Deacs End Tumultuous Week Against Ranked Opponents
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have had their hands full since their three-game sweep over the Stanford Cardinal at the Couch to open ACC play. The Demon Deacons were on a 15-game winning streak before taking a trip to Conway, South Carolina, for a date with Coastal Carolina. They came back to Winston-Salem to play host to the nationally-ranked Florida State Seminoles.
The weekend went about as bad as it could have, so now it's time to hit the brakes and reassess as we are 20 games through the season.
How it Happened...
Game 1: 10–0 Loss
Friday night was a sailor's warning for the weekend to come: Blake Morningstar stayed on the mound for four innings—until he allowed two home runs in the fifth. Morningstar allowed nine hits, eight earned runs, and struck out just two batters.
In the box, the Deacs mustered just two hits, two bases on balls, and struck out 11 times. After seven innings, the Friday-night lights were shut off, as Florida State invoked the run rule.
Game 2: 2–0 loss
Despite the same result in the win-loss column, Saturday's game went quite differently. Chris Levonas has been dealing this season, and he did much of the same against the Seminoles. The New Jersey native tossed six innings and allowed just two hits, while striking out 10 batters. Levonas allowed one earned run, but the Demon Deacons couldn't manage a run of their own, so he was handed his first loss of the season (4–1).
Wake Forest's batting performance was considerably worse; the Deacs recorded one hit and two bases on balls, while going down on strikes 16 times.
Game 3: 12–6 loss
Finally, the Demon Deacons got on the board against Florida State, but most of their efforts came too late. Javar Williams dominated with an RBI single and two home runs, totaling four RBIs. As a whole, the Deacs tallied nine hits and six walks.
On the rubber, Duncan Marsten got the start but struggled; he allowed two runs (including a home run) in the first inning. Marsten lasted three innings, striking out two batters, and allowing 6 hits and 7 earned runs.
Troy Dressler came in to relieve Marsten and found considerable success; the sophomore struck out eight batters and allowed just one run in his four innings of service.
Ultimately, it wasn't enough to grab the series finale against the red-hot Seminoles, and Wake Forest is on a four-game losing skid.
What's Next for Wake Forest Baseball?
The Demon Deacons are back in action at the Couch for a 6:00 p.m. first pitch against the Liberty Flames. They then travel to Charlottesville, Virginia, for a weekend series against the Virginia Cavaliers.
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.
Follow BlakeARobison