The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are in the midst of a very special baseball season with 42 wins, a No. 1 national ranking, and an ACC regular-season title. They have one conference series left, against Virginia Tech, before heading to the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Regionals. Heading into this game, Wake Forest has the best college baseball odds to win the College World Series at +410.
Likewise, UNC-Wilmington is in first place in the Colonial Athletic Association, and with one series left against William & Mary, they could be the top seed at the conference tournament.
The Seahawks will likely need the automatic bid to make the NCAA Tournament, but a win on Tuesday would boost their chances. It will take a full team effort for UNCW to pull off one of the bigger upsets they have faced in college baseball lines this season.
Wake Forest vs. UNC Wilmington Information
Wake Forest vs UNC Wilmington
Location of the game: Brooks Field. Wilmington, NC.
Date & Time: Tuesday, May 16. 5:00 p.m. ET.
How to watch: FLO Sports
Recent Scores
Over the weekend, Wake Forest went to Tallahassee, Florida and took two of three in the series against Florida State. The Deacons run-ruled the Noles 10-0 on Friday and won 7-3 on Saturday to clinch the ACC title. They lost the series finale 4-3 on Sunday while going for the sweep, which hurt a lot of college baseball picks and parlays.
Wake Forest has won 10 of their last 12 games, and they are 22-2 in non-conference games this season. They have allowed more than four runs just twice since April 16. Wake beat Wilmington 8-6 at home in the first matchup of the season, on February 28.
UNCW suffered their first-weekend series loss in conference play this weekend as they dropped two of three to Charleston. In the road series, they lost 4-3 on Friday, won 9-3 on Saturday, and dropped the finale 8-7 on Sunday.
The Seahawks have won five of six at home, and they are 6-7 against ranked opponents this season. In addition to Wake Forest, they have played ranked teams North Carolina, East Carolina, NC State, Virginia, TCU, Campbell, and Northeastern.
Wake Forest vs. UNC Wilmington Analysis
For a midweek series, neither team will use their top starting pitchers, which gives an advantage to Wake’s depth. In their midweek game last week, the Deacons started Reed Mascolo, who is 6-1 in 10 starts this season. Mascolo beat UNCW in February with four runs allowed over 4 ⅔ innings as he struck out three.
No matter who pitches for Wake Forest, they get outs, and they don’t allow runs which has made them a popular college baseball bets this season. They lead all of NCAA Division I in team ERA (2.50), WHIP (1.03), and strikeouts per nine innings (12.1). Their team ERA is nearly a run better than the next-best team in the country. Camden Minacci got one of his team-leading 10 saves against UNCW in February.
The Battle Begins
A complete team, Wake Forest also has a prolific offense ranking fifth in the country at 9.4 runs per game. These stats will impact the Wake Forest vs UNCWilmington best bets.
Led by Brock Wilken with 22 and Nick Kurtz with 20, they are seventh in the nation with 98 homers. At .361 Tommy Hawke is one of six batters at .333 or better, and they hit .307 as a team.
Luke Craig and Ty Lawson took the most recent midweek starts for the Seahawks, and both were roughed up by ranked Campbell and UNC the last two outings. Mason Murdock is another option for Tuesday’s game, but UNCW has a team ERA of 5.89 and will likely go an inning at a time against the Deacons.
At the plate, Jac Croom leads UNCW with a .371 average, and he picked up two hits against Wake in February. Tanner Thach leads the team with 14 homers, while Trevor Marsh has 11 of the team’s 66 on the season. Marsh and leadoff man Brock Wills both homered in the first game against Wake Forest.
Odds Breakdown
Wake Forest
Will be a heavy favorite in this game and their pitching staff dictates the Wake Forest vs UNCWilmington best bets on baseball.
UNC-Wilmington
Will be the underdog, even at home.
Wake Forest vs. UNC Wilmington Betting Pick and Prediction
Pick 1: Among the Wake Forest vs UNCWilmington best bets are to bet on the Wake Forest offense. They average 9.4 runs per game and 4.3 extra-base hits per game. Against a pitching staff like the Seahawks, they should go over 7.5 runs in this game.
Pick 2: The moneyline for Wake will be prohibitive, but taking them on the run line at -2.5 or even -3.5 can be profitable. UNCW lost 24-5 to Campbell last week and 18-2 to UNC in their previous midweek games.
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