Wake Forest Run-Rules Elon to Open Homestand

Tuesday, March 24

Winston-Salem, N.C.

6 p.m.

Wake Forest University

17-4

Elon

10-13

Elon

Wake Forest

Photo by: Seth Seebaugh / Wake Forest Athletics

3/24/2026 9:49:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Demon Deacons allowed only one hit for the second consecutive midweek game.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Behind a combined one-hit effort by the Demon Deacon pitching staff, the Wake Forest baseball team (18-7, 4-5 ACC) opened its four-game homestand with an 11-1 run-rule win over Elon (10-14, 3-6 CAA) in seven innings on Tuesday night at David F. Couch Ballpark.

Sophomore right-hander Duncan Marsten led the way on the mound for the Deacs, striking out five batters while allowing one hit and one run over the course of 4.2 innings. The Lake Balboa, Calif., native was dominant from the start as he carried a no-hitter through the first 13 outs of the game.

After coming into the game with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning, freshman reliever Marcelo Harsch struck out all five batters that he faced, setting a new career high.

Overall, this marked the Deacs' second-consecutive one-hitter in midweek games, with sophomore Cam Bagwell tossing a complete game one-hitter during Wake Forest's 11-0 win over Liberty on March 17.

Offensively, four Demon Deacons logged multi-hit performances, with sophomore second baseman Dalton Wentz leading the charge with two hits and four RBIs. The Madison Heights, Va., native rocketed a two-run home run in the bottom of the third, marking his seventh long ball of the season. Wentz later added a two-run double as part of a four-run seventh inning.

Junior third baseman Kade Lewis recorded his 12th multi-hit game of the season as he finished the game going 2-for-4 with a team-high three runs scored.

Sophomore designated hitter Jackson Miller added two hits and a run scored, while freshman right fielder Andrew Costello registered a pair of hits and a pair of runs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Starting pitcher Duncan Marsten tossed a scoreless frame in the top of the first.
The Demon Deacons jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the first.
- Sophomore first baseman Luke Costello drove in the first run of the game on a hit by pitch with the bases loaded.
- Junior third baseman Kade Lewis scored on the next pitch on an RBI groundout.
Marsten logged his first two strikeouts of the afternoon en route to a shutdown inning in the second.
Sophomore catcher Matt Conte caught an Elon runner stealing to end another scoreless frame in the top of the third.
Sophomore second baseman Dalton Wentz rocketed a two-run shot over the left field wall to push the Wake Forest lead to four runs in the bottom of the third.
- This marked the Madison Heights, Va., native's seventh long ball of the season.
Marsten continued to deal as he recorded his third strikeout of the game in a shutdown fourth.
Freshman shortstop JD Stein made it a five-run game as he scored on a wild pitch in the home half of the fifth.
Elon plated a run in the top of the fifth.
The Deacs responded in the bottom of the sixth as Stein beat out a two-out grounder to the shortstop for an RBI single.
- Freshman right fielder Andrew Costello came around to score from first on the play following a throwing error by the shortstop, making it 7-1.
Freshman reliever Marcelo Harsch struck out the final two batters of the sixth to get out of a bases-loaded jam.
- The Montclair, N.J., native struck out the side in the top of the seventh as he set a new career high with five strikeouts.
Sophomore designated hitter Jackson Miller extended the lead in the bottom of the seventh as he scored on a wild pitch.
- Wentz roped a two-run double off the wall to make it 10-1.
- Costello walked it off with an RBI single to left field.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The Wake Forest pitching staff combined for its second consecutive one-hit performance during midweek matchups on Tuesday night.
- Starting pitcher Duncan Marsten picked up his first win of the season as he allowed one hit and one run over 4.2 innings.
- Freshman reliever Marcelo Harsch struck out all five batters he faced to set a new career high.

STAGGERING STATISTICS

With a clear home-field advantage, Wake has gone 122-28-1 since 2022 at The Couch with at least 20 wins at home in each of the last four seasons, including a stellar 34-3 mark on its way to a program-record 54 wins in 2023, 25-7 in 2024, and a 24-8 mark in 2025.
- The Demon Deacons are 83-2 against non-conference opponents at home during that span.

FROM COACH WALTER
"I'm happy with the way Duncan [Marsten] threw tonight. I was hoping to get him through the fifth, but his pitch count got a little high. His previous high for pitches was 76. He was up over the 80 pitch mark, and he was starting to fatigue, so we needed to go to Zach Johnston in that situation. I'm also happy with Marcelo Harsch. He's really come on like gangbusters for us. I'm excited about seeing him pitch here this weekend in big leverage situations. He's moving his way up the depth chart, which is exciting. I was glad we were able to give [Evan] Jones and [Rhys] Bowie some rest. They needed it. [Ryan] Bosch and [Nate] Whysong would have thrown in the eighth and the ninth if we needed them to, but it's good to get those guys some rest, too. We're fresh for this weekend. We did just enough offensively. We had some chances early to kind of cash in big innings. That first inning was a little disappointing. We had a two-run lead with the bases loaded and nobody out, and we made three outs on five pitches. Dalton [Wentz] had a good day today. I was happy about that. It was good to see Luke [Costello] get that hit there at the end because he had had a kind of a rough day previous to that. JD Stein continues to have good at-bats. He had a really clutch two-out RBI there to kind of take it from 5-1 to 7-1, which I thought was really important. Overall, today was a good team win and we're ready to go this weekend against Cal." - Head Coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons continue their four-game homestand as they open their series against Cal on Friday, March 27. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. and will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.

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