Wake Forest Athletics
Friday, May 8
Winston-Salem, N.C.
6 p.m.
Wake Forest University
33-17
6
vs
1
Western Carolina
32-18
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Wake Forest | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 6 | 11 | 0 |
Long Ball Powers Wake Forest Past Western Carolina in Series Opener
5/8/2026 9:15:00 PM | Baseball
The Demon Deacons are 7-0 against the Catamounts dating back to 2015.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest baseball team (33-17) used three home runs at the plate and a two-hit effort from the pitching staff to take a 6-1 victory over Western Carolina (32-18) on Friday evening at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Sophomore starting pitcher Chris Levonas was stellar in a planned two-inning outing, logging four strikeouts while not allowing a hit. Levonas leads the ACC with 100 strikeouts this season, becoming the seventh Deac since the turn of the century to eclipse 100 punchouts in a season.
The duo of freshman Evan Jones and senior Zach Johnston recorded the final 21 outs of the game for the Demon Deacons. Overall, Jones and Johnston combined for eight strikeouts while giving up just two hits and one run in 7.0 innings of relief.
Johnston picked up his first career save as he finished with five strikeouts over the course of a career-high 4.0 scoreless frames. The North Yarmouth, Maine, native is currently on an incredible run on the mound, having not allowed a run over his last nine appearances, covering 11.2 innings, with 16 strikeouts and just four walks.
Meanwhile, Jones tallied three strikeouts in 3.0 innings, including a massive punchout to escape a bases-loaded jam unscathed in the fourth.
Wake Forest scored all of their runs via the long ball as they left the yard three times on Friday, bringing the season home run total to 81. Over the last 13 games, the Demon Deacons have homered 42 times, including nine games with multiple home runs. The Deacs moved to 16-5 when hitting two or more home runs in a game this season.
Junior Kade Lewis opened the scoring in the top of the first as he crushed a three-run blast 450 feet over the scoreboard in right center, marking his 13th home run of the season. Additionally, the Sartell, Minn., native has driven in 54 runs this season, which ranks 12th in the ACC.
The Deacs added two more home runs in a three-run bottom of the fourth as sophomore Dalton Wentz led off the inning with a solo shot over the right field wall. Moments later, freshman Andrew Costello launched a two-run bomb to left center for his second long ball of the year, highlighting a 2-for-3 performance at the plate.
Catcher Matt Conte had a pair of doubles, marking his first career game with two or more doubles, for his 15th multi-hit game of the year. Meanwhile, sophomore Luke Costello added two singles to give him his third multi-hit performance in his last four games, totaling seven hits in that stretch.
HOW IT HAPPENED
STAGGERING STATISTICS
"It was good to keep [Chris Levonas] short and give him a refresh, headed into the stretch run here. That's going to be really important for Chris. [Evan Jones] didn't have his best stuff, but battled and found a way to get us nine outs with only one run. [Zach] Johnston was the story of the game today, obviously. Slim was fantastic. That's two outings in a row that we've been able to run his pitch count up. He's throwing the ball so well right now. I'm really proud of Slim. We didn't have a great day offensively. We almost never do when we take a week off like that. It's been telling the guys 17 years in a row, we never played well in this game, the first game back. The good news is school is behind us now, we can focus on baseball, and get to playing well. We had a good team win. I'm proud of our guys, and we need a good start out of [Troy Dressler] tomorrow." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons will look to clinch the series over the Catamounts tomorrow night, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
Join us as Wake Forest honors student managers Peyton Polett and Daniel Gann, along with student-athletes Austin Hawke, Zach Johnston, Luke Schmolke and Jimmy Keenan for their contributions to the program starting at 5:40 p.m. before Saturday's contest.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Sophomore starting pitcher Chris Levonas was stellar in a planned two-inning outing, logging four strikeouts while not allowing a hit. Levonas leads the ACC with 100 strikeouts this season, becoming the seventh Deac since the turn of the century to eclipse 100 punchouts in a season.
The duo of freshman Evan Jones and senior Zach Johnston recorded the final 21 outs of the game for the Demon Deacons. Overall, Jones and Johnston combined for eight strikeouts while giving up just two hits and one run in 7.0 innings of relief.
Johnston picked up his first career save as he finished with five strikeouts over the course of a career-high 4.0 scoreless frames. The North Yarmouth, Maine, native is currently on an incredible run on the mound, having not allowed a run over his last nine appearances, covering 11.2 innings, with 16 strikeouts and just four walks.
Meanwhile, Jones tallied three strikeouts in 3.0 innings, including a massive punchout to escape a bases-loaded jam unscathed in the fourth.
Wake Forest scored all of their runs via the long ball as they left the yard three times on Friday, bringing the season home run total to 81. Over the last 13 games, the Demon Deacons have homered 42 times, including nine games with multiple home runs. The Deacs moved to 16-5 when hitting two or more home runs in a game this season.
