No. 16 Wake Forest Wins Seventh-Straight with 5-1 Victory at UNCG

Tuesday, February 24

Greensboro, NC

5 p.m.

Wake Forest University

7-1

UNCG

4-5

Wake Forest

UNCG

Photo by: Seth Seebaugh / Wake Forest Athletics

No. 16 Wake Forest Wins Seventh-Straight with 5-1 Victory at UNCG

2/24/2026 8:23:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Sophomore left fielder Jackson Miller recorded his second-straight three-hit game.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The No. 16 Wake Forest baseball team (7-1, 0-0 ACC) claimed a 5-1 win over UNCG (4-5, 0-0 SoCon) for its seventh straight win on Tuesday night at UNCG Baseball Stadium.

First baseman Kade Lewis had the biggest hit of the night for Wake Forest, sending a 1-0 breaking ball to the right field wall to drive in a pair of runs and stretch the Deacs' advantage to 5-1 in the fourth inning.

Sophomore Luke Costello continued his hot start, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI single in the first to open the scoring for the Demon Deacons. The Erie, Pa., native is 7-for-15 through his first four games, homering three times while driving in a team-leading 11 RBIs.

Left fielder Jackson Miller drove his batting average to .533 with a trio of hits and a run scored. Miller has recorded a multi-hit performance in three of the last four games for the Demon Deacons, including back-to-back games with a career-best three hits.

Starting pitcher Cameron Bagwell picked up his first win on the mound in a Wake Forest uniform, tossing 5.0 innings with seven strikeouts and just one run allowed. After allowing one run in the first inning, Bagwell settled in to keep the Spartans off the board over the next four innings, not allowing a runner to reach scoring position over his final four frames.

Relievers Luke Schmolke, Zach Johnston, Troy Dressler and Evan Jones allowed just one hit between them over the final four innings. UNCG failed to reach second base after the first inning of Tuesday's contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Wake Forest jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a two-out RBI by sophomore Luke Costello in the top of the first.
The Spartans got the run back in the bottom half of the frame.
After catcher Jimmy Keenan reached on a hit-by-pitch, sophomore left fielder Jackson Miller cleared the wall in left-center, but passed Keenan on the bases to give Wake Forest a 2-1 lead.
The Demon Deacons put a pair in scoring position in the third but were unable to add to the lead.
Bagwell worked around a one-out single in the third for another scoreless frame.
Wake Forest added three runs in the fourth, taking advantage of a UNCG miscue and a two-RBI double from first baseman Kade Lewis.
A pair of strikeouts from Bagwell kept the Spartans off the board in the fourth.
Bagwell made quick work of the UNCG hitters in the fifth to complete his outing.
Senior Luke Schmolke entered in the sixth, working a three-up, three-down frame.
The Demon Deacons loaded the bases with two away in the seventh but were unable to push a run across.
Left-hander Zach Johnston used a lineout double-play to erase a leadoff single and put another zero on the board in the seventh.
Third baseman Dalton Wentz recorded his first career triple in the top of the eighth.
A strikeout from reliever Troy Dressler and a 4-6-3 double play from the defense behind him retired the Spartans in order in the eighth.
Freshman Evan Jones slammed the door in the ninth to close out the 5-1 win for the Deacs.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Starting pitcher Cameron Bagwell was lights out in his second midweek start for the Demon Deacons, striking out seven over 5.0 innings.
- Bagwell went five or more innings for the 13th time in his career, doing so 12 times en route to CAA Rookie of the Year honors at UNCW in 2025.
- After allowing one run in the first inning, Bagwell settled in to keep the Spartans off the board over the next four innings, not allowing a runner to reach scoring position over his final four frames.

STAGGERING STATISTICS

Tuesday marked the fifth time through the first eight games that Wake Forest has held its opponent to two runs or fewer.
- The three runs allowed over the last three games are the fewest over a three-game span since the Demon Deacons swept Miami and allowed just two runs in the series during the historic 2023 campaign.
- The Wake bullpen has not allowed a run over the last three contests, striking out 22 over 11.2 innings.
  - On the season, the Demon Deacon relief arms hold a 1.46 ERA.

FROM COACH WALTER
"I was really happy with the way we threw the ball today. [Cameron Bagwell] wasn't great in the first, but I thought he really settled down after that and threw the baseball like we've been seeing him throw it all year. So good to have the old Cam Bagwell back. Obviously, our bullpen was really good. You know, [Luke] Schmolke, [Zach] Johnston, [Troy] Dressler, [Evan] Jones, and a couple of double plays in there. I wanted to get Marcelo Harsch in today. Unfortunately, didn't quite work out, but I'm sure we'll see him on Friday. All in all, really pleased. I think we only had three walks on the day. I'm always happy when we keep our free passes down, and it gives us a good chance to win. Offensively, had a base-running kind of flub there on the [Jackson] Miller home run. We've got to clean that up a little bit, but Jackson Miller had a really good day. Obviously, Luke Costello with the big two-out RBI, Kade Lewis with the big double down the line. Again, didn't have a great day offensively, but certainly did enough. We're going be a team that, for now, until we get everybody back, it's going be based on pitching and defense, and we did that tonight." - Head Coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
Wake Forest returns to David F. Couch Ballpark on Friday, Feb. 27, against LMU at 3 p.m. ET, before taking on Davidson at 6:30 p.m. ET.

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