What Did We Learn From Wake Forest Baseball vs. Stanford
Welcome back to What Did We Learn. With the return of the baseball season, my weekly article, a two-year-long tradition on other sites now, begins, where at the end of every weekend, I release my weekly "what did we learn". An opinionated editorial detailing what Demon Deacon fans can take away from the week before that might not show up in the box score.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are 15-1 and have swept their first conference series of the season, powered by an offensive explosion in all three games against the Stanford Cardinal. They haven't lost since the first game of the season in Puerto Rico, and are seemingly getting better each week so far.
So what exactly did fans, and maybe the team its self, learn from the opening weekend of conference play?
Undefeated in the Continental U.S.
Baseball is a funny game. It's filled with over-reactions, and under reactions to avoid overreacting, and then eventually - somewhere down the road - you find the correct take for whatever it is you're looking for in a long season.
One thing is becoming clear as the Demon Deacons are 16 games into the season: they know how to win at the plate. They are 56th in the country in batting average with a .297, and 15th in on-base percentage at .453. They scored 33 runs this weekend, after scoring 38 the weekend before, but this time they did it against a conference team that has talent on its own end.
They have particularly become effective at "killshots." A term coined by PEARatings, which is when a team scores two or more runs in an inning while also allowing zero runs in that same frame. The Demon Deacons have 27 instances of those this season, which ranks 13th in the country, and have become an integral part of their offensive success.
On the flip side, they have only allowed six on the year, putting their season ratio at 4.50, which ranks 12th. Obviously, it feels like it goes without saying that having those innings would be beneficial when it comes to winning, but it's more than that. Those can break an opposing team's spirit, especially as they happen earlier in the game, finding a way to assert early dominance.
For a team that was being questioned about just how great they would be this season, and a game one loss, the past 15 games have been a staunch reminder that baseball is a long season. There is still quite a ways to go, but for now, the Deacs look great, and are still undefeated in the continental U.S.
JD Andress is an accomplished sports writer and journalist with extensive experience covering a wide range of collegiate sports. JD has provided in-depth coverage of the TCU Horned Frogs and the Texas Longhorns. He looks forward to being part of the coverage of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. His experience spans various sports, including football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, rifle, equestrian, and others, reflecting his broad interest and commitment to sports journalism.