Wake Forest Athletics
Friday, May 29
Morgantown, W.V.
12 p.m.
Wake Forest University
38-20
5
vs
6
Kentucky
32-21
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| Wake Forest | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
Wake Forest Drops Opening Game of Morgantown Regional to Kentucky
5/29/2026 3:45:00 PM | Baseball
The Demon Deacons will look to come out of the losers' bracket tomorrow at noon against West Virginia or Binghamton.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In a back-and-forth battle, the Wake Forest baseball team (38-20) fell, 6-5, to Kentucky (32-21) in the opening game of the 2026 NCAA Tournament at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
Sophomore Dalton Wentz tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with his team-leading 18th home run of the season. Wentz ended the game going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored to lead the Wake Forest offense.
Catcher Matt Conte launched a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth for his 11th home run of the year, while freshman Andrew Costello unloaded for a solo shot in the sixth for his third of the season.
In the leadoff spot, junior Javar Williams recorded his 24th multi-hit game of the season as he went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and a run scored.
Starting pitcher Chris Levonas was lights out over 5.0 one-run innings, limiting the Wildcats to just two hits with six strikeouts and a walk. With six strikeouts, Levonas sits in seventh all-time for a single season with 116 on the year.
HOW IT HAPPENED
"That's really a disappointing loss, given the way our team battled. We only gave up a couple of hard-hit balls all day. We just kept giving up free 90s. We knew coming into it that if we issued some free 90s and let them have their way on the bases, it would be a tough game. That's exactly what happened today. We did a good job battling back. Andrew Costello's home run and Dalton Wentz's home run behind that gave us a chance. We had them where we wanted in the ninth inning. They had two outs with Will Ray on the mound, and we threw a wild pitch that turned out to be the winner. We really couldn't get anything going in the ninth inning. Credit to [Jackson Soucie]. Disappointing end to the game. We have to come back and be ready to go tomorrow. We do have the team and the pitching staff to battle through the losers' bracket so we'll be ready to go tomorrow." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
Wake Forest will look to bounce back tomorrow against the loser of West Virginia and Binghamton. First pitch is set for noon ET.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Sophomore Dalton Wentz tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with his team-leading 18th home run of the season. Wentz ended the game going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored to lead the Wake Forest offense.
Catcher Matt Conte launched a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth for his 11th home run of the year, while freshman Andrew Costello unloaded for a solo shot in the sixth for his third of the season.
In the leadoff spot, junior Javar Williams recorded his 24th multi-hit game of the season as he went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and a run scored.
Starting pitcher Chris Levonas was lights out over 5.0 one-run innings, limiting the Wildcats to just two hits with six strikeouts and a walk. With six strikeouts, Levonas sits in seventh all-time for a single season with 116 on the year.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Starting pitcher Chris Levonas opened the game with a scoreless top of the first, picking up his opening strikeout of the game in the process.
- The Demon Deacons struck first in the home half of the opening frame, as junior Kade Lewis poked the first pitch of his at-bat to left field to score junior Javar Williams from second, after a leadoff double.
- Levonas fanned his second batter of the game to close out a shutdown frame in the top of the second.
- The Holmdel, N.J., native logged another punchout to retire the Wildcats in order in the third.
- Levonas continued to deal on the mound as he notched his fourth and fifth strikeouts of the contest to keep Kentucky off the board once again in the top of the fourth.
- After a leadoff double by sophomore Dalton Wentz, fellow sophomore Matt Conte launched a two-run home run off the scoreboard to push the lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth.
- The Wildcats plated a run in the top of the fifth.
- Kentucky took a 5-3 lead in the sixth.
- Freshman Andrew Costello rocketed a two-out, 419-foot solo home run to left field to make it a one-run game in the bottom half of the sixth.
- Freshman right-hander Marcelo Harsch worked around runners on the corners to end the top of the seventh unscathed.
- Harsch struck out a pair to strand a runner on third during a scoreless eighth inning.
- Wentz snuck a solo home run over the left-field wall to tie the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth.
- Kentucky retook a one-run lead in the top of the ninth.
- The Demon Deacons fell, 6-5.
"That's really a disappointing loss, given the way our team battled. We only gave up a couple of hard-hit balls all day. We just kept giving up free 90s. We knew coming into it that if we issued some free 90s and let them have their way on the bases, it would be a tough game. That's exactly what happened today. We did a good job battling back. Andrew Costello's home run and Dalton Wentz's home run behind that gave us a chance. We had them where we wanted in the ninth inning. They had two outs with Will Ray on the mound, and we threw a wild pitch that turned out to be the winner. We really couldn't get anything going in the ninth inning. Credit to [Jackson Soucie]. Disappointing end to the game. We have to come back and be ready to go tomorrow. We do have the team and the pitching staff to battle through the losers' bracket so we'll be ready to go tomorrow." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
Wake Forest will look to bounce back tomorrow against the loser of West Virginia and Binghamton. First pitch is set for noon ET.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Adcock, Nile (5-1)
L: Ray, Will (2-1)
S: Soucie, Jackson (2)
Batting:
2B: Hindle, Ethan 1 ; Cloud, Caeden 1 ; Van Cleave, Braxton 1
RBI: Hansen, Carson 1 ; Cloud, Caeden 1 ; Van Cleave, Braxton 2
SF: Hansen, Carson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bell, Tyler 1 ; Hansen, Carson 1 ; Brown, Hudson 1 ; Lawrence, Luke 1 ; Tharnish, Jayce 1 ; Van Cleave, Braxton 1
SB: Tharnish, Jayce 2 ; Van Cleave, Braxton 1
HBP: Bell, Tyler 1 ; Brown, Hudson 1
Batting:
2B: Wentz, Dalton 1 ; Williams, Javar 1
HR: Wentz, Dalton 1 ; Conte, Matt 1 ; Costello, Andrew 1
RBI: Wentz, Dalton 1 ; Lewis, Kade 1 ; Conte, Matt 2 ; Costello, Andrew 1
SH: Schaaf, Blake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wentz, Dalton 2 ; Conte, Matt 1 ; Williams, Javar 1 ; Costello, Andrew 1
Players Mentioned
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OF
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