Wake Forest Athletics
Friday, April 3
Pittsburgh, PA
3 p.m.
Wake Forest University
8
at
2
Pitt
Demon Deacons Grab Opener at Pitt, 8-2
4/3/2026 7:08:00 PM | Baseball
In his first Friday start of the season, sophomore Chris Levonas grabbed his seventh win of the season, throwing 6.1 innings. On offense, four different Demon Deacons homered in the 8-2 victory over Pitt.
PITTSBURGH – The Wake Forest baseball team grabbed the series opener on the road at Pitt Friday afternoon at Charles L. Cost Field, 8-2, scoring the final eight runs of the game.
Starting pitcher Chris Levonas was phenomenal, matching a career-high with 6.1 innings pitched, including retiring 13 straight from the second to the sixth innings. The sophomore allowed just two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts.
Levonas moves to 7-1 on the season, having factored in the decision in all eight of his starts in his second season in the Old Gold & Black. Additionally, it marks the 10th win on the mound in his career for the Holmdel, N.J., native.
Freshman reliever Evan Jones finished the final 2.2 innings of the game, allowing just two of the 10 batters he faced to reach base.
On the offensive side, four different Demon Deacons homered on Friday night.
Junior Javar Williams continued a breakout junior season, launching his seventh home run of the season to cap a five-run fourth for Wake Forest. It marks the first time in his Demon Deacon career with a home run in back-to-back games, after he put the exclamation point on a run-rule win over Clemson with his first career grand slam on Wednesday night.
Senior Jimmy Keenan connected on his second home run of the season, giving the Deacs their first lead of the game with a three-run homer in the fourth.
Junior Dalton Wentz blasted his eighth home run of the season to right in the seventh. Sophomore Luke Costello became the first Demon Deacon to reach double-digit home runs on the season, blasting his 10th of the season to left field in the top of the eighth. He also reached base two more times in the game on hit by pitches.
HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
STAGGERING STATISTICS
"That's a really good win. It's hard to win on Friday night in this league, and really hard to win Friday night on the road against a really good team. I am really proud of the way [Chris] Levonas battled. He didn't have his best stuff today, quite honestly. But he battled, and he got us outs. He got us into the seventh inning with his pitch count in pretty good shape. I was hoping to get him through the seventh, but there was a long inning, they made two pitching changes, and he was fatigued. He wanted to stay out there, but with it being a long inning like that, we figured just go to [Evan] Jones in that situation. Evan Jones did what he's been doing all year. He was great. Offensively, we did just enough. Obviously, the [Jimmy] Keenan homer, the [Luke] Costello homer, the [Dalton] Wentz homer and the [Javar] Williams homer. We got the long ball today and had some good at-bats when we needed them. We're excited about being out there tomorrow." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons look to take the series at Pitt on Saturday, April 4, at Charles L. Cost Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Starting pitcher Chris Levonas was phenomenal, matching a career-high with 6.1 innings pitched, including retiring 13 straight from the second to the sixth innings. The sophomore allowed just two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts.
Levonas moves to 7-1 on the season, having factored in the decision in all eight of his starts in his second season in the Old Gold & Black. Additionally, it marks the 10th win on the mound in his career for the Holmdel, N.J., native.
Freshman reliever Evan Jones finished the final 2.2 innings of the game, allowing just two of the 10 batters he faced to reach base.
On the offensive side, four different Demon Deacons homered on Friday night.
Junior Javar Williams continued a breakout junior season, launching his seventh home run of the season to cap a five-run fourth for Wake Forest. It marks the first time in his Demon Deacon career with a home run in back-to-back games, after he put the exclamation point on a run-rule win over Clemson with his first career grand slam on Wednesday night.
Senior Jimmy Keenan connected on his second home run of the season, giving the Deacs their first lead of the game with a three-run homer in the fourth.
