Several Long Balls Propel Wake Forest to Upset Win Over No. 7 Coastal Carolina
On Tuesday night, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons toppled the No. 7-ranked Coastal Carolina Chanticleers by a score of 10-5. Not only did Tom Walter’s squad avoid a midweek sweep against the Chanticleers this season, but they also secured a crucial win that significantly boosted their RPI.
Right-handed pitcher Duncan Marsten got the start for the Demon Deacons on the mound, and put together a solid outing tossing 5.0 innings, allowing just three earned runs. He also struck out seven Chanticleers in the process.
Sent packing 📦 pic.twitter.com/dEguM6Yjyr
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) April 14, 2026
The starting pitcher for Coastal Carolina, Jackson Smallets, was forced out of the ballgame quickly due to an offensive ambush from the Demon Deacons. In the third inning, the Wake Forest lineup struck for five runs on RBI singles from Kade Lewis, Luke Costello, Andrew Costello, and Javar Williams.
Demolished 🚀 https://t.co/UqWDqezDpF pic.twitter.com/qfFfE02iTb
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) April 15, 2026
The Chanticleers climbed back into the game with a three-run fourth inning, but long balls from Boston Torres, Jackson Miller, Dalton Wentz, L. Costello, and Jimmy Keenan helped put the game out of reach. The upset over Coastal Carolina was also head coach Tom Walter's 950th career win as a head coach.
Zooming Out on the Action-Packed Midweek
As I do with most of Wake Forest's midweeks, let's zoom out a little on where the Demon Deacons sit in the always-talented ACC. Coach Walter’s squad currently sits in eighth place in the conference with a 9–9 record, with the Deacons already having faced Miami, No. 9 Virginia, and No. 8 Florida State.
While dropping the series to Miami this past weekend was unfortunate, the Demon Deacons have a massive opportunity to recover. This coming weekend, Wake Forest will host the N.C. State Wolfpack in a three-game series. Both programs enter the series coming off of massive midweek wins, with the Wolfpack dominating East Carolina 10-3.
Similarly to Wake Forest, N.C. State has yet to put it all together against premier competition this season. Both programs have taken care of business against teams they were expected to beat, but have struggled against the ACC's top teams. After getting swept by No. 2 Georgia Tech a few weeks ago, the Wolfpack have strung together some solid weekends, winning seven of their last eight games.
If Wake Forest can build off of their midweek upset over Coastal Carolina, then they could make some serious noise this weekend with a series win over N.C. State. The Deacons have proven this season that they can take on some of the top teams in the country; now it's just time to prove it against a talented team during the weekend.
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Carson, a 2025 TCU graduate, is a sports journalist who covers college athletics for several On SI sites. While most of his experience is with TCU On SI, he also writes with Wake Forest On SI and Houston On SI. He also has a passion for the college baseball scene, most notably being a fan of TCU Baseball. In 2023, Carson was in Omaha and reported on the Men’s College World Series, where TCU finished 4th in the nation. His past work not only consists of major sports like football, basketball, and baseball, but with others like track and field and cross country as well.