Wake Forest bashes Wolfpack again to win series
Wake Forest is going to be a difficult team to beat if it keeps putting up double-digit runs.
The Deacons hammered N.C. State 18-7 on Saturday at David F. Couch Ballpark.
For the second straight game against the Wolfpack, Wake Forest (27-13, 11-9 ACC) ended the game in the seventh inning. The Deacons beat N.C. State 22-1 in Friday night’s series opener.
And like Friday night’s game, the Deacons had an early deficit that was quickly overcome.
N.C. State scored three runs in the top of the second to take a 3-1 lead. Wake Forest answered with four in the bottom half, those runs scoring on a bases-loaded walk, a fielder’s choice, a single and a wild pitch.
The last of those was perhaps the most impressive — Dalton Wentz scored from second base on the wild pitch with a creative slide.
N.C. State made it a 5-4 game in the fourth and in the bottom half of that inning is when the Deacons created separation. Javar Williams hit an opposite-field three-run homer that barely cleared the fence in left field, and Matt Conte’s two-run homer later in the inning made it an 11-4 lead.
“Days like this, where the wind’s blowing out, it’s hard to keep a team in the ballpark,” coach Tom Walter said. “We’ve for the most part kept N.C. State in the ballpark the last two days, and that’s really been the difference.”
The Deacons tacked on seven more runs, most of them coming on homers. Luke Costello hit a three-run homer and Kade Lewis followed him with a solo shot. Conte’s second homer of the game, another two-run blast, ended the game in the seventh.
All 16 of Wake’s RBI came from the top five batters in its lineup — Williams, Wentz, Costello, Lewis and Conte. They were a combined 12-for-21.
Troy Dressler (6-1) pitched 3 1/3 for the Deacons, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks. Evan Jones pitched 2 2/3, giving up two runs on three hits and three walks. Will Ray allowed one run in the seventh.
