Tuesday, February 27
Greensboro, NC
6 p.m.
Wake Forest University
7-1
12
at
1
North Carolina A&T
6-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Wake Forest
2
5
0
1
0
0
1
0
3
12
11
0
North Carolina A&T
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
3
4
Photo by: Seth Seebaugh
No. 1 Wake Forest Earns First Road Win of Season With 12-1 Victory Over NC A&T
2/27/2024 10:42:00 PM | Baseball
Jack Winnay launched his fourth home run in as many games and freshman Haiden Leffew picked up his first career win on the mound in his second start.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Highlighted by freshman Haiden Leffew's first career victory, the No. 1 Wake Forest baseball team picked up its first road win of the season as it defeated the North Carolina A&T Aggies, 12-1, at World War Memorial Stadium Tuesday night.
Leffew finished the game with five strikeouts and allowed just two hits and a walk through five innings of work. He became the first freshman Demon Deacon (7-1) to record a victory since Josh Hartle in 2022. Of note, Wake Forest starters are now 7-0 on the year and have a combined 1.31 ERA through eight games.
For the second-consecutive outing, junior William Ray went two scoreless innings in relief. He retired all six batters he faced and punched out two. So far this season, he has allowed just one run in 7.1 innings pitched (1.23 ERA) with nine strikeouts to one walk.
Freshman duo Cam Nelson and Josh Gunther went 1.1 scoreless innings before sophomore Will Gervase retired the final two batters in his Wake Forest debut.
For the second-consecutive game, all nine Demon Deacons reached base at least once. Sophomore Jack Winnay launched his team-high fourth home run in as many games as the left fielder finished 2-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs and is now batting .348 on the year.
Sophomore Marek Houston and graduate transfer Adam Tellier recorded two doubles apiece in the first two spots in the order. It marked Houston's first-career two-double game and Tellier's second of the season. As a team, Wake Forest tied a season-high with six doubles.
HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
STAGGERING STATISTICS
FROM COACH WALTER
"I thought our offense was really good early in the game. We set the tone in the first two innings. We went out there and stacked some great at-bats together. We left some runs out there later in the game with the bases loaded and nobody out twice and we only came away with one run. We need to execute a little better in the middle part of the game.
I was really pleased with our pitching today. Haiden Leffew had a really good start. He was landing all four pitches for strikes and competing. Will Ray came in behind him, he is getting better and better each time he plays. It is exciting to see that. Then we had Cam Nelson, Josh Gunther and Will Gervase closing it out. We also had some great defensive plays out there as well. It was a good team effort at a tough place to win. North Carolina A&T was playing really good baseball coming into today so that was a good team win." - head coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Deacs are back at David F. Couch Ballpark against Binghamton on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. For fans not in attendance at The Couch on Saturday, the game can be seen on ACC Network Extra.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Leffew finished the game with five strikeouts and allowed just two hits and a walk through five innings of work. He became the first freshman Demon Deacon (7-1) to record a victory since Josh Hartle in 2022. Of note, Wake Forest starters are now 7-0 on the year and have a combined 1.31 ERA through eight games.
For the second-consecutive outing, junior William Ray went two scoreless innings in relief. He retired all six batters he faced and punched out two. So far this season, he has allowed just one run in 7.1 innings pitched (1.23 ERA) with nine strikeouts to one walk.
Freshman duo Cam Nelson and Josh Gunther went 1.1 scoreless innings before sophomore Will Gervase retired the final two batters in his Wake Forest debut.
For the second-consecutive game, all nine Demon Deacons reached base at least once. Sophomore Jack Winnay launched his team-high fourth home run in as many games as the left fielder finished 2-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs and is now batting .348 on the year.
Sophomore Marek Houston and graduate transfer Adam Tellier recorded two doubles apiece in the first two spots in the order. It marked Houston's first-career two-double game and Tellier's second of the season. As a team, Wake Forest tied a season-high with six doubles.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Houston was hit by the first pitch of the game in the leadoff spot to get things started for the Deacs.
- Tellier stayed hot with his fifth double of the season.
- Houston and Tellier both scored after an error on a back pick by the Aggie catcher to give the Deacs an early 2-0 lead.
- Leffew kept the Aggies scoreless with a shutdown frame in the bottom of the first.
- The Deacs added six runs in the top of the second to extend the lead to 7-0.
- Designated hitter Tate Ballestero doubled to lead off the inning and scored off the Deacs third double in two innings by Austin Hawke.
- Winnay hammered a ball over the left field wall for a two-run home run, marking his fourth bomb in four games.
- Catcher Cameron Gill singled to right field and advanced to second after Houston was walked.
- Tellier hit a double down the left field line and drove in Houston from third.
- Senior Jake Reinisch made it to first base on a fielder's choice that scored Houston.
- Leffew kept it scoreless and fanned two batters to mark his 10th strikeout of the season in the bottom of the second.
- In the top of the third inning, Leffew struck out two more batters and kept the Aggies scoreless.
- Wake Forest added one run in the top of the fourth to add to the lead to 8-0 off a wild pitch from the Aggies.
