Wake Forest Falls in Tight Battle to Georgia Tech
We knew this series was a big one for the Deacs, and they battled the number three team in the nation very tightly on Friday night. They could not quite get over the top, resulting in the Yellow Jackets taking game one at home. Despite the loss, it's promising for the rest of the weekend that the Deacs were able to stay with the high-powered Yellow Jackets. Let's go through some of the major highlights from Friday night.
Fast Start
The Demon Deacons' offense got things going in the first inning. Dalton Wentz reached base with a single, and then Luke Costello reached on a fielding error. With one out, Kade Lewis homered to deep right field to give the Deacs an early 3-0 advantage with just one inning down.
This put the Yellow Jackets on their heels early. They responded, scoring on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first, but still trailed. In the second inning, Blake Schaaf continued his hot streak for the Deacs, hitting a solo home run to extend the lead to 4-1.
It was certainly promising that the Deacs' offense got going so early, but after this early surge, they only scored one run the rest of the ballgame. That is just not good enough to win a game against a team that is of Georgia Tech's caliber offensively.
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) April 25, 2026
5th Inning Struggles
Despite not mustering much offense after the start, the Deacs seemed to be in a good spot heading into the fifth inning. However, the Yellow Jackets' offense went on a burst that put them over the top.
Drew Burress singled to put a runner on right away. On the next batter, Jarren Advincula hit a home run off of Chris Levonas, scoring two runs. Levonas battled for most of the day, but things came apart in the fifth inning. The next two batters singled and were then walked. After a stolen base, Georgia Tech had runners on the corners.
This is where Chris Levonas' night came to an end, and freshman Evan Jones took over for the Deacs. A Will Baker double led to two more runners scoring, making it four runs in the inning when it was all said and done. Tech had done its damage, and Wake trailed 5-4 after this.
Luke Costello was able to bring home a run with a nice drive to the outfield, but nothing else came of the game offensively for the Deacs. In the ninth, they did have the tying run on third base, but Costello grounded out to end the ballgame.
What's Next?
The Demon Deacons will be back in action on Saturday afternoon to try to even the series. First pitch is at noon, and the ACC Network will televise the game.
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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.