No. 12 Demon Deacons Drop Pitchers Duel Against No. 20 Florida State

Saturday, March 14

Winston-Salem, N.C.

4 p.m.

Wake Forest University

16-3, 3-2

Florida State

15-3, 2-0

Florida State

Wake Forest

No. 12 Demon Deacons Drop Pitchers Duel Against No. 20 Florida State

3/14/2026 7:02:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Wake Forest pitching staff combined for 16 strikeouts while allowing just two runs on four hits.

By: KJ Smith, Andrew Kovar and Dylan Shackelford

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 12 Wake Forest baseball team (15-4, 3-2 ACC) and No. 20 Florida State (15-3, 2-0 ACC) battled in a tightly-contested contest on Saturday afternoon at David F. Couch Ballpark, with the Demon Deacons ultimately falling by a score of 2-0.

In his fifth start of the season, sophomore Chris Levonas fanned 10 batters with just two hits and one run allowed through six innings of work. He has recorded double-digit strikeouts in three of his last four outings with just five walks allowed during that span. The Holmdel, N.J. native now holds a stellar 18.2 K/9 and a 1.79 ERA on the year.

In relief, freshman right-hander Evan Jones went 2.1 innings with five strikeouts, both of which setting career highs.

Freshman shortstop JD Stein was the lone Demon Deacon to record a hit on Saturday, logging a double into left field during the sixth.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Starting pitcher Chris Levonas punched out a pair of batters during a three-up, three-down top of the first.
- The Holmdel, N.J., native continued to deal in the second as he picked up two more strikeouts to keep Florida State off the board.
Wake Forest recorded another clean frame in the top of the third.
Levonas picked up two more strikeouts in the fourth, moving him to six punchouts for the afternoon.
The Seminoles broke the tie with a solo home run in the top of the fifth.
Levonas responded by striking out the side to keep it a 1-0 game in the sixth.
Freshman shortstop JD Stein recorded the Deacs' first hit of the afternoon with a double in the home half of the sixth.
Sophomore Rhys Bowie and freshman Evan Jones combined for a pair of strikeouts during a scoreless seventh frame.
Jones pitched a spotless inning in the eighth as he logged two more punchouts in the process.
The Seminoles extended their lead with a run in the top of the ninth.
Wake Forest fell to Florida State, 2-0.

FROM COACH WALTER
"That's as disappointing of a loss as we have had in a long time. I have to do a better job of getting our hitters ready. Beard threw the ball well but 14 strikeouts and one walk. We weren't willing to sit on changeups and hit the ball the other way. Other than JD Stein we didn't have good at-bats all day and that is 100 percent on me. I need to have our hitters more ready than we have been the last two games. We have to make corrections there. I am really proud of [Chris] Levonas and how he battled for us today. Same thing with Evan Jones. Evan was fantastic today. One bad pitch with the ground ball up the middle. Other than that Lev was Lev and Evan Jones threw the ball well. It's a shame that we had to waste a start like that. We'll get one back along the way that we shouldn't have won and we have to come out ready to play tomorrow. There may be another series this year where we lose the first two games of the series and we have to find a way to win the third game. We need to get a good start out of [Duncan] Marsten. We have a lot of bullets behind him in [Will] Ray, [Troy] Dressler and [Nate] Whysong all not having thrown yet. We have some left handed arms left too. We have a locked and loaded bullpen and we have to go win tomorrow." - Head Coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons will look to avoid the sweep against the Seminoles in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the game will be streamed nationally on ACC Network.

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