Wake Forest Wins Ninth Straight in Series Opening Victory at Duke

Thursday, May 14

Durham, NC

6 p.m.

Wake Forest University

37-17, 15-13

Duke

24-29, 9-19

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

Photo by: Seth Seebaugh / Wake Forest Athletics

Wake Forest Wins Ninth Straight in Series Opening Victory at Duke

5/14/2026 9:19:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Demon Deacons become the only ACC team with 15 wins in conference play in each of the last five seasons.

DURHAM, N.C. – Fueled by a five-run first inning, the Wake Forest baseball team (37-17, 15-13 ACC) extended its winning streak to nine games with a 7-2 victory over Duke on Thursday evening at Jack Coombs Field.

Starting pitcher Chris Levonas was dominant, keeping the Blue Devils out of the hit column until a one-out single in the fifth. The sophomore tossed 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one infield single with 10 strikeouts on 83 pitches en route to his 10th win of the season.

The 10 victories on the mound moved him into a tie for 10th all-time in a single season, becoming the first Demon Deacon to do so since Chase Burns in 2024.

For Levonas, it marked the fifth time this season with double-digit punchouts, and his first since striking out 10 against California on March 28. Additionally, it was the fifth quality start of the season for the Holmdel, N.J., native.

Freshman Evan Jones earned his third save of the year, tossing the final 3.0 innings, striking out five Blue Devils.

Boston Torres extended his hit streak to 11 games with a ground-rule double as part of the five-run first inning, matching teammate Kade Lewis for the longest streak of the season by a Demon Deacon hitter.

The junior finished 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, two RBIs and a pair of runs scored. During the 11-game streak, Torres has led Wake Forest with a .457 (16-for-35) average to go along with 11 RBIs, three home runs, three doubles and nine runs scored.

Kade Lewis reached in four of his five plate appearances, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. For Lewis, it marks his team-leading 25th multi-hit game of the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Wake Forest jumped out to a 5-0 advantage in the top of the first.
- Sophomore Luke Costello and junior Kade Lewis each drew a walk to open the evening.
- A fielding error by the Blue Devils then allowed sophomore Dalton Wentz to reach first as the Deacs loaded the bases.
- Costello scored Wake's first run after Duke committed another error on the next at-bat.
- Junior Boston Torres then doubled to bring home Lewis and Wentz before sophomore Matt Conte scored on Duke's third error of the inning to cap the big first inning.
Starting pitcher Chris Levonas picked up his first strikeout of the evening in a three-up, three-down bottom of the first.
Levonas struck out two more in another clean frame in the second.
Doubles from Torres and second baseman Blake Schaaf extended the lead to 6-0 in the top of the third.
Working around a two-out walk, Levonas ran his strikeout total to six in the third inning.
- The sophomore continued dealing with another pair of punchouts in a scoreless fourth.
Despite Duke breaking up the no-hit bid in the fifth, Wake Forest killed the threat with a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play to end the inning.
L. Costello extended the lead to 7-0 on a sacrifice fly to right field in the top of the sixth.
Another double play turned by the Demon Deacon defense kept the shutout alive, as Wake rolled a 6-4-3 GDP to end the bottom of the sixth.
Reliever Evan Jones came on for Levonas in the bottom of the seventh, striking out a pair of hitters in a scoreless frame.
Duke got on the board with a pair of runs in the eighth.
Wentz roped a two-out double, but Wake Forest was unable to add on in the ninth.
Jones worked around a leadoff walk to cap the 7-2 win and earn the save in the bottom half of the ninth.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The Demon Deacons have scored at least one run in the opening inning in eight straight games and 14 of the last 16 contests.
- Additionally, the Deacs improved to 24-5 when scoring in the first inning and 25-5 when scoring first this season.
- Wake Forest has used the first inning to its advantage this season, outscoring opponents by a 71-31 margin.

Date	Opponent	First Inning Runs
May 14, 2026	Duke	5
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 Blue Devils, Wake Forest picks up its 15th Atlantic Coast Conference win this season. The Demon Deacons are the only ACC team with 15 wins in conference play in each of the last five seasons.

Year	ACC Wins
*2026*	15
2025	16
2024	15
2023	22*
2022	15

* Program Record

FROM COACH WALTER
"Obviously, [Chris] Levonas was the story today – he was as good as I've seen him all year and we were proud of his effort tonight. We got him through six, right around 89 pitches, which is exactly what we wanted. We wanted to get length out of [Evan] Jones too, and I was happy we got some. The day went as scripted. We didn't have a great day offensively, obviously, but we cashed in some runs when we needed to and capitalized on some big situations. So, we know we've got to be a little better tomorrow, and we'll get out of here to address it." - Head Coach Tom Walter

UP NEXT
Wake Forest continues the series against Duke on Friday with first pitch against the Blue Devils set for 6 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra.

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