Season-High 22 Runs Power Wake Forest to Series Win at Pitt

Saturday, April 4

Pittsburgh, PA

3 p.m.

Wake Forest University

23-9, 8-6

Pitt

20-9, 5-6

Wake Forest

Pitt

Season-High 22 Runs Power Wake Forest to Series Win at Pitt

4/4/2026 7:59:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

The Demon Deacons have put up 45 runs over the last three games, including a season-best 22 runs in Saturday’s win to claim the series.

By: Parker Beverly, Andrew Kovar & Grant Keith

PITTSBURGH – Behind a season-high 22 runs, the Wake Forest baseball team (23-9, 8-6 ACC) powered its way to a series win over Pitt (20-9, 5-6 ACC) with a 22-8 victory Saturday at Charles L. Cost Field.

It marks the first time the Demon Deacons have scored more than 20 runs since scoring 24 against Marist on Feb. 16, 2025, as Wake Forest put up a crooked number in six of their seven at-bats in the contest.

Eight of the nine Deacs in the lineup had at least one hit in the game, with six hitters having multi-hit games, and six players having multi-RBI games.

Sophomores Dalton Wentz and Luke Costello led the way offensively with three hits apiece.

Wake Forest was led by the bottom of the lineup, with the Demon Deacon five-through-nine hitters combining to go 8-for-15 (.533) with 11 runs scored, six RBIs and five extra-base hits.

Costello was the firestarter for the Demon Deacon offense, blasting a 468-foot two-run home run in the first inning and then added to it in the second inning with a double down the left field line. Over the course of the day, Costello went 3-for-4, scoring four runs while also having a team-high four RBIs. The sophomore now has a team-high 11 home runs this season.

Wentz also homered in the game, bringing his season total to nine and marking the second-straight game he has hit one over the wall. Like Costello, Wentz also scored four runs in the win while going 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Wentz leads the team with 83 total bases this season.

Freshman JD Stein was the third Demon Deacon to homer in the game, launching a three-run home run over the left field wall in the seventh to push the Deacs over the 20-run mark for the first time this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Demon Deacons struck first in the top of the first inning.
- Following a single to left from Dalton Wentz, Luke Costello followed with a bomb over the left field wall to give the Deacs an early 2-0 lead.
  - The rocket was 106 miles per hour off the bat, traveling 468 feet.
Pitt tied it up with a two-run double in the bottom half of the first.
The Panthers took the lead in the next inning on a solo home run.
In the top of the third, the top of the order continued their hot hitting, as Javar Williams reached on a walk and Wentz singled to put two runners on for Luke Costello.
- A double down the left field line tied it at 3-3 as he had driven in all three runs to this point.
- A sac fly to left-center from Kade Lewis scored Williams from third as the Deacs regained the lead, while Luke Costello moved over to third with one out.
- A groundout from Matt Conte scored Luke Costello, pushing the Wake Forest lead to 5-3.
In the top of the fourth, the Deacs broke the game open, scoring six runs in the inning.
- After a walk by Andrew Costello, second baseman Blake Schaaf was hit by a pitch and JD Stein laid down a perfect bunt to load the bases for Williams.
- Williams cleared the bases with a double down the left field line to open the scoring in the frame.
- Two more walks loaded the bases again for pinch-hitter Boston Torres, who drove in two with a double through the right side, moving Lewis from first to third.
- Lewis came home on a wild pitch, giving Wake Forest an 11-4 advantage.
After allowing a leadoff walk in the fourth, sophomore reliever Troy Dressler set down the next three batters to keep the Deacs' seven-run lead.
In the top of the fifth, Wake Forest continued the offensive onslaught, adding three more runs to the scoreboard with Luke Costello, Lewis and Conte contributing RBIs.
- Stein started the frame with a double down the left field line.
- Wentz reached base via a four-pitch walk.
- With his fourth hit of the series, Luke Costello singled up the middle, allowing Stein to score and Wentz to move to third base.
- With two outs, Lewis singled up the middle to keep the inning alive.
- An RBI double by Conte brought Costello home, giving the Deacs a 10-run advantage at 14-4.
Dressler pitched another clean inning, striking out a pair of Pitt batters in the fifth.
The Deacs' bats stayed hot in the top of the sixth, adding four more runs to the tally from a wild pitch and a three-run homer by Dalton Wentz.
- Andrew Costello singled to center field to start the inning and moved to third on a Schaaf double to left-center.
- Costello came on a wild pitch and Stein advanced to second by stealing a base.
- To cap off the inning, Wentz launched a three-run home run, making it the sixth Wake Forest homer in the series and second for the sophomore.
Pitt responded in the sixth with four runs, but the Deacs still maintained a double-digit lead at 18-8.
Wake added another four-spot in the seventh, as Stein unloaded on the first pitch he saw for a three-run homer to left field.
- His second home run of the season extended the advantage to 22-8.
The combination of freshman arms Grant Nicholson and Ryan Bosch closed out the game in the seventh.
- Wake Forest took game two of the series, 22-8.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The Demon Deacons pounded out 11 extra-base hits on the afternoon, including three home runs and eight doubles. The eight doubles marked the most in a game for Wake Forest since the 2018 squad also had eight in a 15-5 victory over Davidson on April 3, 2018.
- Seven different hitters recorded at least one double, including a pair by Boston Torres for his first two-double contest as a Demon Deacon and third of his career.

STAGGERING STATISTICS

Since Pitt joined the ACC in 2013, the Demon Deacons have taken six of seven series all-time against the Panthers, including each of the last six since dropping the opening series between the two programs back in 2015.
- Wake Forest holds a 15-4 record against Pitt since the streak started in 2017, outscoring the Panthers 197-80 across the 19 games.

FROM COACH WALTER
"It's just a great team win. It was good to see Blake Morningstar out there. He only made two bad pitches on the two solo home runs. Other than that, he threw the ball well. I felt like we should have made a play on that double in the first that would have gotten us out of that inning, so it was good to see Blake back out there, and then Troy [Dressler] came in, and just kind of ran out of gas at the end, but he threw the ball really well. We had that six-run inning when Troy was coming in, and it was kind of up and down a couple of times. He just kind of ran out of gas. But really happy with our freshman there to get the last three outs and find a way to extend the lead. Good at-bats again today, up and down the lineup. Blake Schaaf had a really good day today. Obviously, Dalton Wentz had a really good day today. Javar with a big two-out, 0-2, bases-loaded double down the line in a big situation to extend the lead. Some really good at-bats when we needed them. I was happy with the way we played today." - Head Coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
Wake Forest goes for the sweep of Pitt tomorrow with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. and streamed on ACC Network Extra.

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