No. 12 Wake Forest Completes Midweek Comeback

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Trailing 6-0 after the top of the first, Wake Forest scored nine unanswered runs to defeat the Phoenix, 9-6, on Tuesday night at David F. Couch Ballpark.

The Demon Deacons' bullpen was lights out, allowing just two hits over 8.2 innings with 14 strikeouts.

Transfer Griffin Green was the first out of the pen, holding the Phoenix to just one hit over 1.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts.

Junior Luke Schmolke was flawless over 2.1 innings with four strikeouts, while reliever Haiden Leffew followed Schmolke with 2.0 one-hit innings to earn the win on the mound.

Zach Johnston, Will Ray, and Josh Gunther combined to go the final three innings without allowing a hit and punched out seven batters.

Shortstop Marek Houston paced the Demon Deacons offensively, finishing 3-for-5 (.600) with his team-leading fifth home run in the bottom of the eighth.

In total, Wake Forest left the yard four times on Tuesday, bringing their home run total to 20 through the first nine games of the season. The 20 big flies rank third in the NCAA, as catcher Jimmy Keenan hit his first as a Deac in the fourth, and Ethan Conrad and Jack Winnay went back-to-back in the bottom of the sixth.

With the victory, Wake Forest has now won 64 consecutive non-conference home games, dating back to the 2021 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Elon got on the board first with six runs in the top of the first.
Wake Forest got a run back in the bottom half to cut into the deficit.
Transfers Griffin Green and Luke Schmolke kept the Phoenix off the board in the second.
Schmolke struck out a pair in a three-up, three-down top of the third.
Two more strikeouts in the fourth ran Schmolke's total to four for the contest.
Wake Forest fought back to tie the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the fourth.
- First baseman Jack Winnay led off the frame with a walk.
- A sharp single through the right side from sophomore Kade Lewis put Deacs at the corners with nobody out.
- Freshman Dalton Wentz roped an RBI double to the right field wall to make it 6-2 in favor of Elon.
- Catcher Jimmy Keenan struck for the big blow of the frame, taking a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right center to cut the deficit to one.
- Sophomore Javar Williams kept the inning rolling with a single back up the middle.
- A hit-and-run single from shortstop Marek Houston moved Williams to third to put Demon Deacons on the corners.
- Center fielder Ethan Conrad laced an RBI single at the Phoenix third baseman to bring Williams home and bring Wake Forest back from a six-run deficit.
Reliever Haiden Leffew worked a huge shutdown frame to keep the game knotted at 6-6 after four and a half complete innings.
Wake completed the comeback with back-to-back home runs from Conrad and Winnay to take a 8-6 lead over the Phoenix in the bottom of the sixth.
- Conrad hammered a 2-0 pitch to right field for his second homer of the season to put the Deacs on top.
- Winnay took the very next pitch over the wall in left center to give the Deacs eight-straight unanswered.
  - The homer tied Winnay for the team lead and was his third in the last three games.
Junior Zach Johnston recorded a pair of strikeouts to keep Elon off the board in the seventh.
Johnston and senior Will Ray held the Phoenix scoreless in the eighth.
Houston launched his fifth home run of the season to give the Deacs an insurance run in the bottom half of the frame.
Sophomore Josh Gunther slammed the door on Elon in the ninth to preserve the 9-6 victory.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

During the 2022-2024 seasons, Wake Forest totaled 365 home runs which led the ACC and also ranked third nationally during that time and the Deacs are one of just four teams nationally to have 100 or more home runs in each of the last three seasons.
Wake Forest has started the season with 20 home runs over their first nine games to rank first in the ACC and third in the nation in the category after two weeks of play.

STAGGERING STATISTIC

With a clear home-field advantage, Wake has gone 93-17-1 since 2022 at The Couch, including a stellar 34-3 mark on their way to a program-record 54 wins in 2023, 25-7 in 2024 and 8-0 at home to start 2025.
The Demon Deacons have now won 64-straight regular season non-conference home games dating back to May 8, 2021, with the last loss coming against in-state foe Elon that season.

FROM COACH WALTER
"It wasn't pretty early. You never want to get down 6-0, but I'm really proud of our guys and the way our energy didn't fade and the way we still believed in our ball club. We had some big hits today as well. Jimmy Keenan's home run got us close and then runs from Marek Houston, Ethan Conrad, and Jack Winnay gave us some more space. Our bullpen was outstanding. Luke Schmolke was fantastic today and Haiden Leffew was right behind him. [Zach] Johnston as well had five big outs, Will Ray had a huge punchout with guys on base, and [Josh] Gunther finished things out. I'm really happy with the way we threw the ball from the third inning on and we got eight scoreless innings. When you're trying to come back from a 6-0 deficit, you've got to put up zeros. I give credit to Griffin Green, [Luke] Schmolke and Haiden [Leffew] that they did that, let the game settle down and we could catch up." - head coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
Wake Forest returns to the Couch this weekend with a pair of games against Princeton and Maryland. Friday's game against the Tigers is set for 4 p.m. ET and will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Next Event

Team Stats

Blake Schaaf

Ryan Brennecke

Jackson Miller

Dalton Wentz

Players Mentioned

Ethan Conrad

Griffin Green

Josh Gunther

Marek Houston

Zach Johnston

Jimmy Keenan

Haiden Leffew

Kade Lewis

Will Ray

Luke Schmolke

Dalton Wentz

Javar Williams

Jack Winnay

Wake Forest Athletics