Deacs Comeback Falls Short Against No. 12 Duke

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Facing a seven-run deficit in the fifth inning, the No. 1 Wake Forest baseball team nearly battled all the way back to take the series, but fell 10-8 Sunday night at David F. Couch Ballpark.

Trailing 9-2 heading into the bottom half of the fifth, the Demon Deacons climbed right back into the game with a five-spot that was started with patience hitting as three of the first five batters reached via a walk with the last by senior Jake Reinisch scoring the first run of the inning.

Sophomore Jack Winnay followed that up with a single that moved every runner up one. Sophomore Austin Hawke plated another on a fielder's choice to make it 9-5.

The big hit in the inning came from freshman Javar Williams who was pinch hitting in the designated hitter spot. He sliced a ball into the right center gap that was just out of the reach of the center fielder's glove as the two-out triple scored a pair to bring the Deacs within two, 9-7.

A clutch homer from leadoff batter Adam Tellier in the sixth brought Wake Forest within one, the closest they would come in the game.

Offensively, the Demon Deacons were led by another strong showing from Reinisch who tallied three hits, three RBIs and hit his fourth home run of the season. This is the sixth-straight game that he has recorded at least one hit and he has a hit in 13 of 15 games this season.

Reinisch currently leads the team with a .507 on-base percentage and ranks third on the team with a .346 batting average, trailing just Winnay (.367 avg.) and Tellier (.362 avg.).

HOW IT HAPPENED

Junior Michael Massey got his afternoon started with a scoreless top of the first, including a nasty strikeout to end the inning.
Shortstop Seaver King stayed dialed in with his fourth extra-base hit of the weekend and traded places with Reinisch two pitches later to put the Deacs up 1-0 after an inning.
The Blue Devils got the run back on a miscue by Wake Forest and took the lead with an RBI single in the second.
Duke extended their lead to 3-1 in the third after a wild pitch.
Reinisch cut the Blue Devil advantage in half on a 415-foot blast to center for his second homer of the series in the bottom of the fourth.
Duke added six runs in the top of the fifth.
Wake Forest answered with five runs of their own to cut the Duke lead to just two.
- The Deacs put two in scoring position with a walk from freshman Cam Nelson and double down the left field line by Tellier.
- Junior Nick Kurtz walked to load the bases with no outs.
- Reinisch worked a five-pitch walk to get the game to 9-3.
- An infield single by left fielder Jack Winnay cut the Duke lead to five.
- After a fielder's choice plated another run, Wake called freshman Javar Williams as a pinch-hitter in the DH spot. Williams delivered with a two-RBI triple to right center to bring the score to 9-7 in favor of the Blue Devils after six complete innings.
Reliever Will Ray entered in the top of the seventh and delivered a shutdown frame for the Deacs.
Tellier cut the lead to just one with his sixth homer of the year, destroying a 3-2 pitch over the right centerfield wall.
Ray got the first out of the eighth before giving way to freshman Josh Gunther, who recorded the final two outs of the inning.
Wake Forest loaded the bases in the bottom half but were unable to scratch a run across.
Duke tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth to go up 10-8.
- Austin Hawke nearly made a nice play ranging into right field on a flare single but the ball fell just off the tip of his glove.
In the bottom of the ninth, Wake Forest got the first two runners on.
- Reinisch skyed the first pitch of the inning high into the right center gap and the Duke outfielders were unable to see it. The ball fell and Reinisch was able to get all the way to third.
- Winnay followed that up by working a walk, putting the tying run on first with no outs.
  - That is as close as the Deacs would come in the inning as the next three batters were retired to end the game.
Wake Forest fell 10-8.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Reinisch continued his red-hot hitting to start the season.
- He tallied a team-high three hits, team-high three RBIs and hit his fourth home run of the season.
- This is the sixth-straight game that he has recorded at least one hit and he has a hit in 13 of 15 games this season.
- Reinisch currently leads the team with a .507 on-base percentage and ranks third on the team with a .346 batting average, trailing just Winnay (.367 avg.) and Tellier (.362 avg.).

FROM COACH WALTER
"It's tough to win a ballgame when you give away 16 free passes. We just didn't throw nearly enough strikes today. We still had the game there at the end where we had a chance to pull it out. Duke has some talented arms at the end of the bullpen and they made big pitches when they needed to. We didn't quite honestly. We gave up a cheap run in the ninth inning there and we have to make that play. There were two fly balls that should have found gloves, a double play ball and another ground ball cost us the runs in addition to the free passes. That was a disappointing day on the mound and defensively for sure.

Offensively, in the eighth inning we had chances with the right guys at the plate. It was the same thing in the ninth inning. We just couldn't get the big hit, give credit to Proksch and Beilenson for making big pitches when they needed to." - head coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons are on the road for the next four, starting on Tuesday night when Wake Forest travels to No. 18 Coastal Carolina for a 4 p.m. first pitch. For fans not in attendance Tuesday, the game can be seen on ESPN+.

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Team Stats

Jake Reinisch

Adam Tellier

Javar Williams

Seaver King

Players Mentioned

Josh Gunther

Austin Hawke

Seaver King

Nick Kurtz

Michael Massey

Cam Nelson

Jake Reinisch

Adam Tellier

Javar Williams

Jack Winnay

Wake Forest Athletics