Mistakes Pile Up, Wake Forest Loses to Pitt in ACC Tournament
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons' stay in Charlotte has been cut short as they fall to the 14th-seeded Pitt Panthers in their opening game.
Pitt used their high-powered offense to put pressure on the Deacs from the start, and Wake could not respond and take control of the game. Let's go through some of the highlights from Wednesday night in Charlotte.
Errors Piling Up
One big reason for Pitt's scoring was that the Deacs just made too many mistakes defensively and on the mound. Duncan Marsten got the start. He has been very solid in his recent midweek outings, but had to be pulled after less than two innings pitched in this one. In total, the Deacs used seven pitchers.
Those pitchers combined to walk 11 Panther batters, giving them runners on base early and often. The Deacs also uncharacteristically had two errors and three wild pitches. Two of those wild pitches and one of the errors accounted for Pitt's runs. That means three of Pitt's seven runs came from mistakes made by Wake.
No pitcher went more than three innings for the Deacs, as Rhys Bowie was their longest-lasting pitcher, throwing 3.1 innings, but he was tagged with the loss. For the Deacs to do well in the NCAA Tournament, their pitching will certainly have to be sharper.
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) May 21, 2026
Can't Cash in Offensively
Pitt struck first in this one, scoring three runs in the top of the second. The bottom of the second saw the Deacs strike with a JD Stein RBI single to bring in Blake Schaaf. The bats continued to build in the third as Kade Lewis led off the inning with a single and Dalton Wentz hit his 18th home run of the season to bring him home.
However, the Deacs' offense did not score again until adding one run in the ninth inning. Going cold with no runs for five straight innings against a high-powered Pitt offense is normally not a recipe for success. Wake did get two-hit outings from Javar Williams, Kade Lewis, and JD Stein, but it ultimately ended up not being enough to put pressure on the Panthers, who got two runs in the seventh to add a cushion to the lead.
What's Next?
The Deacs will now, unfortunately, ride a losing streak into the NCAA Tournament after a 10-game winning streak that ended during the Duke series. They will learn which regional they will play in when the bracket is released at noon on Memorial Day. The bracket release can be seen on ESPN 2.
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Justin is a student at Wake Forest University. He is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and aspiring finance major interested everything sports. In his freshman year, Justin completed an internship with the Wake Forest Ticketing Department where he gained some valuable insight into the sales and operations aspects of collegiate athletics. Before working with Wake Forest On SI, Justin was a contributing writer for Wake Forest’s student publication The Old Gold and Black. Currently, Justin serves as a student manager on the Wake Forest Men’s Tennis team. In his free time Justin enjoys spending time with his family and friends on the golf course and traveling.