Saturday, February 15
Winston-Salem, NC
1 p.m.
Wake Forest University
3-0
14
vs
0
LIU
1-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Long Island
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
Wake Forest
1
4
1
0
5
3
X
14
12
2
No. 14 Wake Forest Collects Second Run-Rule Victory of Opening Weekend
2/15/2025 9:47:00 PM | Baseball
The Demon Deacons look to finish Opening Weekend strong with a 1 p.m. contest tomorrow against Marist.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – For the second time in the first three games, No. 14 Wake Forest baseball cruised to a run-rule victory, taking down LIU, 14-0, in seven innings on Saturday evening at David F. Couch Ballpark.
The Demon Deacons came out firing on all cylinders offensively, hitting .392 (38-for-97) through the first three games, and have scored in double figures in all three. The offensive output marks the first time since the start of the 2009 season that Wake Forest has scored 10 or more in the first three games of the year.
Wake Forest has four hitters with 10 or more at-bats over the .400 mark, led by Preseason All-American Marek Houston at a scorching .636 through the first three games. Houston continued his hot start with a 3-for-4 night against the Sharks, including his third home run in as many games to open the year.
Equally as impressive, the Wake Forest pitching staff holds a 1.57 ERA through the first three games, and are limiting opponents to a .160 batting average against.
Saturday starter Matthew Dallas allowed just one hit over 4.1 innings, striking out nine batters, including five-straight K's in the second and third innings.
Senior Dylan Zucker made his Wake Forest debut in the seventh inning, sealing the win with a clean frame.
HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
STAGGERING STATISTICS
FROM COACH WALTER
"Good team win. Matt Dallas had some control issues there in the first inning, but after that was really good. I'd like to see his pitch count be a little lower. Gunny [Josh Gunther] was fantastic out of the bullpen. It was great to see Dylan Zucker go out there and shut it down, just a great job by Zuck. Ryan Preisano had a big day for us. The top of the order was really good for us. Scanny [Matt Scannell] with two hits, Marek [Houston] with three, Ethan [Conrad] with two and nine RBIs from the top three guys in the order is a pretty good day. It was good to see [Antonio] Morales and Scanny swing the bat better in their second start of the year. We're certainly going to need those guys. Good team win and we have a rested and ready bullpen for tomorrow." - head coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
Due to weather that moved through the Winston-Salem area on Saturday, the Demon Deacons and Marist will now faceoff on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. ET at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
The Demon Deacons came out firing on all cylinders offensively, hitting .392 (38-for-97) through the first three games, and have scored in double figures in all three. The offensive output marks the first time since the start of the 2009 season that Wake Forest has scored 10 or more in the first three games of the year.
Wake Forest has four hitters with 10 or more at-bats over the .400 mark, led by Preseason All-American Marek Houston at a scorching .636 through the first three games. Houston continued his hot start with a 3-for-4 night against the Sharks, including his third home run in as many games to open the year.
Equally as impressive, the Wake Forest pitching staff holds a 1.57 ERA through the first three games, and are limiting opponents to a .160 batting average against.
Saturday starter Matthew Dallas allowed just one hit over 4.1 innings, striking out nine batters, including five-straight K's in the second and third innings.
Senior Dylan Zucker made his Wake Forest debut in the seventh inning, sealing the win with a clean frame.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Starter Matthew Dallas settled in after a pair of walks, picking up two strikeouts to get out of the first frame unscathed.
- Junior Ethan Conrad drew a two-out walk to set the stage for first baseman Kade Lewis, who lasered a 105 mph RBI double to the left field wall to put Wake Forest up, 1-0.
- Dallas ran his strikeout total to five, punching out the side in the top of the second.
- The Deacs broke the game open with a four-spot in the second inning to grab a 5-0 advantage.
- Freshman Dalton Wentz earned a leadoff walk to put a runner on.
- Designated hitter Ryan Preisano recorded his first hit in a Wake uniform, depositing a 3-2 pitch well over the left field wall to make it 3-0.
- A walk from sophomore Javar Williams and single by shortstop Marek Houston put runners at the corner.
- A perfectly placed double by transfer Ethan Conrad brought both runs home to cap the scoring.
- For the second-straight inning, Dallas struck out the side for a big shutdown frame in the third.
