line. He also holds the most single season home runs in Wake Forest history, knocking 31 balls out of the park in 2023.

Wilken’s teammate and Wake Forest ace Rhett Lowder, who pitched seven innings of three-hit, no run baseball for the Demon Deacons, revealed what it was like in the locker room after their season-ending loss.

“[We were] just kind of telling each other how much we love each other, that we’ve shown it all year. But kind of expressing it to one another,” Lowder said. “We’ve come from so far. A lot of guys were here a couple of years ago. It’s a lot of hard work that went into it. We were just kind of embracing each other and taking in the moment.”

Lowder finished the 2023 season as the ACC’s Pitcher of the Year and was named to the Collegiate Baseball First Team All-American. His 2023 season will be remembered for his 1.87 ERA in 120.1 innings pitched. He also struck out 143 of the 470 batters (30%) he faced this season.

While Wilken, Lowder and the rest of the Demon Deacons come up short of their ultimate goal, the Tigers move on to face SEC foe Florida beginning Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET live on ESPN and ESPN+. The Gators will head into Game 1 as a slight betting favorite (-130) over LSU, according to Caesars Sportsbook.