Wake Forest Athletics
Sunday, February 15
Ponce, Puerto Rico
1:30 p.m.
Wake Forest University
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Indiana State
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Wake Forest Closes Puerto Rico Challenge with 10-1 Win Over Indiana State
2/15/2026 5:36:00 PM | Baseball
Junior Matthew Dallas and sophomore Duncan Marsten combined for 13 of Wake Forest’s 15 strikeouts, while sophomore Jackson Miller led the Demon Deacons with three RBIs.
PONCE, Puerto Rico – Behind another stellar pitching performance that featured a combined 15 strikeouts, the Wake Forest baseball team (2-1, 0-0 ACC) closed out their opening weekend of play at the 2026 Puerto Rico Challenge with a dominant 10-1 win over Indiana State (1-2, 0-0 MVC) on Sunday afternoon.
Junior left-hander Matthew Dallas picked up the win on the mound for the Demon Deacons as he ended his first start of the season with seven strikeouts while allowing only three hits and a run over 4.0 innings of work. This marked the fourth-time in his Wake Forest career that the Memphis native totaled at least seven strikeouts in a game.
Sophomore reliever Duncan Marsten was lights out for Wake Forest, striking out six Sycamore batters over 4.0 innings of scoreless relief. The four innings and four strikeouts both marked a career-high for Marsten on the mound.
The Deacs were led offensively by junior outfielder Jackson Miller, who finished the game going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. The Palm Beach, Fla., native recorded his first hit as a Demon Deacon on a two-run single to give the Deacs the lead in the second inning, before driving in another run with a single in the fifth.
Junior first baseman Kade Lewis got going offensively as he launched the Demon Deacons first home run of the season on a two-run shot to left field in the top of the third.
After breaking Saturday's game against Washington open with a three-run double, senior Jimmy Keenan added an RBI double to plate Miller in the top of the fifth.
HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
STAGGERING STATISTICS
FROM COACH WALTER
"That was a big team win. We pitched well again today. I was really happy with Matthew Dallas. He could have gone back out there, but with that long inning there was no reason to send him back out this early in the season. We also wanted to get Duncan [Marsten's] pitch count up, and we were able to do that. It was good to get Nate Whysong out there. He's going to be a big piece for us. We want him to be available on Tuesday, so we wanted to keep his pitch count short in the ninth. We've got a big game against High Point on Tuesday that we need to be ready for, and we still have good options because of the way we pitched today. Offensively, we still aren't swinging it great. We need to do a better job with runners on base. That's something that will turn around as we get into the flow of the season. Overall, I'm pleased with the weekend. Winning a series on the road is a good feeling. Disappointed with the result on Friday, but I'm happy with the way the guys responded." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
Wake Forest opens the 2026 home slate on Tuesday, Feb. 17, against High Point. First pitch from The Couch is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Junior left-hander Matthew Dallas picked up the win on the mound for the Demon Deacons as he ended his first start of the season with seven strikeouts while allowing only three hits and a run over 4.0 innings of work. This marked the fourth-time in his Wake Forest career that the Memphis native totaled at least seven strikeouts in a game.
Sophomore reliever Duncan Marsten was lights out for Wake Forest, striking out six Sycamore batters over 4.0 innings of scoreless relief. The four innings and four strikeouts both marked a career-high for Marsten on the mound.
The Deacs were led offensively by junior outfielder Jackson Miller, who finished the game going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. The Palm Beach, Fla., native recorded his first hit as a Demon Deacon on a two-run single to give the Deacs the lead in the second inning, before driving in another run with a single in the fifth.
Junior first baseman Kade Lewis got going offensively as he launched the Demon Deacons first home run of the season on a two-run shot to left field in the top of the third.
After breaking Saturday's game against Washington open with a three-run double, senior Jimmy Keenan added an RBI double to plate Miller in the top of the fifth.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Indiana State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first.
- Despite giving up a run, starting pitcher Matthew Dallas struck out three batters in the inning.
- The Demon Deacons responded in the top of the second as sophomore Jackson Miller blooped a two-run single over the head of the shortstop to give the Deacs the lead.
- Dallas continued to deal in the bottom of the second as he logged his fourth and fifth strikeouts of the afternoon.
- Wake Forest extended their lead in the top half of the third to make it 5-1.
- Junior centerfielder led off the inning with a single up the middle before advancing to third on a stolen base and a wild pitch.
- Freshman Andrew Costello reached on a throwing error as Williams scored from third base.
- Junior first baseman Kade Lewis launched a two-run moon ball out to left field for Wake Forest's first home run of the season.