- Leffew notched his fifth strikeout of the night and kept the Aggies scoreless in the bottom of the fourth.
- The Aggies scored in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 8-1.
- In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ray entered the game for Wake Forest and pitched a scoreless frame with one strikeout.
- The Deacs extended their lead to 9-0 with one run in the top of the seventh with Tellier picking up his second RBI of the night on a fielder's choice.
- The Aggies went down in order after Ray fanned the leadoff batter to keep the score 9-1 in the bottom of the seventh.
- For Ray, it marked the second-straight 2.0 inning appearance without allowing a hit.
- After a runner advanced to third, Nelson fanned one batter in the bottom of the eighth.
- The Deacs brought in Gunther who got out of the inning unscathed.
- Wake Forest added three runs in the top of the ninth to extend the lead to 12-1.
- Houston notched his second double on the night for his first career two-double game and scored on a balk.
- First baseman Nick Kurtz hit a laser up the middle for a single, reaching base for the fifth time on the evening.
- Reinisch and Kurtz scored off a little league home run, benefiting from a pair of NC A&T errors on the play.
- Gunther struck out the leadoff batter for the Aggies in the bottom of the ninth.
- Sophomore Will Gervase made his Wake Forest debut and recorded the final two outs for Wake Forest's first road win of the season.
- The Demon Deacons defeated the Aggies 12-1.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
- Sophomore Jack Winnay continued his hot stretch offensively, as the left fielder launched his fourth home run in the last four games. His four homers now lead the team.
- Over the last four games, Winnay is 7-for-16 (.438) at the plate with nine RBIs, four runs scored and five extra-base hits.
- Freshman Haiden Leffew earned his first-career victory on the mound and allowed just one run, two hits, two walks with five strikeouts.
- Over his first two career starts, the lefty has accumulated 13 strikeouts to just four walks in 9.0 innings pitched and has posted a 2.00 ERA.
STAGGERING STATISTICS
- For the second-consecutive game, all nine Wake Forest players with a plate appearance Tuesday reached base.
- With 11 drawn walks against the Aggies, the Deacs have now earned 68 free passes this season (8.5 per game). Wake Forest entered the contest ranked first in the ACC and 14th nationally in the category.
- Eight Demon Deacons earned at least one walk Tuesday night, led by Kurtz, who recorded his second four-walk performance in the last three games. Of note, he now sits at fifth all-time in Wake Forest history with 122 career walks.
- With 11 drawn walks against the Aggies, the Deacs have now earned 68 free passes this season (8.5 per game). Wake Forest entered the contest ranked first in the ACC and 14th nationally in the category.
- Over the first eight games of the season, the Wake Forest starting rotation has been lights out, posting a perfect 7-0 record with an outstanding 1.61 ERA and a 4.15 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
- Starter W/L IP ERA Ks BBs Hits WHIP
- Josh Hartle 2-0 11.2 1.54 10 2 8 0.89
- Chase Burns 2-0 11.1 2.38 18 5 7 1.08
- Michael Massey 2-0 7.0 1.29 13 2 2 0.57
- Haiden Leffew 1-0 9.0 2.00 13 4 4 0.89
- Totals 7-0 39.0 1.31 54 13 21 0.87
FROM COACH WALTER
"I thought our offense was really good early in the game. We set the tone in the first two innings. We went out there and stacked some great at-bats together. We left some runs out there later in the game with the bases loaded and nobody out twice and we only came away with one run. We need to execute a little better in the middle part of the game.
I was really pleased with our pitching today. Haiden Leffew had a really good start. He was landing all four pitches for strikes and competing. Will Ray came in behind him, he is getting better and better each time he plays. It is exciting to see that. Then we had Cam Nelson, Josh Gunther and Will Gervase closing it out. We also had some great defensive plays out there as well. It was a good team effort at a tough place to win. North Carolina A&T was playing really good baseball coming into today so that was a good team win." - head coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Deacs are back at David F. Couch Ballpark against Binghamton on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. For fans not in attendance at The Couch on Saturday, the game can be seen on ACC Network Extra.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Leffew, Haiden (1-0)
L: CAIN, Avery (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Houston, Marek 2 ; Tellier, Adam 2 ; Ballestero, Tate 1 ; Hawke, Austin 1
3B: Reinisch, Jake 1
HR: Winnay, Jack 1
RBI: Tellier, Adam 2 ; Reinisch, Jake 2 ; Hawke, Austin 1 ; Winnay, Jack 2
SH: Gill, Cameron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Houston, Marek 3 ; Tellier, Adam 2 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Reinisch, Jake 1 ; Ballestero, Tate 1 ; Hawke, Austin 2 ; Winnay, Jack 1 ; Gill, Cameron 1
SB: Gill, Cameron 1
HBP: Houston, Marek 1
Batting:
2B: DALTON, Shemar 2
RBI: WILLIAMS,Tre 1
SF: WILLIAMS,Tre 1
Base Running:
RUNS: WOOD, Enrique 1
SB: SIKES, Chet 1
HBP: NEGISHI, Tatsunori 1 ; LOGAN, Michael 1
Game Leaders
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RBI
2
AB
5
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1
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2
RBI
2
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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