WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Alabama baseball's 2023 season came to a close with a 22-5 loss at top-ranked Wake Forest on Sunday afternoon at David F. Couch Ballpark. The Crimson Tide finished the year at 43-21 overall.

Wake struck for three in the first with Alabama answering with two in the home half on the power of an Andrew Pinckney home run. The Demon Deacons added two in the second with UA countering for one on a solo homer from Colby Shelton. Wake then put together a five-run third to set the score at 10-3 after three. The two teams traded runs over from the sixth through the ninth with the game ending in 22-5 final.

Wake Forest starter Josh Hartle (11-2) picked up the win while the loss was tagged to Alabama's Jacob McNairy (7-3).

From Interim Head Coach Jason Jackson
"I've done this a long time, and I've never been more proud of a group of individuals than I am of this group. I think they are everything that is good about college athletics. I think they are everything that is good about the world today. The character they've shown and the resiliency they've shown these past couple of months, I think serve as a great example to hopefully a lot of people."

How It Happened

T1 | Nick Kurtz got the Demon Deacons on the board with a two-run home run. Brock Wilken followed with a solo homer. (3-0, Wake Forest) B1 | Jim Jarvis led off with a double and came home one out later on a two-run homer by Andrew Pinckney. (3-2, Wake Forest)
T2 | Tommy Hawke hit a two-out two-run homer. (5-2, Wake Forest)
B2 | Colby Shelton started the inning with a solo homer. (5-3, Wake Forest)
T3 | Wilken recorded a solo homer with one down. After a single and a walk put two on, Danny Corona hit a three-run shot. Bennett Lee followed with a solo homer. (10-3, Wake Forest)
T6 | With the bases loaded and two down, a single through the left side added a pair. (12-3, Wake Forest)
B6 | Shelton hit his second homer of the day, another solo shot. (12-4, Wake Forest)
B7 | Mac Guscette hit a solo home run. (12-5, Wake Forest)
T8 | The Demon Deacons added six in the frame, highlighted by a grand slam from Marek Houston. (18-5, Wake Forest)
T9 | Wake added four more thanks to a solo homer from Wilken and a three-run shot by Corona. (22-5, Wake Forest)

Postgame Notes

• The Crimson Tide's 43 wins are the most in a season since 2006 when Jim Wells' squad finished at 44-21.
• Alabama totaled 593 strikeouts on the year to tie the Alabama single-season record. The 1999 team also struck out 593 (69 games). The 2023 team averaged 9.27 strikeouts per game compared to the '99 squad's 8.59 mark.
• UA drew 340 walks to finish second on the program's single-season list, trailing only the 366 free passes by the 1999 team.
• Alabama's 5.31 walks per game is the highest average for a single season in UA annals, surpassing the previous mark of 5.30 by that '99 team.
• The Crimson Tide totaled 112 home runs on the year, good for fourth on the all-time single-season list.
• Alabama homered in 54 of the 65 total games this season while producing multiple homers 35 times.
• Colby Shelton hit his 24th and 25th home runs of the season. He finished his freshman campaign tied with Dustan Mohr for third place on the Alabama single-season list. Doug Duke ranks second with 27 while Kent Matthes is the Tide's all-time leader at 28.
• The two-homer game was Shelton's sixth of the year.
• Including yesterday's roundtripper, Shelton has now homered in back-to-back games for the fifth time this season.
• Tommy Seidl extended his hitting streak to an Alabama season-long 15 games with a 1-for-3 effort. Over the 15-game stretch, Seidl batted .379 (22-58) with five doubles, two homers, 15 RBI, 15 runs, five walks, three hit-by-pitch and one stolen base.