Wake Forest Baseball to Open Season in the Caribbean
Wake Forest baseball released its full 55-game 2026 schedule this afternoon. The Deacs will open up in Puerto Rico on Friday, February 13, against Houston. They'll face Washington and Indiana State as Wake participates in the second iteration of the Puerto Rico Challenge. After what should be a fantastic opening weekend, Wake Forest will return home for two four-game home stretches sandwiched around a mid-week trip to UNC-Greensboro on February 24.
Wake Forest's home opener will occur on Tuesday, February 17, as they welcome in-state opponent High Point to David F. Couch Ballpark. The Demon Deacons will host 30 games at home. A competitive midweek slate features home-and-away trips to UNC-Greensboro, Elon, Liberty, High Point, and 2025 National Runners-up Coastal Carolina. Other non-conference opponents include Siena, Davidson, Loyola Marymount, and App State. The showdown with the Mountaineers will be at a neutral site on April 28 in Shelby.
ACC play begins with a home series against Stanford, whom Wake Forest beat on the road last season. The Deacs will also host Florida State, California, NC State, and Louisville. With Cal and Stanford coming to Winston-Salem, Wake avoids the dreaded West Coast road trip, but will have to face Virginia, Pittsburgh, Miami, and Georgia Tech on the road. They'll also finish their regular season at Duke, presenting an intriguing storyline when they face their former pitching coach in Blue Devil head coach Corey Muscara.
The Deacs will have a weekend off from ACC play in May, where they'll host a three-game series over two days against Western Carolina. The series with the Catamounts will be a final tune-up for their regular season finale against Duke and the ACC Tournament in Charlotte.
On paper, Wake Forest's conference slate appears favorable, as they face Stanford, Cal, Pitt, and a transitioning Duke. Aside from Georgia Tech, their toughest opponents—Florida State, NC State, and Louisville—come to the Couch. Wake Forest will avoid North Carolina, Clemson, Boston College, and Virginia Tech, a quartet of teams that the Demon Deacons went 2-10 against last season. They'll also avoid a trip to chilly South Bend as they miss Notre Dame.
Overall, it's one of the easier conference schedules to traverse, and yet they'll also have plenty of opportunities to test themselves against strong opponents both inside the ACC and out. It's a different team, but Tom Walter's squad is in good position to improve on last year's 16-14 conference record.
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Monty is an ACC baseball expert and hosts ACC Central with the Just Means Less podcast. He previously led all ACC Content at College Baseball Central for three seasons and was also the managing editor of the Washington Nationals Blog “Half Street High Heat” from 2019 through 2023. He also has experience covering college baseball through Prospects Live, Just Baseball, and Georgia Tech Radio. Monty has been credentialed at the ACC Tournament, NCAA Tournament, and College World Series and interviewed countless ACC baseball players and coaches.
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