Junior Kade Lewis opened the scoring in the top of the first as he crushed a three-run blast 450 feet over the scoreboard in right center, marking his 13th home run of the season. Additionally, the Sartell, Minn., native has driven in 54 runs this season, which ranks 12th in the ACC.
The Deacs added two more home runs in a three-run bottom of the fourth as sophomore Dalton Wentz led off the inning with a solo shot over the right field wall. Moments later, freshman Andrew Costello launched a two-run bomb to left center for his second long ball of the year, highlighting a 2-for-3 performance at the plate.
Catcher Matt Conte had a pair of doubles, marking his first career game with two or more doubles, for his 15th multi-hit game of the year. Meanwhile, sophomore Luke Costello added two singles to give him his third multi-hit performance in his last four games, totaling seven hits in that stretch.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Starting pitcher Chris Levonas struck out a pair during a scoreless opening frame.
- Following a leadoff single to right center by junior Javar Williams and a four-pitch walk to sophomore Luke Costello, junior Kade Lewis crushed a 450-foot home run over the scoreboard in right field to give Wake Forest a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
- Levonas continued to deal on the mound as he fanned his third and fourth hitters of the game in the second.
- Freshman right-hander Evan Jones tossed a scoreless inning of relief in the top of the third.
- Jones added his second strikeout of the game to escape a bases-loaded situation unscathed in the fourth.
- The Demon Deacons extended their lead to 6-0 following a pair of home runs in the bottom of the fourth.
- Sophomore Dalton Wentz opened the inning with a leadoff solo shot to right field.
- Following a double by sophomore Matt Conte, freshman Andrew Costello launched his second home run of the season to make it a six-run game.
- The Catamounts tacked on a run in the top of the fifth.
- Senior left-hander Zach Johnston pitched a shutout frame in the sixth.
- Freshman shortstop JD Stein made a spectacular pick to help the Deacs turn an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to keep Western Carolina off the board in the top of the seventh.
- Johnston picked up a pair of strikeouts en route to a three-up, three-down frame in the eighth.
- The North Yarmouth, Maine, native added two more strikeouts in the top of the ninth as the Deacs secured the 6-1 win.
- The North Yarmouth, Maine, native added two more strikeouts in the top of the ninth as the Deacs secured the 6-1 win.
- Sophomore starting pitcher Chris Levonas was stellar in a planned two-inning outing, logging four strikeouts while not allowing a hit.
- Levonas leads the ACC with 100 strikeouts this season, becoming the seventh Deac since the turn of the century to eclipse 100 punchouts in a season.
| Name | Season | Strikeouts |
| Chase Burns | 2024 | 191 |
| Rhett Lowder | 2023 | 143 |
| Josh Hartle | 2023 | 140 |
| Griffin Roberts | 2018 | 130 |
| Kyle Sleeth | 2002 | 113 |
| Parker Dunshee | 2017 | 111 |
| Chris Levonas | 2026 | 100 |
STAGGERING STATISTICS
- Wake Forest scored all of their runs via the long ball as they left the yard three times on Friday, bringing the season home run total to 81.
- Over the last 13 games, the Demon Deacons have homered 42 times, including nine games with multiple home runs.
- The Deacs also moved to 16-5 when hitting two or more home runs in a game this season.
"It was good to keep [Chris Levonas] short and give him a refresh, headed into the stretch run here. That's going to be really important for Chris. [Evan Jones] didn't have his best stuff, but battled and found a way to get us nine outs with only one run. [Zach] Johnston was the story of the game today, obviously. Slim was fantastic. That's two outings in a row that we've been able to run his pitch count up. He's throwing the ball so well right now. I'm really proud of Slim. We didn't have a great day offensively. We almost never do when we take a week off like that. It's been telling the guys 17 years in a row, we never played well in this game, the first game back. The good news is school is behind us now, we can focus on baseball, and get to playing well. We had a good team win. I'm proud of our guys, and we need a good start out of [Troy Dressler] tomorrow." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons will look to clinch the series over the Catamounts tomorrow night, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
Join us as Wake Forest honors student managers Peyton Polett and Daniel Gann, along with student-athletes Austin Hawke, Zach Johnston, Luke Schmolke and Jimmy Keenan for their contributions to the program starting at 5:40 p.m. before Saturday's contest.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Levonas, Chris (9-3)
L: Burnette, Carter (2-7)
S: Johnston, Zach (1)
Batting:
RBI: Jones, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Turner, Trent 1
Batting:
2B: Conte, Matt 2
HR: Wentz, Dalton 1 ; Lewis, Kade 1 ; Costello, Andrew 1
RBI: Wentz, Dalton 1 ; Lewis, Kade 3 ; Costello, Andrew 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Wentz, Dalton 1 ; Lewis, Kade 1 ; Conte, Matt 1 ; Costello, Luke 1 ; Williams, Javar 1 ; Costello, Andrew 1
CS: Costello, Andrew 1
Players Mentioned
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