Wake Forest Baseball in D1 Baseball's Preseason Top 25
Baseball season is right around the corner, and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are inside the top 25 to start their 2026 campaign. They are officially slotted in at #21 nationally according to D1Baseball.
The Deacs were ranked inside the top 20 going into last season, and were ranked preseason #1 to start the 2024 season after the trip to Omaha the year before. Both of these times, they fell out of the rankings. The real test will be if they can stay here.
The ACC has eight teams that are featured in the rankings, which is the second most of any conference (the SEC has 11). Georgia Tech is the highest of the ACC teams with a #5 preseason ranking, Louisville is #8, North Carolina is #11, Florida State and NC State are #16 and #17, and Clemson is #19. That rounds out the top 20 for the conference.
Just outside of the top 20, conference foes Wake Forest and Miami make up the #21 and #22 spots. So, currently, Wake Forest is the seventh-ranked team in the ACC going into the season.
Wake Forest has been a program of consistency, making the NCAA Tournament the last four years. This includes the run to the 2023 College World Series. They have not quite been able to replicate the outstanding 2023 season, but they definitely have the talent to do so. They have had seven players selected in the first round of the MLB Draft in the past three years. This includes Nick Kurtz, the unanimous American League Rookie of the Year.
2026 Team Outlook
Wake Forest's roster returns a lot of production from the 2025 season. On the mound, they return juniors Blake Morningstar and Matthew Dallas. Both of these guys should play key roles in the rotation, and Morningstar could rise to a first-round draft pick with his talent. They also get sophomores Chris Levonas and Duncan Marsten back, and will get Will Ray healthy for this season. Seniors Zach Johnston and Luke Schmolke also return.
In the field, the Deacs will return no fewer than seven position players. This includes a pair of third basemen, Kade Lewis and Dalton Wentz. The one big questionmark will be replacing shortstop Marek Houston, who was selected in the first round of the MLB draft. The two options will be transfer Blake Shaaf and freshman JD Stein.
What's Next?
The Demon Deacons will kick off their 2026 season in Puerto Rico, where they will participate in the Puerto Rico Challenge. Their first matchup will be against Houston on February 13th, and they will then take on Washington Feburary 14th, followed by Indiana State Feburary 15th. Opening day at the Couch will be against High Point on February 17th.
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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.