Friday, April 4
Tallahassee, FL
8 p.m.
Wake Forest University
21-10, 7-6
4
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5
Florida State
25-4, 8-2
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8
9
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E
Wake Forest
0
0
0
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1
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7
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Florida State
0
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2
2
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5
8
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Wake Forest’s Comeback Effort Falls Short in Series Opener Against No. 4 Florida State
4/5/2025 12:31:00 AM | Baseball
The Demon Deacons scored four unanswered runs in the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Wake Forest baseball team's comeback effort fell just short on Friday night, as the Demon Deacons (21-10, 7-6 ACC) fell, 5-4, to No. 4 Florida State in the series opener at Dick Howser Stadium.
After the Seminoles (25-4, 8-2 ACC) took an early 4-0 lead, the Deacs battled back to tie the game with four unanswered runs across the sixth and seventh innings.
The Deacs plated their first runs of the game in the top of the sixth inning on back-to-back home runs. Sophomore Kade Lewis led off the inning with a single through the left side before junior Jack Winnay launched his 10th home run of the season into right-center field. Three pitches later, freshman Dalton Wentz rocketed a solo shot to right field to pull the Deacs within one.
Wake Forest tied the game in the seventh inning as junior Marek Houston lined a single over the Seminole shortstop into left field to score sophomore Cam Nelson from second.
Earlier in the game, freshman designated hitter Luke Costello extended his hit streak to five-straight games with a single in the second inning. Meanwhile, catcher Matt Conte doubled for the second-straight game, going off the wall in right center to lead off the top of the fifth for the Demon Deacons.
While the Demon Deacon offense came alive during the sixth and seventh innings, the Wake Forest bullpen kept Florida State scoreless for four consecutive innings to keep the Deacs in the game. Sophomore lefthander Haiden Leffew pitched 1.2 shutdown innings, while graduate student Matt Bedford notched two scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh.
The Demon Deacon comeback fell just short, as the Seminoles walked it off in the bottom of the ninth.
HOW IT HAPPENED
"Offensively, we just didn't quite get it done. We had some opportunities with men on second base, nobody out and couldn't push them around a couple of different times. We had the right guys up in big situations to get a big hit and just couldn't find a way to grab the lead. It's hard when you're on the road, playing from behind and in a tie game because the home team is kind of on a free roll there in the bottom of the ninth. We needed to take the lead there early and be able to go to our closer in that situation, which hopefully we can do tomorrow. We needed to have better at-bats against [Jamie] Arnold in the beginning of the game. Obviously, he's really good, but two hits, ten strikeouts is not going to get it done. I'm proud of the way we battled back and tied this game up, we just didn't find a way to punch across the key run." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons look to even the series tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
After the Seminoles (25-4, 8-2 ACC) took an early 4-0 lead, the Deacs battled back to tie the game with four unanswered runs across the sixth and seventh innings.
The Deacs plated their first runs of the game in the top of the sixth inning on back-to-back home runs. Sophomore Kade Lewis led off the inning with a single through the left side before junior Jack Winnay launched his 10th home run of the season into right-center field. Three pitches later, freshman Dalton Wentz rocketed a solo shot to right field to pull the Deacs within one.
Wake Forest tied the game in the seventh inning as junior Marek Houston lined a single over the Seminole shortstop into left field to score sophomore Cam Nelson from second.
Earlier in the game, freshman designated hitter Luke Costello extended his hit streak to five-straight games with a single in the second inning. Meanwhile, catcher Matt Conte doubled for the second-straight game, going off the wall in right center to lead off the top of the fifth for the Demon Deacons.
While the Demon Deacon offense came alive during the sixth and seventh innings, the Wake Forest bullpen kept Florida State scoreless for four consecutive innings to keep the Deacs in the game. Sophomore lefthander Haiden Leffew pitched 1.2 shutdown innings, while graduate student Matt Bedford notched two scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh.
The Demon Deacon comeback fell just short, as the Seminoles walked it off in the bottom of the ninth.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Demon Deacons put runners on in the top of the first but were unable to score.
- Junior Luke Schmolke made his first start in a Wake Forest uniform, closing a scoreless first inning with a strikeout.
- The Mooresville, N.C., native continued dealing on the mound with another scoreless frame in the second.
- The Seminoles struck first with two runs in the third.
- Florida State extended the lead with a pair of runs in the fourth.
- Sophomore Haiden Leffew came in relief to limit the damage, getting the final two outs in the inning to keep the score at 4-0.
- The Deacs threatened once again as catcher Matt Conte notched a double in the fifth, but Wake Forest was unable to cut into the deficit.
- Leffew added two more strikeouts in a scoreless bottom of the fifth.
- The Demon Deacons got on the board with three runs in the top of the sixth.
- Following a leadoff single by sophomore Kade Lewis, junior Jack Winnay launched his 10th home run of the season to cut the deficit in half.
- With his 10 home runs, Winnay is now tied for the most home runs by a Demon Deacon this season.
- The Deacs went back-to-back as freshman Dalton Wentz rocketed a solo shot to make it 4-3.
- Following a leadoff single by sophomore Kade Lewis, junior Jack Winnay launched his 10th home run of the season to cut the deficit in half.
- Graduate student Matt Bedford came into the game and pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the bottom of the sixth.
- The Demon Deacons tied the game in the top of the seventh as junior Marek Houston lined a single into left field to score sophomore Cam Nelson from second.
- Bedford kept the game tied with another spotless frame in the bottom of the sixth.
- The Deacs put the leading run on third in the top of the eighth but were unable to take the lead.
- Graduate student Matt Scannell made a game-saving catch in right field for the final out of the eighth, keeping the score tied heading into the ninth inning.
- Sophomore Josh Gunther got the first two outs of the inning with consecutive strikeouts.
- The Seminoles walked it off as the Deacs comeback effort fell short, falling 5-4.
"Offensively, we just didn't quite get it done. We had some opportunities with men on second base, nobody out and couldn't push them around a couple of different times. We had the right guys up in big situations to get a big hit and just couldn't find a way to grab the lead. It's hard when you're on the road, playing from behind and in a tie game because the home team is kind of on a free roll there in the bottom of the ninth. We needed to take the lead there early and be able to go to our closer in that situation, which hopefully we can do tomorrow. We needed to have better at-bats against [Jamie] Arnold in the beginning of the game. Obviously, he's really good, but two hits, ten strikeouts is not going to get it done. I'm proud of the way we battled back and tied this game up, we just didn't find a way to punch across the key run." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons look to even the series tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Peyton Prescott (3-0)
L: Gunther, Josh (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Conte, Matt 1
HR: Winnay, Jack 1 ; Wentz, Dalton 1
RBI: Houston, Marek 1 ; Winnay, Jack 2 ; Wentz, Dalton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nelson, Cam 1 ; Lewis, Kade 1 ; Winnay, Jack 1 ; Wentz, Dalton 1
SB: Williams, Javar 1
HBP: Nelson, Cam 1 ; Lewis, Kade 1
Batting:
2B: Jaxson West 1
HR: Alex Lodise 1
RBI: Alex Lodise 2 ; Max Williams 1 ; Cal Fisher 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Gage Harrelson 1 ; Alex Lodise 1 ; James Hankerson Jr. 1 ; Jaxson West 1 ; Cal Fisher 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
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C
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INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
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