Saturday, March 1
Winston-Salem, NC
3 p.m.
Wake Forest University
8
vs
9
Maryland
No. 12 Demon Deacons Fall to Maryland, 9-8
3/1/2025 7:58:00 PM | Baseball
Wake Forest will return to action with a doubleheader Sunday.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 12 Wake Forest baseball team (9-2, 0-0 ACC) fell to Maryland (6-4, 0-0 Big Ten), 9-8, Saturday afternoon at David F. Couch Ballpark. It marked the first home loss of the 2025 campaign for the Demon Deacons.
After falling behind 5-0 early, the Deacs stormed back with six runs in the bottom of the third inning, highlighted by a three-run homer from sophomore Kade Lewis, followed by a solo shot from junior Jimmy Keenan.
Lewis finished the night with a team-high three hits and four runs batted in. On the season, the Minnesota-native ranks second on the team with a .432 batting average and a 1.262 OPS.
The junior duo of Marek Houston and Jack Winnay logged two hits apiece and combined for three runs batted in. Houston continued his strong start to this season and is batting .465 this season with 22 RBIs through just 11 games.
On the mound, Wake Forest saw a combined 4.2 innings of relief from lefties Haiden Leffew and Zach Johnston. Leffew fanned six of his 11 batters faced while Johnston followed with four strikeouts of his own.
Of note, Johnston has not allowed an earned run in five of his six appearances so far this season.
As a team, the Demon Deacons combined for 15 strikeouts to just four walks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FROM COACH WALTER
"That's as disappointing of a loss as we've had in a really long time. We had two outs and nobody on with two really good guys on the mound. Obviously, a four-pitch walk and then we don't make a play on the comebacker. We just threw a couple too many pitches thick there and Maryland did a good job of battling. We come up in the bottom of the ninth and have first and second with nobody out and we need to find a way to score at least one there and maybe even walk them off at that point. Their at-bats in the ninth were better than ours. I thought we outplayed them in innings two through eight, and they outplayed us in innings one and nine and that was the difference today. It's a disappointing loss and we're going to have to find a way to bounce back tomorrow." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
Wake Forest closes the homestand with a pair of games tomorrow. First pitch against Princeton is set for 9:30 a.m. ET with the final game of the weekend against Maryland following the conclusion of the contest with the Tigers. Both games will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
After falling behind 5-0 early, the Deacs stormed back with six runs in the bottom of the third inning, highlighted by a three-run homer from sophomore Kade Lewis, followed by a solo shot from junior Jimmy Keenan.
Lewis finished the night with a team-high three hits and four runs batted in. On the season, the Minnesota-native ranks second on the team with a .432 batting average and a 1.262 OPS.
The junior duo of Marek Houston and Jack Winnay logged two hits apiece and combined for three runs batted in. Houston continued his strong start to this season and is batting .465 this season with 22 RBIs through just 11 games.
On the mound, Wake Forest saw a combined 4.2 innings of relief from lefties Haiden Leffew and Zach Johnston. Leffew fanned six of his 11 batters faced while Johnston followed with four strikeouts of his own.
Of note, Johnston has not allowed an earned run in five of his six appearances so far this season.
As a team, the Demon Deacons combined for 15 strikeouts to just four walks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Maryland jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first.
- The Terrapins pushed their lead to 5-0 in the third inning.
- Wake Forest answered back with six runs in the bottom of the third to grab the lead.
- Three-straight walks loaded the bases for the Demon Deacons.
- Designated hitter Jack Winnay blooped a two-RBI single to center field to put the Deacs on the board.
- Sophomore Kade Lewis unloaded on a 2-0 pitch, tying the game at 5-5 with a 403-foot blast over the right-center wall.
- Catcher Jimmy Keenan put Wake Forest on top with a solo shot to left field for his second of the year.
- Maryland answered with a solo home run of their own in the top of the fourth to tie the game at 6-6.
- The Deacs grabbed the lead back in the bottom half of the fourth on Lewis's fourth RBI of the day, as the transfer laced a two-out single to left field to plate shortstop Marek Houston.
- With a pair of runners in scoring position, reliever Haiden Leffew got out of the jam with a huge strikeout to preserve the Demon Deacons' lead after four and a half innings.
- Wake Forest scored for the third-straight inning to push its lead to 8-5 after five complete.
- Marek Houston roped a double down the left-field line to plate Morales from first for his 22nd RBI of the season.
- Leffew made quick work of the Terps in the top of the sixth, striking out the side on 14 pitches.
- A pair of groundouts from junior Zach Johnston keep Maryland off the board for the third straight inning.
- Johnston barred down after the first two batters reached in the eighth with a flyout and pair of strikeouts to escape the top of the eighth.
- The Terrapins took the lead with three runs in the top of the ninth.
- The Demon Deacons left runners stranded on second and third in the bottom of the ninth, and fell to the Terrapins, 9-8.
FROM COACH WALTER
"That's as disappointing of a loss as we've had in a really long time. We had two outs and nobody on with two really good guys on the mound. Obviously, a four-pitch walk and then we don't make a play on the comebacker. We just threw a couple too many pitches thick there and Maryland did a good job of battling. We come up in the bottom of the ninth and have first and second with nobody out and we need to find a way to score at least one there and maybe even walk them off at that point. Their at-bats in the ninth were better than ours. I thought we outplayed them in innings two through eight, and they outplayed us in innings one and nine and that was the difference today. It's a disappointing loss and we're going to have to find a way to bounce back tomorrow." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
Wake Forest closes the homestand with a pair of games tomorrow. First pitch against Princeton is set for 9:30 a.m. ET with the final game of the weekend against Maryland following the conclusion of the contest with the Tigers. Both games will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Players Mentioned
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