Demon Deacons Cap Regular-Season Home Slate with Sweep of Western Carolina

Sunday, May 10

Winston-Salem, N.C.

1 p.m.

Wake Forest University

35-17

Western Carolina

32-20

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

Demon Deacons Cap Regular-Season Home Slate with Sweep of Western Carolina

5/10/2026 4:47:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Wake Forest is 90-2 in non-conference contests at The Couch since 2022.

By: Grant Keith and KJ Smith

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Scoring the final eight runs of the game, the Wake Forest baseball team (35-17) completed the sweep of Western Carolina (32-20) with a 9-5 win on Sunday afternoon at David F. Couch Ballpark.

The 15-0 non-conference home record marks the fourth time in the last five seasons that Wake Forest has completed non-conference action at The Couch undefeated.

Junior Boston Torres led the charge for the Demon Deacons, coming off the bench to go 2-for-2 with three RBIs, including drawing a bases-loaded walk to spark a six-run fourth inning. Torres also added a pair of two-out RBIs as he poked a single up the middle in the fifth, as well as lacing a double to left-center in the seventh.

Freshman JD Stein notched his 12th multi-hit game of the season, including a clutch two-run single that tied the game at 5-5 in the fourth inning. Junior Javar Williams gave the Deacs the lead for good moments later as he lasered a two-RBI double to cap off a 2-for-4 performance at the plate.

Earlier in the game, sophomore Luke Costello extended the Deacs' streak of scoring in the first inning to six consecutive games with his team-leading 16th home run of the season.

After giving up five runs in the first three innings, the Wake Forest bullpen kept the Catamounts off the board for the final six frames, with Marcelo Harsch, Rhys Bowie and Will Ray combining for 12 of the Deacs' 17 strikeouts.

Bowie led the way as he matched his career-high with six strikeouts over the course of 2.2 no-hit frames. With his performance, the Haworth, N.J., native has now tallied 14 strikeouts while not allowing an earned run in his last 7.1 innings pitched.

Harsch continued his strong rookie season as he fanned four batters in 2.1 scoreless innings to pick up his third win of the season. Meanwhile, Ray added a pair of punchouts in the ninth to preserve the win for the Demon Deacons.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Western Carolina struck first with a run in the top of the first.
Sophomore Luke Costello blasted his 16th home run of the year to tie the game at 1-1 after an inning of play.
The Catamounts retook the lead with a two-run home run in the second.
- Western Carolina tacked on two more in the top of the third.
Freshman Marcelo Harsch tossed a scoreless frame in the top of the fourth.
Wake Forest grabbed the lead with six runs in the bottom of the fourth.
- Third baseman Dalton Wentz battled in an 0-2 count, singling through the left side to open the inning.
- The Demon Deacons loaded the bases with one out, after freshman Andrew Costello reached on a fielder's choice and left fielder Jackson Miller was hit by a pitch.
- Back-to-back bases-loaded walks to Boston Torres and Blake Schaaf cut the deficit to 5-3.
- Shortstop JD Stein laced a ball back up the middle for a two-RBI single, tying the game at five.
- Junior Javar Williams gave Wake Forest the lead for the first time, doubling off the wall in right field to make it 7-5 in favor of the home team.
Harsch struck out the side in a shutdown top of the fifth.
The Demon Deacons extended their lead in the home half as Torres poked a two-out single up the middle to score A. Costello from second.
Harsch and sophomore left-hander Rhys Bowie combined for another shutdown frame in the sixth.
- Bowie struck out his second and third batters of the game en route to a three-up, three-down seventh.
Torres roped a double to left-center field to drive in his third run of the game and give the Deacs a 9-5 lead in the bottom of the seventh.
Bowie matched his career high with his sixth strikeout of the game to end a shutdown eighth inning.
Senior Will Ray fanned a pair of Catamounts in the final inning as the Deacs clinched the series sweep with a 9-5 win.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The trio of Marcelo Harsch, Rhys Bowie and Will Ray tossed a combined 14 strikeouts while keeping the Catamounts off the board over the final seven innings.
- Bowie matched his career-high with six strikeouts in 2.2 no-hit innings.
  - The Haworth, N.J., native has now struck out 14 batters while allowing just one unearned run in his last 7.1 innings on the mound.
- Harsch was credited for his third win of the season as he fanned four Western Carolina batters in 2.1 scoreless frames.
- Ray added a pair of punchouts in the ninth.

STAGGERING STATISTICS

With a clear home-field advantage, Wake has gone 134-30-1 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, 25-7 in 2024, 24-8 in 2025 and finished 2026 with a 25-5 mark.
Over the past five seasons, the Demon Deacons have outscored their opponents by over 850 runs at The Couch, with a 1,554-695 margin in 165 contests.
- Wake Forest scored seven or more runs in 22 of 30 contests at home this season.
- In 92 non-conference home games over the past five years, Wake Forest is averaging 11.22 runs per game.
The Deacs saw a 69-game non-conference home win streak come to an end in early 2025, but are 90-2 in such games since 2022, including a perfect 15-0 mark this season.
- The 15-0 ledger marks the fourth time in the last five seasons that Wake Forest has completed non-conference action at The Couch undefeated.

FROM COACH WALTER
"We knew today would be a tough day. Obviously [Mason] Snyder has a good arm and was 7-0 coming into today, so we knew we would have our hands full. They had some good bullpen pieces rested and ready. We got what we needed out of [Cameron] Bagwell for one or two innings. He made two pitches on the changeups that got hit for home runs, but it was good to see him out there. He felt good and the fastball velocity was about what we expected. I'm glad to see him get a touch and he should be good to go next Saturday against Duke. Marcelo [Harsch] didn't throw as many strikes today. It felt like our pitchers were a little off all weekend and just weren't throwing the ball as well. Obviously, Rhys Bowie was the exception. He was phenomenal today. Either way, Marcelo got us seven big outs, Rhys was huge and Will Ray was fantastic. Good to see those guys at the end. I was hoping that we didn't need to have used Marcelo and Rhys as much as we did with the Liberty game on Tuesday, but both of their pitch counts were low. Marcelo only threw 40 and Rhys only threw 31, so I do think we have them for at least an inning on Tuesday if we needed it. Not a great day offensively. Boston Torres came off the bench and had three RBIs, which was good for us. Other than that, we did enough. We had that one inning where we stacked at-bats and found a way. Overall, it was a good weekend and a good team win. We've got a good Liberty team that we have to get ready for and hopefully we can get a good start out of Duncan Marsten." - Head Coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
Wake Forest is on the road for the final four games of the season, starting with a Quad 1 opportunity against Liberty on Tuesday, May 12. First pitch against the Flames is set for 6 p.m. ET.

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