Bullpen Propels Wake Forest Over Liberty in Final Midweek

Tuesday, May 12

Lynchburg, VA

6 p.m.

Wake Forest University

36-17

Liberty

36-17

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

Photo by: Seth Seebaugh / Wake Forest Athletics

Bullpen Propels Wake Forest Over Liberty in Final Midweek

5/12/2026 10:08:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

The Demon Deacons finish the midweek slate with a 10-3 mark.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Behind a stellar performance from the bullpen, the Wake Forest baseball team (36-17) picked up its eighth straight win, defeating Liberty (36-17), 7-5, on Tuesday night at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.

The Wake Forest bullpen tossed the final 5.1 innings, allowing no runs on three hits with five strikeouts between four different pitchers.

Freshman Ryan Bosch was the first arm out of the bullpen for the Demon Deacons, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts. The Muskegon, Mich., native has lowered his ERA by nearly three runs since April, allowing just one run over his last nine appearances.

Senior Zach Johnston continued his incredible run on the mound, giving Wake Forest 2.0 one-hit innings, including inducing a key 4-6-3 double play to preserve the lead in the seventh inning. The North Yarmouth, Maine, native has not allowed a run over his last 10 appearances, covering 13.2 innings, with 17 strikeouts and just four walks.

With the tying run in scoring position in the eighth, senior Will Ray used a pop-up and a strikeout of the Flames' leadoff hitter to keep the Demon Deacons in front.

Sophomore Rhys Bowie earned his second career save, picking up the final three outs in the ninth.

Offensively, sophomore Luke Costello got the Demon Deacons on the board in the first inning for the seventh straight game, hammering his 17th home run of the season over the wall in left field.

Third baseman Dalton Wentz left the yard for the 16th time this season, providing a key insurance run in the top of the ninth, sending the first pitch he saw over the wall in right field. Wentz's blast moves Wake Forest to 18-5 when hitting two or more home runs this season.

Freshman JD Stein drove in a pair of runs for the second straight game, getting plunked with the bases loaded in the second inning, before blooping a single into right field in the fourth inning.

Additionally at the plate, junior Boston Torres extended his hitting streak to 10 games, lasering a single to center field in the fifth inning.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Demon Deacons wasted no time, as right fielder Luke Costello blasted his 17th home run of the season over the wall in left field to make it 1-0 in the top of the first.
Starting pitcher Duncan Marsten worked around trouble in the bottom of the first, inducing a lineout double-play with the bases loaded to get out of the frame unscathed.
Wake Forest added a pair of runs in the top of the second.
- Back-to-back hit by pitches and a single into right field by second baseman Blake Schaaf loaded the bases with nobody out.
- A third hit-by-pitch to freshman JD Stein plated a run to make it 2-0.
- Junior Javar Williams lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to bring in Andrew Costello as the Deacs put up a crooked number.
Liberty scored four in the bottom of the second to take the lead.
Marsten bounced back with a three-up, three-down third inning.
The Demon Deacons retook a 5-4 advantage in the fourth.
- Three straight singles from A. Costello, Schaaf and Stein tied the game at 4-4.
- First baseman Kade Lewis lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to put Wake Forest back in front.
The Flames continued the back-and-forth affair with a run in the bottom of the fourth to tie the contest.
Heads-up baserunning from A. Costello gave the lead back to Wake Forest as he scored from first on a walk to make it 6-5 in the top of the fifth.
Relievers Ryan Bosch and Zach Johnston combined to keep Liberty off the board in the fifth and sixth innings.
Johnston induced a 4-6-3 double play to preserve the 6-5 lead in the seventh.
Despite loading the bases with two away, Wake Forest was unable to extend the lead in the eighth as a 100-mph laser off the bat of Lewis found the glove of the Liberty left fielder.
With the tying run in scoring position in the eighth, senior Will Ray used a pop-up and a strikeout of the Flames' leadoff hitter to keep the Demon Deacons in front.
Sophomore Dalton Wentz hammered the first pitch of the ninth inning 394 feet for his 16th of the year, giving Wake Forest a key insurance run.
After giving up a leadoff single, sophomore Rhys Bowie settled in to retire the final three hitters and give Wake Forest a key Quad 1 victory.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The Demon Deacons have scored at least one run in the opening inning in seven straight games and 13 of the last 15 contests.
- Additionally, the Deacs improved to 23-5 when scoring in the first inning and 24-5 when scoring first this season.
- Wake Forest has used the first inning to its advantage this season, outscoring opponents by a 66-31 margin.

Date	Opponent	First Inning Runs
*May 12, 2026*	*Liberty*	1
May 10, 2026	Western Carolina	1
May 9, 2026	Western Carolina	6
May 8, 2026	Western Carolina	3
May 2, 2026	Louisville	2
May 1, 2026	Louisville	1
Apr. 30, 2026	Louisville	2

STAGGERING STATISTICS

With the win over the Flames, Wake Forest finished the regular season with 22 non-conference wins, marking the fifth straight season the Demon Deacons have won 20 or more games outside ACC play while compiling a 110-17 record in such contests over the last five years.

Year	Wins	Losses
*2026*	22	4
2025	20	5
2024	21	4
2023	23	2
2022	24	2

FROM COACH WALTER
"That's a gritty win. I'm proud of our guys. It's not an easy place to win and it's a really good team. Our bullpen guys, pitching on short rest, [Ryan] Bosch, [Zach Johnston], [Will] Ray and [Rhys] Bowie, all those guys threw this weekend and they're coming on short rest with a big weekend ahead of us. I was just proud of those guys and how they came in. Our bullpen shut it down and gave us a chance to win." - Head Coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
Wake Forest closes the regular season with a three-game series against Big Four rival Duke. First pitch against the Blue Devils on Thursday, May 14 is set for 6 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra.

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