The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are on a roll right now, and that did not stop on Thursday night. This win extended the Deacs’ win streak to nine games. They are clicking at the right time with the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament right around the corner.
In this one, a big offensive start combined with rock-solid pitching led to an all-around dominant performance over Duke. Let’s go through the highlights.
Getting Out In Front Early
The Demon Deacons did not waste any time in this one; a five-run opening frame allowed Wake to gain momentum that they ultimately never surrendered. Solid at-bats, along with some Duke fielding errors, made this possible.
Luke Costello and Kade Lewis both got on base thanks to walks, and Dalton Wentz thanks to a fielding error. With the bases loaded, Matt Conte was at the plate, and another fielding error put him on base and scored a run.
Boston Torres capitalized on the errors with a big ground-rule double that allowed two more runs to score. Andrew Costello was the next batter up, and he reached first base on a throwing error that also allowed two more runs to score.
In the third inning, a Blake Schaaf ground-rule double allowed for another run to score. In the sixth, Luke Costello hit a sacrifice fly that brought in JD Stein to score the seventh run of the game for Wake Forest.
Lights Out Pitching
As you can tell, Duke shot themselves in the foot quickly, but the Deacs still needed to capitalize on the mound, and they absolutely came through. Chris Levonas started and threw six innings before Evan Jones came in and pitched the final three innings to close out the victory.
As we have seen so many times throughout the season, Levonas was lights out on the mound. It was an almost flawless performance as he gave up no runs on just one hit and three batters walked. He had 10 strikeouts as he made his way up and down the Blue Devils’ order.
Evan Jones came in for the final three innings, and he also pitched very well. He had five strikeouts to go along with Levonas’ 10 K’s. He ran into a little bit of trouble in the eighth, giving up two runs, but got out of the inning and closed out the victory in the ninth. With Wake’s pitchers throwing this well, they will be a very tough group for any team to handle.
What’s Next?
Now the Deacs will go for the series victory tomorrow in Durham at 6 pm in Game Two of the three-game series. Troy Dressler will take the mound for Wake as they look to extend the win streak.
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