- The Demon Deacon defense kept the Sycamores off the scoreboard again in the third inning as Dallas picked up two more strikeouts in the frame.
- The Memphis native added another scoreless inning in the bottom of the fourth.
- Wake Forest tacked on a pair of runs to add onto their lead in the top of the fifth
- Designated hitter Jimmy Keenan laced a double down the left field line to score Conte from third.
- After advancing to third on a single by junior Blake Schaaf, Keenan crossed home plate off an RBI single by Miller.
- Sophomore reliever Duncan Marsten fanned two Indiana State batters in a scoreless bottom half of the fifth.
- The Lake Balboa, Calif., native ended another scoreless frame with his third strikeout of the afternoon.
- Williams extended the lead to 8-1 as he scored Schaaf on a fielder's choice in the top of the seventh.
- The Demon Deacons kept Indiana State off the scoreboard once again in the seventh inning.
- Sophomore Dalton Wentz launched a double off the outfield wall before scoring on an errant throw off a pickoff attempt to make it 9-1 in the eighth.
- Marsten picked up three more punchouts in another scoreless inning.
- Wake Forest extended their lead to nine runs as junior Preisano drove in freshman Jordan Serrano in the top of the ninth.
- Serrano recorded his first collegiate hit on a single up the middle to lead off the inning.
- Sophomore Nate Whysong tallied two strikeouts before freshman Ryan Bosch picked up the final out in a bases loaded situation for the Demon Deacons in the ninth.
- Wake Forest picked up their second win in Puerto Rico as they defeated Indiana State, 10-1.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
- The Wake Forest pitching staff were lights out against the Sycamores as four pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts.
- In his first start of the season, junior Matthew Dallas logged seven strikeouts while allowing just one run in 4.0 innings of work.
- Sophomore reliever Duncan Marsten made his longest appearance of his career as he tossed 4.0 scoreless innings while striking out a career-high six batters.
- Sophomore outfielder Jackson Miller recorded his first two hits of his Wake Forest career on Sunday, finishing the game with three RBIs on a two-run single in the second and an RBI single in the fifth.
STAGGERING STATISTICS
- After recording 20 strikeouts on Saturday night against Washington, the Demon Deacons continued their dominance on the mound with 15 against Indiana State.
- The Deacs logged 42 strikeouts across their three games at the 2026 Puerto Rico Challenge.
- Wake Forest tossed 35 strikeouts over the final two games of the tournament, the most in a two-game stretch since the Demon Deacons combined for 37 punchouts against UNCG (2/18) and St. John's (2/21) last season.
- The Deacs logged 42 strikeouts across their three games at the 2026 Puerto Rico Challenge.
FROM COACH WALTER
"That was a big team win. We pitched well again today. I was really happy with Matthew Dallas. He could have gone back out there, but with that long inning there was no reason to send him back out this early in the season. We also wanted to get Duncan [Marsten's] pitch count up, and we were able to do that. It was good to get Nate Whysong out there. He's going to be a big piece for us. We want him to be available on Tuesday, so we wanted to keep his pitch count short in the ninth. We've got a big game against High Point on Tuesday that we need to be ready for, and we still have good options because of the way we pitched today. Offensively, we still aren't swinging it great. We need to do a better job with runners on base. That's something that will turn around as we get into the flow of the season. Overall, I'm pleased with the weekend. Winning a series on the road is a good feeling. Disappointed with the result on Friday, but I'm happy with the way the guys responded." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
Wake Forest opens the 2026 home slate on Tuesday, Feb. 17, against High Point. First pitch from The Couch is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Dallas, Matthew (1-0)
L: G. Parson (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Wentz, Dalton 1 ; Keenan, Jimmy 1
HR: Lewis, Kade 1
RBI: Williams, Javar 1 ; Costello, Andrew 1 ; Lewis, Kade 2 ; Preisano, Ryan 1 ; Keenan, Jimmy 1 ; Miller, Jackson 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Williams, Javar 1 ; Costello, Andrew 1 ; Lewis, Kade 1 ; Wentz, Dalton 2 ; Conte, Matt 1 ; Keenan, Jimmy 2 ; Schaaf, Blake 1 ; Serrano, Jordan 1
SB: Williams, Javar 2 ; Conte, Matt 1 ; Schaaf, Blake 1 ; Miller, Jackson 1
HBP: Costello, Andrew 1 ; Keenan, Jimmy 1
Batting:
2B: E. Estrella 1 ; C. Miller 1
RBI: C. Miller 1
Base Running:
RUNS: C. Beck 1
SB: C. Beck 1
HBP: C. Beck 2 ; E. Estrella 1 ; A. Ortiz 1
Game Leaders
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Players Mentioned
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