Wake Forest Athletics
Saturday, May 9
Winston-Salem, N.C.
6 p.m.
Wake Forest University
34-17
14
vs
2
Western Carolina
32-19
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Carolina | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Wake Forest | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | X | 14 | 14 | 2 |
Wake Forest Secures Series with Run-Rule Victory on Senior Day
5/9/2026 9:17:00 PM | Baseball
The Demon Deacons have launched seven home runs in the two games against Western Carolina.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Scoring two or more runs in each of the first four innings, the Wake Forest baseball team (34-17) secured the series with a 14-2 run-rule victory over Western Carolina on Saturday evening at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Prior to the contest, Wake Forest honored senior student managers Peyton Polett and Dan Gann, along with student-athletes Austin Hawke, Zach Johnston, Luke Schmolke and Jimmy Keenan for their contributions to the program.
Five different Wake Forest hitters recorded multi-hit efforts, led by sophomore Dalton Wentz's 2-for-3 day, with a pair of home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored.
For Wentz, it marks the fourth multi-homer game of his career, while the five RBIs matched a career high. Additionally, he surpassed his home run total from a season ago, tying fellow sophomore Luke Costello for the team lead with 15 long balls so far this season.
After a pair of doubles yesterday, designated hitter Matt Conte collected his third extra-base hit of the weekend, launching his 10th home run of the season to become the fifth Demon Deacon with double-digit home runs so far this season.
Junior Blake Schaaf launched his fifth home run of the season, taking a full-count pitch over the wall in left field to cap a six-run first inning for Wake Forest.
On the mound, starting pitcher Troy Dressler earned his seventh win of the season, allowing just two runs on six hits across 5.0 innings while matching his career high with eight strikeouts.
Reliever Ryan Bosch threw a hitless frame with a pair of strikeouts, while senior Luke Schmolke returned to the mound for the first time since March 24, retiring the Catamounts in order in the final inning.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FROM COACH WALTER
"That was a good win, and we needed it. We needed to not use a ton of our bullpen pieces with five games coming up in seven days. It was nice that we didn't need to go to [Rhys] Bowie or [Marcelo] Harsch today, so we can have them available for tomorrow. I'm happy for our seniors, and I'm happy to see Luke Schmolke out there at the end. It's good to have him back and have him get a three-up, three-down inning. We got good at-bats out of Matt Conte, Kade [Lewis] and Luke Costello. Good to see Dalton Wentz get going, as well as [Blake] Schaaf at the bottom. Overall, it was a good, solid day. We executed well. I told our guys afterwards that we won all of our 3-2 counts, or just about. We might have lost one all day offensively. We lost a couple on the mound, but we executed our situational at-bats, so it was a good overall day. I was proud of our guys. Hopefully, we get one or two innings out of [Cameron] Bagwell tomorrow and then we'll piece it together with some of the freshmen that haven't been pitching. [Ryan] Brennecke, [Grant] Nicholson and [Tyler] Wood are going to need to get 12 to 15 outs so we don't have to extend Bowie, Harsch and [Will] Ray beyond an inning so we can have those guys back on Tuesday against a really good Liberty team." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons close the regular season home slate tomorrow with first pitch set for 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Prior to the contest, Wake Forest honored senior student managers Peyton Polett and Dan Gann, along with student-athletes Austin Hawke, Zach Johnston, Luke Schmolke and Jimmy Keenan for their contributions to the program.
Five different Wake Forest hitters recorded multi-hit efforts, led by sophomore Dalton Wentz's 2-for-3 day, with a pair of home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored.
For Wentz, it marks the fourth multi-homer game of his career, while the five RBIs matched a career high. Additionally, he surpassed his home run total from a season ago, tying fellow sophomore Luke Costello for the team lead with 15 long balls so far this season.
After a pair of doubles yesterday, designated hitter Matt Conte collected his third extra-base hit of the weekend, launching his 10th home run of the season to become the fifth Demon Deacon with double-digit home runs so far this season.
Junior Blake Schaaf launched his fifth home run of the season, taking a full-count pitch over the wall in left field to cap a six-run first inning for Wake Forest.
On the mound, starting pitcher Troy Dressler earned his seventh win of the season, allowing just two runs on six hits across 5.0 innings while matching his career high with eight strikeouts.
Reliever Ryan Bosch threw a hitless frame with a pair of strikeouts, while senior Luke Schmolke returned to the mound for the first time since March 24, retiring the Catamounts in order in the final inning.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Starting pitcher Troy Dressler worked a three-up, three-down top of the first, picking up his first strikeout of the contest.
- Wake Forest jumped on the Catamounts with six runs in the bottom of the first.
- After falling behind in the count 0-2, leadoff man Javar Williams worked a walk to open the frame.
- Right fielder Luke Costello singled through the left side to move Williams into scoring position.
- Junior Kade Lewis loaded the bases with a single to left field.
- A walk to third baseman Dalton Wentz plated the first run of the game for Wake Forest.
- Designated hitter Matt Conte lasered a pitch the other way for an RBI single to make it 2-0.
