Wake Forest Drops Final Game At North Carolina in Pitchers’ Duel

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Despite a great start from right-handed pitcher Blake Morningstar on the mound, the Wake Forest baseball team dropped the final game of the series to No. 16 North Carolina, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium.

Suffering the tough-luck loss, Morningstar allowed just three hits with five strikeouts, and a trio of unearned runs over 6.1 innings on the mound.

The sophomore allowed just three baserunners after the first inning, retiring 16 of the next 19 hitters, with a trio of three-up, three-down frames.

Reliever Haiden Leffew was perfect over 1.2 innings, with a trio of strikeouts, including a pair looking in the bottom of the eighth.
Doubling for the second-straight game, sophomore Cam Nelson collected his sixth extra-base hit in the last eight games to spark the offense in the sixth inning. The Baltimore native worked a five-pitch walk for his ninth RBI of the year to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the seventh.

Shortstop Marek Houston collected his team-leading 46th RBI of the season with a single to plate Nelson and cut North Carolina's lead in half in the sixth.

HOW IT HAPPENED

North Carolina took an early 2-0 lead off a Demon Deacon miscue in the bottom of the first.
Starter Blake Morningstar retired the Tar Heels in order in the bottom of the second.
- The righty picked up his second strikeout of the contest to cap a scoreless third.
- He worked around a two-out single to keep UNC off the board in the fourth.
- Morningstar needed just eight pitched in the fifth to retire Carolina in order and try to spark the Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest mounted a two-out rally in the sixth to cut the North Carolina lead in half.
- Center fielder Cam Nelson roped a double for the Demon Deacons' first hit of the afternoon.
- Junior Marek Houston roped a 1-0 pitch into left field to plate Nelson and trim the Tar Heel lead to 2-1.
Morningstar got the shutdown frame in the sixth with a pair of flyouts and a strikeout to end the inning.
Nelson worked a five-pitch walk with the bases loaded to tie the game at 2-2 after six and a half innings of play.
North Carolina retook the lead in the seventh on the third unearned run of the contest.
A pair of strikeouts looking from reliever Haiden Leffew gave Wake Forest a chance in the top of the ninth.
The Tar Heels defeated Wake Forest, 3-2.

FROM COACH WALTER
"I hate to waste a great start by Blake Morningstar. He was really good today. Just a really poor offensive approach the first five innings. [We had] too many fly balls, too many strikeouts on the day. We didn't see the kind of stuff that they should be striking us out. [We had] too many [strikeouts] looking. We're in a funk right now. If it's not our pitching, it's our defense, our hitting. We're just not putting it together right now. We'll turn that around, and we'll be ready to go on Tuesday." - Head Coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
Wake Forest returns home to take on Coastal Carolina on Tuesday, April 15. First pitch from David F. Couch Ballpark is set for 6 p.m. ET.

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Wake Forest Drops Final Game At North Carolina in Pitchers’ Duel

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Team Stats

Jackson Roper

Blake Schaaf

Dalton Wentz

Luke Costello

Players Mentioned

Marek Houston

Haiden Leffew

Blake Morningstar

Cam Nelson

Wake Forest Athletics