Deacs Drop Series at No. 9 Virginia
No. 24 Wake Forest went to Charlottesville for a weekend series against the No. 9 Virginia Cavaliers. Following a rough outing against Florida State, the Demon Deacons had a chance to right the ship.
How it Happened...
Game 1: 10–6 loss
Friday night got off to an ugly start for the Deacs. Virginia scored five runs in the first inning, and they never let up. Blake Morningstar bounced back with a pair of scoreless frames, but the damage was already done.
Luke Costello provided the offensive highlight, launching his team-leading ninth home run of the season—a 428-foot shot. He also added a sac fly in the sixth to move his team-leading RBI total to 28.
Javar Williams logged his 13th multi-hit game of the year, going 2-for-4, and Dalton Wentz collected three hits for the fifth time this season. Despite bringing the tying run to the plate late, Wake Forest fell 10–6.
Game 2: 13–4 win
Saturday afternoon was a completely different story for the Demon Deacons. Behind an eight-run third inning— fueled by six two-out RBIs—Wake Forest dominated Virginia en route to a 13–4 victory to even the series.
Chris Levonas turned in another quality start, picking up his fifth win of the season while tossing five innings and striking out five. Levonas entered the game leading the nation in strikeouts per nine innings, and now sits at 16.4 K/9 with 56 strikeouts in 30.2 innings pitched. Senior Zach Johnston slammed the door with four strikeouts in the final two outs to seal it.
Seven different Demon Deacons drove in runs in the win. Freshman JD Stein launched his first career home run and finished the game with three RBIs. Boston Torres went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a walk in his first start as a Demon Deacon. Blake Schaaf finished a home run shy of the cycle in his first three-hit performance.
Game 3: 14–4 loss
Virginia's offense woke up in a big way after the Deacs had grabbed a 4–2 lead through three and a half innings. The Cavaliers responded with five runs in the fourth, and eventually scored 12 unanswered runs to win 14–4 and take the series.
Troy Dressler was strong early, striking out four in his first two innings and keeping Wake in the game, but things unraveled in the middle frames. Head coach Tom Walter acknowledged after the game that he'd have done some things differently with the bullpen.
On offense, Kade Lewis and Blake Schaaf each collected a pair of hits, including a double apiece. Luke Costello reached a milestone when he became the first Deac to hit 30 RBIs on the season with a two-RBI single in the third.
What's Next for Wake Forest Baseball?
The Demon Deacons are back at the Couch for a date with Elon on March 24, then welcome the California Golden Bears to Winston-Salem for the weekend series.
Blake is a Sophomore at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. When not living on campus, he resides in West Virginia, where he was born and raised. He is studying communication and is invested in all things related to sports media. In his Freshman year, he completed an internship with the National Sports Media Association, and also worked as a sports editor at Wake Forest's student-run newspaper, the Old Gold & Black. Currently, Blake does play-by-play broadcasting for Wake Forest Club Ice Hockey and holds a job at Learfield, working as a studio host. In a perfect world, he would spend his free time road tripping and attending concerts all across the United States.
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