Wake Forest Outlasts Stanford in ACC Opener at the Couch
Wake Forest baseball kept its win streak alive and passed its first conference test against the Stanford Cardinal on Friday night. It was certainly a great night for baseball, with temperatures almost in the 70s in Winston-Salem.
This one was closely contested early on, with Stanford taking the early lead. The Deacs never blinked, though, and took control. Let's go through some of the highlights in this game.
Thirteen in a row 🎩 pic.twitter.com/UBqRq4BHBp
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) March 7, 2026
Blake Morningstar Gets it Done
The Demon Deacons' ace may have started the season slowly, but it feels like he has really started to hit his stride and capitalize on the preseason expectations placed on him.
Morningstar went six innings in this one. The game started rocky, with Stanford batter Rintaro Sasaki hitting a home run while leading off the first inning. Morningstar, however, did not flinch and retired the next three batters to keep the damage at just one run.
He settled in after that first inning, giving up only two hits and two walks in his six innings pitched. He threw 99 total pitches and notched an impressive 11 strikeouts. This win went to Morningstar, making him 2-1 on the season. Will Ray captured the save in the ninth.
No Hitting Shortage
The Demon Deacons may have scored only seven runs, but they had 15 hits, showing their offensive prowess. Javar Williams and Kade Lewis both had three hits while leading off the order. They scored a combined three runs, and Lewis had 2 RBIs.
Jackson Miller and Blake Schaaf also chipped in, both having two hits and one RBI. On a night where Luke Costello and Dalton Wentz both had just one hit, it was great to see that the Deacs could get production from other areas of the order.
As the Deacs continue to get healthy, their hitting should just keep improving. Key pieces still have not seen much time yet, so it is promising that the Deacs offense is doing as well as it is with more reinforcements still on the way.
What's Next?
The Demon Deacons will look to continue the good mojo going into Game 2 of their first ACC series tomorrow at the Couch. First pitch will be at 2 pm. This game will see Chris Levonas on the mound for the Demon Deacons. He is off to a blazing 3-0 start and will look to continue building on his good play against ACC competition.
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.