Weekend recap: Wake Forest takes 2 of 3 at Pittsburgh
Wake Forest climbed above .500 in the ACC by winning a series at Pittsburgh this weekend. But there’s a bit of a hollow feeling that comes with that.
The Deacons (23-10, 8-7 ACC) dropped a tight game in the ninth inning of Sunday’s series finale. The Deacons outscored Pitt 30-10 in the first two games.
“That’s a game that we should have found a way to win,” coach Tom Walter said after Sunday’s game via news release. “[The] pitching decisions late, I’m going to be thinking about those for a while. … On Sundays, you can’t expect three runs to win.”
Here are quick recaps of each game from this weekend:
Wake Forest 8, Pitt 2
On Friday, Pitt scored the first two runs — both in the first two innings — before Wake’s sluggers took over.
Seven of Wake’s eight runs came on home runs. Jimmy Keenan gave the Deacons a 4-2 lead with a three-run shot in the fourth inning. Two batters later, Javar Williams launched a homer.
Dalton Wentz hit a solo homer in the seventh for some insurance, and Luke Costello’s two-run blast in the eighth was the last of the cushion. Wake Forest had seven hits and four of them were homers.
Chris Levonas (7-1) gave up those early runs but that was in against the sophomore righty. He gave up three hits and two walks in his 6 1/3 innings, striking out seven.
Evan Jones was the only other pitcher Wake Forest used, going the final 2 2/3. He didn’t allow a hit and had two strikeouts.
Wake Forest 22, Pitt 8 (7 innings)
On Saturday, Wake Forest actually hit fewer homers in this one than in the series opener.
Both teams scored two runs in the first and when Pitt scored one in the second, its lead was 3-2. In Wake’s last five times at the plate, the Deacons scored three, six, three, four and four runs.
Costello was 3-for-4 with four runs and four RBI. His two-run homer put Wake Forest on the scoreboard in the first. Wentz also homered for the second straight day, a three-run shot in the sixth that made it 18-4. Wentz was 3-for-5 with four runs scored.
JD Stein’s three-run homer capped Wake’s scoring in the seventh. Williams also drove in three runs. Kade Lewis, Matt Conte and Boston Torres had two RBI each.
Blake Morningstar and Troy Dressler each pitched three innings for the Deacons with similar stats. Both of them gave up four runs on five hits. Morningstar walked one and struck out four; Dressler walked two with six punchouts.
Grant Nicholson and Ryan Bosch combined for the final inning.
Pitt 4, Wake Forest 3
On Sunday, Pitt’s first three batters of the ninth reached — one of them via throwing error by pitcher Marcelo Harsch — and back-to-back sacrifice flies tied it and won it for the Panthers.
Harsch was replaced by Zach Johnston for the last two batters. The other two batters who reached were on a single and a hit by pitch.
Wake’s offense lacked the same punch it had in the first two games. The Deacons only had six hits, and one of them was for extra bases — a double by Williams. Runs were scored on a groundout by Costello, a single by Lewis and a single by Stein in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
Cameron Bagwell started on the mound for the Deacons and allowed one run in six innings. He allowed five hits and a walk. Rhys Bowie gave up a run in his 2/3-inning appearance before Harsch replaced him.
