Wake Forest Walks Off Louisville in Extra Innings to Take Series Opener

Thursday, April 30

Winston-Salem, N.C.

7 p.m.

Wake Forest University

30-17, 12-13

Louisville

26-20, 10-12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Louisville	0	0	1	5	0	1	0	0	1	0	8	9	1
Wake Forest	2	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	9	16	4

Wake Forest Walks Off Louisville in Extra Innings to Take Series Opener

5/1/2026 12:29:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Four Demon Deacons recorded at least three hits in the contest, with junior left fielder Boston Torres and sophomore catcher Matt Conte notching four hits each.

By: KJ Smith & Grant Keith

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest baseball team (30-17, 12-13 ACC) walked off Louisville (26-20, 10-12 ACC) in the 10th inning to secure the opening game of the series by a score of 9-8 on Thursday night at David F. Couch Ballpark.

Four different Demon Deacons recorded at least three hits in the contest, with junior left fielder Boston Torres and sophomore catcher Matt Conte notching four hits each.

Torres set a new season high as he went 4-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs. The Lynchburg, Va., native opened his account with an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the first, before adding another RBI single to help the Deacs reclaim the lead in the fourth.

Meanwhile, Conte logged a new career high in hits as he tallied four singles and two RBIs on the night. The Andover, Mass., native drove in the opening run of the game in the first inning, before tying the game in the bottom of the fourth. Conte also roped a single to move the winning run to third in the 10th.

Sophomore Luke Costello also turned in a strong night at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double, a pair of runs scored and his team-leading 54th RBI. It marked the fourth time with three or more hits for Costello so far this season. Additionally, Costello has reached base in 28-straight games and has recorded at least one hit in 17 of the last 20 games.

Second baseman Blake Schaaf also added three hits and drove in two with a pair of RBI singles. Since the start of the Miami series, Schaaf has gone 18-for-42 (.429) with four home runs and 13 RBIs over the 13-game span.

On the mound, sophomore left-hander Rhys Bowie matched his career high with six strikeouts while allowing just one unearned run in 3.1 innings of relief. Meanwhile, senior reliever Will Ray picked up his second win of the season as he fanned three batters in 2.0 innings.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Starting pitcher Evan Jones fanned a pair to keep Louisville off the board in the opening frame.
Wake Forest scored a pair with two outs in the bottom of the first to grab an early advantage.
- Sophomore Luke Costello began the rally with a two-out double to left field.
- After junior Kade Lewis was hit by a pitch, catcher Matt Conte took the first pitch he saw back up the middle for an RBI single to put Wake Forest on the board.
- With runners on the corners, left fielder Boston Torres slapped a single into left to score Lewis and make it 2-0 in favor of the Demon Deacons.
Jones picked up two more strikeouts in a shutdown second.
The Deacs tacked on two more runs in the home half of the second for back-to-back killshots.
- Junior Blake Schaaf opened the frame with a bloop single out to shallow center field.
- Following a walk by freshman JD Stein and a sacrifice bunt by junior Javar Williams, sophomore Dalton Wentz made it a three-run game on a sacrifice fly to score Schaaf.
- Costello pushed the lead to 4-0 as he squeaked a two-out single down the left field line to plate Stein.
The Cardinals grabbed a run back in the top of the third.
Wake Forest reclaimed its four-run advantage in the bottom of the third, as Schaaf roped a single through the middle to score Conte with two outs in the inning.
Louisville took a 6-5 lead in the fourth.
The Demon Deacons immediately responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
- Wentz got the inning started with a double to the wall in left field.
- L. Costello placed a single through the left side to move Wentz over to third.
- Lewis worked a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Wake Forest.
- Conte lasered an RBI single into center to tie the game at 6-6.
- Torres beat the shift with a single through the right side to put Wake back in front.
- Schaaf roped a single off the third baseman to plate the third run of the inning and give the Demon Deacons an 8-6 lead.
Relievers Troy Dressler and Rhys Bowie combined to keep the Cardinals off the board in the top of the fifth.
Louisville made it a one-run game with a run in the sixth.
Bowie kept the Cardinals off the board in the seventh, highlighted by a glove flip by Schaaf to get Wake out of the inning.
A pair of strikeouts by Bowie, sandwiched by a caught stealing from Conte, kept Wake Forest in front by a run in the top of the eighth.
The Cardinals tied the game in the ninth.
Wake Forest got the winning run 90 feet away in the bottom half, but was unable to drive the run in.
Reliever Will Ray punched out two in a scoreless top of the 10th.
The Demon Deacons walked off the Cardinals in the bottom of the 10th as junior Jackson Miller put a ball in play after fighting off multiple pitches, forcing an error by the shortstop as Lewis scored the winning run.
- The Deacs took the opening game of the series, 9-8.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Junior left fielder Boston Torres and sophomore catcher Matt Conte led the Demon Deacons with four hits and a pair of RBIs each on Thursday.
- The four hits marked a new career high for Conte.
Meanwhile, sophomore left-hander Rhys Bowie matched his career high with six strikeouts while allowing one unearned run over 3.1 innings of relief.

STAGGERING STATISTICS

Wake Forest picked up its 30th win of the season and its 20th win at home on Thursday night against the Cardinals.
The Demon Deacons have eclipsed the 30-win mark in each of the last five seasons, excluding the shortened 2020 season.
With a clear home-field advantage, Wake has gone 129-30-1 since 2022 at The Couch with at least 20 wins at home in each of the last five seasons, including a stellar 34-3 mark on its way to a program-record 54 wins in 2023.
- The Deacs also recorded home win marks of 26-7-1 in 2022, 25-7 in 2024 and finished 24-8 in 2025.

Season	Home Wins	Total Wins
2023	34	54
2022	26	41
2024	25	38
2025	24	39
*2026*	20	30

FROM COACH WALTER
"Well, that was a heck of a baseball game. That's a gutty win that we really needed. I'm so proud of our guys for battling and finding a way. A lot of things went against us there late in that game. We gave up too many free passes and then had a couple of outfield errors there in the ninth inning that cost us a chance to win it in regulation. You know, I give credit to Louisville. They had guys who executed at-bats when they needed to. Matt Conte had a great day at the plate today. He was really the difference. He and Boston Torres had a huge day. Matt's two-out ball down the line there in the right field to get Kade Lewis to third, was the difference. Jackson Miller had a great at-bat. He found a way to put the ball in play against a guy with a really good slider. That's usually Jackson's kryptonite, but he found a way. Super proud of Rhys Bowie. He threw the ball great tonight. Will Ray, right behind him, was outstanding. Other than the free passes, which cost us a bunch of runs tonight, I was really pleased with the way we threw the baseball, and I'm proud of our guys. It was a good team win." - Head Coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons look to clinch the series against the Cardinals tomorrow night, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.

FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook