Wake Forest Baseball Evades Scare from Siena in Game One of Opening Weekend
The opening game of the weekend certainly did not go as planned for the Demon Deacons. After a good start, they trailed Siena 6-2 in this one before turning it on offensively to pull it out.
Offense was not lacking for either team in this game. It was what some people may call a slug fest as Wake Forest and Siena combined to hit seven home runs. Let's go through some of the highlights and key moments from the game.
Grinded it out 😤 pic.twitter.com/LfV6VP8Gww
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) February 21, 2026
More Morningstar Struggles
Blake Morningstar made his second start of the season today. As someone with high expectations of being an all-out ace for this Wake ball club, it was another disappointing outing.
Similar to his first start against Houston, Morningstar got through the first two innings with relative ease. He struck out three batters in the first and did not allow a hit in the second.
However, the third inning is where things started to fall apart. After walking his first three batters to load the bases, the Saints capitalized with a single to bring in their first run. In the subsequent at-bat, Jake Sparks hit a grand slam to bring four more runs in. As if that was not bad enough, Scott Lynch also homered for the Saints to make it a six-run inning.
After finally getting out of the inning, Morningstar recovered in the fourth, allowing no hits. His night came to an end, though, after just four innings. While it looks like Siena lit it up offensively, almost all of the damage was done in one inning.
Offensive Surge
Fans have wanted to see some bats heat up for Wake Forest this weekend, and they definitely got a taste of that tonight. The Deacs hit four home runs and scored in double figures for the second time this season.
The star of the night would definitely have to be sophomore Dalton Wentz. He got the scoring started with a solo home run in the first inning. He followed this up with another home run on his subsequent at-bat in the third inning to bring two home. He scored three runs on the day and had four RBIs.
Sophomore Luke Costello made his season debut tonight after recovering from an injury. It did not take him long to get going. In fact, he hit a home run on the first pitch he saw in the first inning. He finished scoring two runs on the night in what was a stellar season debut.
With the score tied as 7-7, the Deacs scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to put this one out of reach. The cause was a combination of walks, errors from Siena, and some solid hitting from Wake Forest to pull ahead.
Bombs away 💣 pic.twitter.com/wlJ4qZYjur
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) February 20, 2026
Dressler Gets it Done
With the score tied at 7-7, Troy Dressler came in at the top of the eighth inning, trying to give the Deacs some stability. In his first six pitches, he gave up two hits. Siena got runners on the corners with only one out. That is when Dressler really turned it on. He retired the next two batters to keep Sienna off the board.
In the ninth inning, Dressler closed out the first three batters he faced. He ultimately ended up securing the pitching victory, moving him to 1-0 on the young season.
What's Next?
The Deacs will be back in action for Game 2 of the weekend series against Siena. First pitch will be at 4 pm again, and the game can be viewed on ACC Network Extra.
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.