Wake Forest will make its first College World Series appearance in 68 years Saturday when it takes on Stanford.
The Demon Deacons aren't the most decorated team in NCAA baseball history, but head coach Tom Walter has managed to turn things around in miraculous fashion this year. Wake Forest is coming in 52-10 and the top seed after sweeping Alabama in a best-of-three super regional series.
The Sporting News has everything you need to know about the Demon Deacons, including where the university is located, how it got its name, nickname, and its College World Series history.
Where is Wake Forest located?
Wake Forest is a private university in Winston-Salem, N.C., with nearly 9,000 students. It is one of the oldest post-secondary education institutions in North Carolina.
It was founded in Wake Forest, N.C., roughly two hours east of Winston-Salem, in 1834. The town of Wake Forest is closest to Durham and Raleigh, while Winston-Salem is closest to Greensboro.
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The university relocated in 1956 after accepting an invitation from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. It was offered up to $330,000 annually in perpetuity to move. Winston-Salem is the home of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The Reynolda campus is on land that was once the R.J. Reynolds estate.
How did Wake Forest get its name?
Wake Forest got its name from the town in which it was birthed. It started as Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute in 1834. At the time, students were required to perform three hours of manual labor to learn about agricultural sciences.
In November 1838, the university was renamed Wake Forest College and eliminated the manual labor requirements. It closed for the Civil War and was repurposed as hospital buildings by the Confederate government in June 1864. It was reopened for education in 1866.
The institution was designated Wake Forest University in 1967.
Why is Wake Forest called the Demon Deacons?
The Demon Deacons nickname was coined by newspaper sports editor Mayon Parker in 1923. Wake Forest's athletic teams started out as the Tigers in the late 1800s, followed by the Baptists in the early 1900s. There was no official mascot until 1941, despite the Demon Deacons name sticking a few years before the Great Depression.
The first Demon Deacon mascot was Jack Baldwin. According to the NCAA, Baldwin took up a fraternity brother's dare and dressed up as he thought an old-time Baptist deacon would, donning a top hat and tuxedo and carrying a black umbrella. The football crowd loved it so much, a tradition was born. It evolved into the current complete costume with the large deacon's head in 1980.
Baldwin also rode into a football game against North Carolina in 1942 on the back of UNC's live ram mascot.
Wake Forest College World Series history
Wake Forest is making its first College World Series appearance since 1955, when it took home its only title. The Demon Deacons defeated Western Michigan 7-6 for the championship.
They were invited in 1949 and finished that tournament as runner-up.
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The program has been to the NCAA Tournament 15 times, including this year, and has been regional champion three times: in 1999, 2017 and 2023.
The Demon Deacons have won the ACC Tournament six times, but not since 2001, and the ACC regular-season championship four times, including in 2023, their first title since 1963.
