By Andrew Kube
Wake Forest welcomed Long Island and Marist to Winston-Salem this weekend for what was a weather-packed weekend. The Deacs were scheduled to play one game on Friday and Saturday and a doubleheader on Sunday, but all of that changed when a rough storm came through the area, forcing the schedules to change. Wake would eventually end up playing two games on Friday night, one on Saturday, and one on Sunday, dominating all four games and moving to 4-0 on the young season.
Friday, Game 1 vs Long Island:
The Demon Deacons got the season started with a bang on Friday with a 14-2 thrashing of Long Island in seven innings. Right-hander Logan Lunceford got the start for the Deacs and did not disappoint, striking out seven over four scoreless innings and allowing just one hit. Star shortstop Marek Houston enjoyed a hot start to the season, going 2-for-3 with a grand slam and another RBI in what could be the beginning of his campaign for ACC Player of the Year. Freshman Dalton Wentz went 3-for-4 in his first collegiate start with two doubles and three RBI. Former Big East Freshman Of The Year Kade Lewis added three hits for the Deacs as well in game one of the Friday doubleheader.
Friday, Game 2 vs Marist:
Wake Forest had a quick turnaround for game two as they took on Marist roughly an hour after the final out against Long Island. Joe Ariola made his first career start for the Demon Deacons and didn't have his best stuff. He only went 2.1 innings and allowed two runs while surrendering 4 walks. Matt Bedford, Will Ray, Luke Schmolke, and Luke Billings shut the door for the Deacs out of the bullpen, going a combined 6.2 innings and striking out twelve while allowing just four hits. The offense showed out in this one as well, led by former Marist Red Fox Ethan Conrad, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI. Marek Houston added his second home run of the weekend and added another two RBI. Freshman catcher Matt Conte got his first two hits of his career as well.
Saturday vs Long Island:
Transfer southpaw Matthew Dallas took the ball on Saturday night for Wake and he, like Logan Lunceford, did not disappoint. Dallas faced 17 hitters and struck out NINE over 4.1 shutout innings of work, only allowing one hit and two walks.. Josh Gunther and Dylan Zucker finished the last 2.2 innings for the Deacs, only allowing one hit over that final stretch. The offense provided more thunder and were again led by Marek Houston and Ethan Conrad. Houston went 3-for-4 with yet another home run and two RBI, while Conrad added a two-run double and four RBI night. Ryan Preisano went 2-for-3 with a double, homerun, and three RBI and Princeton transfer Matt Scannell added two doubles and three RBI as well.
Sunday vs Marist:
The weekend finale vs Marist provided the most offense of the weekend for Wake Forest as they plated 24 runs in just seven innings. Marek Houston added ANOTHER three hits and four RBI to his season total and Ethan Conrad added another two-hit, one-double afternoon with three RBI. Wake Forest got big contributions from Chris Katz and Austin Hawke as well, with Katz going 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run, and three RBI. Austin Hawke added a two-hit day for the Deacs with a double, home run, and four RBI. Sophomore Blake Morningstar got the start for Wake, going four innings, allowing three runs, striking out four, and walking three. Troy Dressler, Zach Johnston, Haiden Leffew, and Will Ray closed the door for the final three innings. Leffew had a bit of a rough outing, allowing three runs on three hits, in just 0.2 innings.
“Good overall weekend. I’m really pleased with us offensively," said head coach Tom Walter following Sunday's win. "We had good at-bats all weekend. We scored runs with two outs all weekend, which I was happy about our first 11 runs today came with two outs. On the mound, I was happy with our bullpen all weekend. Haiden [Leffew], I thought threw the ball better than the line score would indicate. We need to answer some questions with the starting pitching but [we] feel really good about our position players and our bullpen right now. I’m happy with our club."
Overall it was a very good weekend from Wake Forest, with a lot of positives. Marek Houston looks like a legit ACC Player of the Year contender, and Ethan Conrad looks like a perfect bat in the middle of this order. Transfers Logan Lunceford and Matthew Dallas looked really good as starters in the weekend rotation, and it will be interesting to see how Tom Walter deploys Ariola/Morningstar as well as whomever is in the midweek role. Wake Forest will take on a feisty UNCG team in Greensboro on Tuesday night before returning home to take on St. John's for a weekend set.
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