- An RBI groundout by left fielder Boston Torres plated a third run for Wake Forest.
- Catcher Jimmy Keenan lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.
- Second baseman Blake Schaaf delivered the big blow of the inning, rocketing a two-run home run to left field for his fifth of the season, putting Wake up 6-0 after one inning of play.
- The Catamounts grabbed a run back in the top of the second.
- Wake Forest continued its offensive onslaught in the bottom of the second, plating three runs in the frame.
- Williams led off the inning by beating out an infield single before advancing to third on a wild throw.
- Costello brought Williams aboard on a sacrifice fly to make it 7-1.
- Wentz pushed the lead to seven runs as he launched a 433-foot solo shot to deep center field.
- Conte made it back-to-back home runs for the Deacs moments later as he rocketed a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall for his 10th of the season.
- Dressler bounced back with a scoreless third inning, adding his fifth and sixth strikeouts of the game in the process.
- Wentz continued his stellar day at the plate as he crushed his second home run of the day on a three-run blast in the home half of the third.
- Western Carolina made it 12-2 in the top of the fourth.
- The Demon Deacons put up a crooked number for the fourth straight inning with an RBI groundout by Williams and a two-out RBI single from L. Costello to make it 14-2 in favor of the home team.
- Dressler finished his day with a scoreless frame, picking up his eighth and final strikeout in the top of the fifth.
- Freshman left-hander Ryan Bosch fanned a pair of Catamount batters during a scoreless sixth inning.
- Senior reliever Luke Schmolke made his first appearance for the Demon Deacons since March 24 as he retired the side in the top of the seventh to secure the 14-2 win.
- Sophomore Dalton Wentz led the way for the Demon Deacons, going 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored.
- This marked the fourth multi-home run game of Wentz's career, while the five RBIs matched his career high.
- The Madison Heights, Va., native has now left the yard a career-best 15 times this season, which is tied with fellow sophomore Luke Costello for the team lead.
- The Demon Deacons have used the first inning to their advantage, having now scored at least one run in 11 of their last 13 games.
- Wake Forest has scored 28 runs in the opening frame during that stretch, including six against the Catamounts on Saturday night.
- Additionally, the Deacs improved to 21-5 when scoring in the first inning this season.
| Date | Opponent | First Inning Runs |
| 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 |
| Apr. 25, 2026 | No. 3 Georgia Tech | 1 |
| Apr. 24, 2026 | No. 3 Georgia Tech | 6 |
| Apr. 23, 2026 | No. 3 Georgia Tech | 3 |
| Apr. 19, 2026 | NC State | 2 |
| Apr. 18, 2026 | NC State | 1 |
| Apr. 17, 2026 | NC State | 1 |
FROM COACH WALTER
"That was a good win, and we needed it. We needed to not use a ton of our bullpen pieces with five games coming up in seven days. It was nice that we didn't need to go to [Rhys] Bowie or [Marcelo] Harsch today, so we can have them available for tomorrow. I'm happy for our seniors, and I'm happy to see Luke Schmolke out there at the end. It's good to have him back and have him get a three-up, three-down inning. We got good at-bats out of Matt Conte, Kade [Lewis] and Luke Costello. Good to see Dalton Wentz get going, as well as [Blake] Schaaf at the bottom. Overall, it was a good, solid day. We executed well. I told our guys afterwards that we won all of our 3-2 counts, or just about. We might have lost one all day offensively. We lost a couple on the mound, but we executed our situational at-bats, so it was a good overall day. I was proud of our guys. Hopefully, we get one or two innings out of [Cameron] Bagwell tomorrow and then we'll piece it together with some of the freshmen that haven't been pitching. [Ryan] Brennecke, [Grant] Nicholson and [Tyler] Wood are going to need to get 12 to 15 outs so we don't have to extend Bowie, Harsch and [Will] Ray beyond an inning so we can have those guys back on Tuesday against a really good Liberty team." - Head Coach Tom Walter
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons close the regular season home slate tomorrow with first pitch set for 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Dressler, Troy (7-1)
L: Fordham, James (4-4)
Batting:
2B: Quarless, Noah 1
HR: Holton, Mason 1
RBI: Holton, Mason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Quarless, Noah 1 ; Holton, Mason 1
Batting:
2B: Schaaf, Blake 1
HR: Wentz, Dalton 2 ; Schaaf, Blake 1 ; Conte, Matt 1
RBI: Wentz, Dalton 5 ; Schaaf, Blake 2 ; Conte, Matt 2 ; Costello, Luke 2 ; Williams, Javar 1 ; Torres, Boston 1 ; Keenan, Jimmy 1
SF: Costello, Luke 1 ; Keenan, Jimmy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wentz, Dalton 3 ; Stein, JD 1 ; Lewis, Kade 2 ; Schaaf, Blake 2 ; Conte, Matt 2 ; Costello, Luke 2 ; Williams, Javar 2
SB: Stein, JD 1
Players Mentioned
LHP
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OF
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