Junior Dalton Wentz blasted his eighth home run of the season to right in the seventh. Sophomore Luke Costello became the first Demon Deacon to reach double-digit home runs on the season, blasting his 10th of the season to left field in the top of the eighth. He also reached base two more times in the game on hit by pitches.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Pitt got on the board with a run in the bottom of the first.
- A pair of walks put a runner in scoring position for the Demon Deacons, but they were unable to capitalize in the top of the second.
- A two-out triple extended the Panthers' advantage to 2-0 after two innings.
- A nine-pitch frame from starting pitcher Chris Levonas kept it a 2-0 ballgame through three innings.
- Wake Forest jumped on the Panthers with five runs in the top of the fourth.
- Third baseman Kade Lewis and designated hitter Matt Conte both jumped the first pitch they saw for back-to-back singles to start the frame.
- Junior Boston Torres worked a walk to load the bases with nobody out.
- An RBI fielder's choice from freshman Andrew Costello got the Deacs on the board.
- Catcher Jimmy Keenan launched his second home run of the season, with a three-run shot to left field to give Wake Forest the lead.
- Two batters later, center fielder Javar Williams sent a solo shot to the deepest part of the park for his seventh of the year and second straight game with a home run to make it 5-2 in favor of the Demon Deacons.
- Levonas sat Pitt down in order in the fourth and fifth innings, needing just six pitches to retire the Panthers in the fifth.
- The sophomore retired his 13th-straight hitter to end the bottom of the sixth.
- After a stellar play in the field to record the second out of the sixth inning, second baseman Dalton Wentz did it on the offensive end in the top of the seventh, launching his eighth home run of the year deep into the trees in right-center field.
- After Levonas got the first out of the seventh, freshman right-hander Evan Jones took over out of the bullpen.
- Jones got the final two outs of the inning, helped by a diving stop from Lewis to get the last out of the inning.
- Costello became the first Demon Deacon to reach double-digit home runs on the season, blasting his 10th of the season to left field in the top of the eighth.
- The two-run homer also drove in Williams, giving the Deacs an 8-2 lead.
- Jones cruised in the eighth, setting down the Panthers in order to maintain the six-run lead.
- Jones finished the final 2.2 innings of the game, allowing just two of the 10 batters he faced to reach base.
- The Deacs grabbed an 8-2 victory to open the series.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
- Sophomore right-handed pitcher Chris Levonas matched his career-high in innings pitched for the second straight start, tossing 6.1 innings to pick up his seventh win of the season.
- The Holmdel, N.J., native retired 13 straight from the second to the sixth innings, allowing just two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts.
- Levonas moves to 7-1 on the season, having factored in the decision in all eight of his starts in his second season in the Old Gold & Black.
- Additionally, it marks the 10th win on the mound in his career for the Holmdel, N.J., native.
STAGGERING STATISTICS
- Wake Forest matched its season high, launching four home runs against the Panthers on Friday afternoon. The Demon Deacons move to 10-1 this season when hitting two or more home runs.
- It marks the second time with four home runs, matching the four home runs hit against Siena on Feb. 20. Additionally, it is the seventh game this year with three or more home runs.
"That's a really good win. It's hard to win on Friday night in this league, and really hard to win Friday night on the road against a really good team. I am really proud of the way [Chris] Levonas battled. He didn't have his best stuff today, quite honestly. But he battled, and he got us outs. He got us into the seventh inning with his pitch count in pretty good shape. I was hoping to get him through the seventh, but there was a long inning, they made two pitching changes, and he was fatigued. He wanted to stay out there, but with it being a long inning like that, we figured just go to [Evan] Jones in that situation. Evan Jones did what he's been doing all year. He was great. Offensively, we did just enough. Obviously, the [Jimmy] Keenan homer, the [Luke] Costello homer, the [Dalton] Wentz homer and the [Javar] Williams homer. We got the long ball today and had some good at-bats when we needed them. We're excited about being out there tomorrow." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons look to take the series at Pitt on Saturday, April 4, at Charles L. Cost Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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