No. 24 Wake Forest Drops Series Opener at No. 9 Virginia

Friday, March 20

Charlottesville, VA

6 p.m.

Wake Forest University

Virginia

Photo by: Whetstone Photography

No. 24 Wake Forest Drops Series Opener at No. 9 Virginia

3/20/2026 9:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Freshmen Marcelo Harsch and Ryan Bosch combined for 4.2 innings, not allowing an earned run between the pair.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Despite bringing the tying run to the plate, the No. 24 Wake Forest baseball team (16-6, 3-4 ACC) dropped the series opener to the No. 9 Virginia Cavaliers (19-4, 5-2 ACC), falling 10-6 on Friday evening at Disharoon Park.

Sophomore outfielder Luke Costello launched his team-leading ninth home run of the season on a 428-foot bomb off the batter's eye in center field. The Erie, Pa., native picked up his second RBI of the contest with a sac fly in the sixth, moving his team-leading total to 28 through 15 games played.

Junior center fielder Javar Williams picked up his team-leading 13th multi-hit game of the year, with a single through the right side in the fifth and lacing a double down the right field line in the top of the seventh. Through seven conference games, Williams is batting 15-for-29 (.519) with six RBIs, three home runs and a pair of doubles in ACC play.

Third baseman Dalton Wentz collected three hits for the fifth time this season, while catcher Matt Conte and junior Kade Lewis joined Williams with multi-hit efforts.

Freshman Marcelo Harsch was solid in relief for the Demon Deacons, tossing a season-high 2.1 innings with a trio of strikeouts. The righty allowed just two hits, surrendering a pair of unearned runs.

Additionally, on the mound, fellow freshman Ryan Bosch struck out five of the seven batters he faced, hurling a career-high 2.1 no-hit innings, including the aforementioned career-best five punchouts.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Virginia took a 5-0 advantage after one inning.
Sophomore right fielder Luke Costello got a run back with his ninth home run of the year in the top of the second.
Starting pitcher Blake Morningstar bounced back with a pair of scoreless frames to keep the deficit at four through three complete innings.
The Deacs got a run back on a Cavaliers miscue to trim the score to 5-2.
Virginia extended its lead with three runs in the fourth.
Freshman reliever Marcelo Harsch made quick work of the Hoos in the fourth, retiring the side in order.
Costello's second RBI of the day cut the Virginia advantage to five in the top of the sixth.
The Cavaliers answered with two unearned runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Fellow freshman reliever Ryan Bosch struck out the side on just 14 pitches in the bottom of the seventh.
Bosch and the Demon Deacons' third freshman pitcher, Tyler Wood, combined to keep UVA off the board in the eighth.
Despite bringing the tying run to the plate, Wake Forest fell in the series opener, 10-6.

FROM COACH WALTER
"I liked our fight. I thought we competed hard. I was really happy with the way our freshman threw the ball. Marcelo Harsch, [Ryan] Bosch, and Tyler Wood came in there and took the fight to them. I'm disappointed we got off to a bad start. We need to play better defense – two double-play balls, when they got one out, and another routine ground ball that we didn't get an out on that led to a multiple-run inning for them. In a shutdown inning, we walked the eight-hole guy, then we made an error on a routine ground ball and all of a sudden kind of handed them a two-spot. We need to do a better job of playing defense, and we need to do a better job at the beginning of the game on the mound. Other than that, I was pleased with our fight. I thought we had good at-bats, especially at the end, and we'll be ready to go tomorrow." - Head Coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons continue the series with the Cavaliers tomorrow, with first pitch set for 4 p.m. ET on ACCNX.

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