- Wake tacked on another run in the third to push the lead to 6-0.
- Wentz beat out an infield single to start the frame and moved into scoring position on a double down the right field line from Preisano.
- A productive groundout from sophomore Antonio Morales plated Wentz.
- Dallas needed just 11 pitches to get through the fourth, retiring the Sharks in order.
- Sophomore Josh Gunther relieved Dallas with one away in the fifth, recording a pair of outs to keep LIU off the board.
- Dallas finished the night with nine strikeouts and allowed just one hit over 4.1 innings of work.
- The Deacs continued to pile on with five runs in the bottom of the fifth.
- After Williams was hit by a pitch, Morales roped a double off the base of the left field wall to put a pair of Deacs in scoring position.
- Outfielder Matt Scannell collected his first hit as a Demon Deacon with a double to left center to plate a pair of runs.
- A walk and stolen base from Houston put two in scoring position once again.
- Transfer Ethan Conrad went over the center fielder's head for Wake's third double of the inning to extend the lead to double digits.
- Preisano put together another good at-bat, drawing a bases-loaded walk to make it 11-0 in favor of the home squad.
- Gunther continued a strong relief effort with a clean frame in the six.
- Wake Forest capped the scoring with three runs in the bottom half of the sixth.
- Morales drew a lead-off walk.
- Scannell laced his second double of the night to plate Morales and make it 12-0.
- Houston took advantage of a 3-1 pitch, hammering it over the left field wall for his third home run of the year.
- Senior Dylan Zucker capped the 14-0 victory with a hitless inning of work on the mound in the seventh.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
- Wake Forest has four hitters with 10 or more at-bats over the .400 mark, led by Preseason All-American Marek Houston at a scorching .636 through the first three games. Houston continued his hot start with a 3-for-4 night against the Sharks, including his third home run in as many games to open the year.
- Equally as impressive, the Wake Forest pitching staff holds a 1.57 ERA through the first three games, and are limiting opponents to a .160 batting average against.
STAGGERING STATISTICS
- Over the past four seasons, the Deacs are 28-1 in the opening month of play, going 7-1 in 2024, 10-0 in 2023 and 8-0 in 2022. During that stretch, Wake Forest has outscored their opponents by a 351 to 78 margin (9.41 runs per game).
FROM COACH WALTER
"Good team win. Matt Dallas had some control issues there in the first inning, but after that was really good. I'd like to see his pitch count be a little lower. Gunny [Josh Gunther] was fantastic out of the bullpen. It was great to see Dylan Zucker go out there and shut it down, just a great job by Zuck. Ryan Preisano had a big day for us. The top of the order was really good for us. Scanny [Matt Scannell] with two hits, Marek [Houston] with three, Ethan [Conrad] with two and nine RBIs from the top three guys in the order is a pretty good day. It was good to see [Antonio] Morales and Scanny swing the bat better in their second start of the year. We're certainly going to need those guys. Good team win and we have a rested and ready bullpen for tomorrow." - head coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
Due to weather that moved through the Winston-Salem area on Saturday, the Demon Deacons and Marist will now faceoff on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. ET at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Dallas, Matthew (1-0)
L: Justin DeCastro (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Jacob Pipercic 1
Base Running:
SB: Chandler Ketchup 1
CS: Max Samson 1
Batting:
2B: Matt Scannell 2 ; Brennecke, Ryan 2 ; Lewis, Kade 1 ; Preisano, Ryan 1 ; Nicholson, Grant 1
HR: Schaaf, Blake 1 ; Preisano, Ryan 1
RBI: Matt Scannell 3 ; Schaaf, Blake 2 ; Brennecke, Ryan 4 ; Lewis, Kade 1 ; Preisano, Ryan 3 ; Nicholson, Grant 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Matt Scannell 2 ; Schaaf, Blake 3 ; Brennecke, Ryan 2 ; Wentz, Dalton 2 ; Preisano, Ryan 1 ; Williams, Javar 2 ; Nicholson, Grant 2
SB: Schaaf, Blake 1 ; Lewis, Kade 1
HBP: Williams, Javar 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
2
rf/cf
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
4
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
OF
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RHP
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INF
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UTL
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INF
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RHP
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