Wake Forest Drops Opener in Puerto Rico Against Houston
Opening Day did not go as desired for the Demon Deacons, as #21 Wake Forest lost its first game of the season to unranked Houston by the score of 8-2.
The loss ended a streak of 11-straight season-opening wins, dating back to 2015. The Deacs also now fall to 34-3 in February games played since 2022. Wake Forest went undefeated in February in 2022 and 2023, and then lost only one game in both 2024 and 2025.
Let's take you through some of the major points of today's game so you can see how it happened.
3rd Inning Struggles
Both teams were held scoreless after the first two innings. Blake Morningstar was effective on the mound, not giving up a hit in those initial two innings. However, the third inning was where Houston got the scoring started.
The Cougars had runners on second and third, and Tyler Cox hit a sacrifice bunt for Houston. The throw by Kade Lewis overshot the first basemen's head for a costly error that brought in two Cougars and left Wake with no outs.
Then Blake Morningstar threw a wild pitch with a runner at third. This allowed the runner to come home and score on this error, giving Houston a 3-0 lead. As you can see, errors were the primary reason for the Deacs falling behind early. They gave up another run before the inning ended, and the score sat at 4-0 after three.
Three complete in Ponce. pic.twitter.com/yu36K9ljCb
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) February 13, 2026
Inconsistent Offense
The Demon Deacons only trailed Houston 8-7 in hits when this one concluded. However, the Deacs could not tie anything together to create an offensive burst. In the top of the fourth, Dalton Wentz got on base right away, but then a double play at first destroyed all the momentum.
In the sixth inning, the offense looked like it was finally ready to pop. Wake had the bases loaded with no outs and a run already scored that inning. They were only able to muster one run from this position. Houston made a couple of great defensive plays all game to keep Wake from gaining confidence.
On the board ☝️ pic.twitter.com/II9L4F5aNt
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) February 13, 2026
Junior Kade Lewis had two hits in four plate appearances. Freshman Andrew Costello had an RBI in his first collegiate outing. Dalton Wentz also had an RBI and a run scored for the Deacs. Another freshman, JD Stein, had a hit and a run scored in his first outing as well. I am sure the Deacs will be hoping for some more consistency top to bottom from their lineup tomorrow.
Pitching Stats
Player | H | R | ER | BB | IP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blake Morningstar | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3.0 |
Troy Dressler | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2.1 |
Ryan Brenneke | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.2 |
Grant Nicholson | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0.0 |
Ryan Bosch | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 |
What's Next
The Demon Deacons will be back in action tomorrow against the Washington Huskies. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm and can be viewed on Victory+.
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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.