Wake Forest Offense Struggles Again in Midweek Game vs. Coastal Carolina
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons dropped another narrow midweek matchup, this time against the No. 11 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. While Wake Forest's pitching staff certainly gave the Deacons a chance to win, Tom Walter's squad couldn't find the clutch hit they needed late in the ballgame.
The last time these two teams met, the Chanticleers defeated the Deacons handily, 10-4. Tuesday night's matchup, which was played in Durham, presented Wake Forest with a prime opportunity to both boost their NCAA Tournament resume and exorcise their demons from earlier in the season.
RBIs from Coastal Carolina's Blagen Pado and Jordan Taylor were all the Chanticleers needed to secure the season series against Wake Forest. The Deacons showed life in the sixth inning with an RBI single from Matt Conte, but the rest of the lineup struggled to deliver with runners on base as Wake Forest stranded eight baserunners.
For Wake Forest, the 2-1 midweek loss marks the third time in their last six games they've dropped a one-run contest. While the Deacons are riding the wave of two straight series wins, including a midweek win over a talented Clemson program, the loss to the Chanticleers still stings to some degree.
Now’s the Time for the Deacons to Put It All Together
As I've frequently mentioned this season, there are no bye weeks in the ACC this year. The Deacons have already faced Virginia and Florida State, but have a gauntlet of a schedule awaiting them in the coming weeks.
It's no understatement that Wake Forest will now begin one of the toughest stretches in its schedule this weekend. Walter and his squad will travel to face a lethal Miami Hurricanes program that has won 11 of its last 13 games. Only days after the series in Miami, Wake Forest will match up with the Chanticleers once again in the season series finale as well.
Afterward, the Deacons will face the NC State Wolfpack and the No. 3 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. While it might be a stretch to say that the next few weeks will define Wake Forest's season, the next three weeks could certainly play a large role in determining how the Deacons are seeded in the NCAA Tournament.
If Wake Forest can find series wins against two of their next three weekend opponents, it could make some serious noise in the ACC standings and, by proxy, the national rankings. With some strong weekend performances recently, the national polls are beginning to take notice of what the Demon Deacons are doing.
Carson, a 2025 TCU graduate, is a sports journalist who covers college athletics for several On SI sites. While most of his experience is with TCU On SI, he also writes with Wake Forest On SI and Houston On SI. He also has a passion for the college baseball scene, most notably being a fan of TCU Baseball. In 2023, Carson was in Omaha and reported on the Men’s College World Series, where TCU finished 4th in the nation. His past work not only consists of major sports like football, basketball, and baseball, but with others like track and field and cross country as well.