Poor Start Plagues Wake Forest in Series-Opening Loss
The Demon Deacons fell on Friday night in the series opener against the #9 Virginia Cavaliers. Similar to last weekend, the Deacs were never able to grab a lead in this game and had to play from behind the entire contest.
Blake Morningstar was out of synch and taken out in the fourth inning. He fell to 2-3 on the season with the loss. Let's take a look at some of the key points in this one.
Errors Haunt Defense
Despite the result, the Deacs had more hits than the Cavaliers in this one by the final margin of 11-7. Virginia was able to score 10 runs because Wake's defense had three errors that cost them.
Two of these errors were committed by freshman shortstop JD Stein in the 1st and 4th innings, respectively. Kade Lewis committed another in the 6th. The Cavaliers capitalized on these Wake errors, scoring five runs in the 1st, three in the 4th, and two in the 6th.
The Deacs' defense, having a bad night, played a large role in what Virginia was able to do offensively. The five-run start in the first inning gave them a sizeable cushion right away. Morningstar also had another rough outing in this one. He has given up a lot of multi-run innings that have been detrimental to the Deacs so far this year.
Blake and the boys 🎩
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) March 20, 2026
🔗 https://t.co/LrgvdSJfP7 pic.twitter.com/ZriukCygwM
Missed Offensive Opportunities
Even though the Deacs gave up a lot of runs early, they did have chances to make a splash offensively. In the sixth inning, after a sacrifice fly from Luke Costello had already brought in a run, the Deacs had the bases loaded with only one out.
Cashing in here could really have turned the momentum, but outfielder Jackson Miller struck out swinging, and Andrew Costello flew out to right field to end the inning, leaving several potential runs on the bases.
In the later innings, the bats seemed to get going. They scored two runs in the eighth inning and had bases loaded in the ninth, down four. A home run from the hitter, Andrew Costello, would mean a grand slam and a tied game, but unfortunately, Costello struck out swinging and ended the game with loaded bases. Opportunities were there, the Deacs just could. not cash in when they needed it the most.
We'll look to even the series tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/BUhkonfvlK
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) March 21, 2026
What's Next?
The Deacs will be back in action in Charlottesville against No. 9 Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday for game two. Chris Levonas will be on the mound, and hopefully the Deacs can play cleaner and capitalize on some of the missed opportunities today to even the series. The game is at 4 pm ET.
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.