GRANVILLE — It wasn’t the outcome No. 2-seeded Wake Forest wanted in Game 1 of the Morgantown Regional. The Demon Deacons blew a 3-0 lead to Kentucky, putting them in the losers’ bracket and in a win-or-go-home situation the rest of the way. After a tough loss, the No. 2 seed in the region gained a boost of confidence, jumping out to a lead and rolling from there.
The Demon Deacons scored five runs in the fourth inning, contributing to a 12-3 win that sent No. 4-seeded Binghamton home Saturday afternoon, surviving until Sunday. Wake Forest plays the loser of the No. 1-seeded West Virginia and No. 3 Kentucky, which is slated for 5 p.m. Saturday night.
“It’s a great team win,” Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter said. “Really proud of our guys in the way they came out and competed. I thought we competed well yesterday, but we didn’t give up free 90s today, which was huge.”
Wake Forest’s Kade Lewis doubled to score two in the top of the fourth, handing the Demon Deacons a 7-0 lead, and then, with two outs, Matt Conte drilled one into the left field corner for a double, scoring Lewis. Wake Forest’s offense didn’t score in the first inning, but scored eight over the next three innings, bringing in at least one in those three.
Lewis had two hits and two RBIs. Blake Schaaf led the team with four hits. Javar Williams led the team with three RBIs on two hits, one of which was a bunt to score Schaaf. The Demon Deacons tallied 15 hits, with multiple hitters having a couple.
Wake Forest’s offense received a lot of help from starting pitcher Cameron Bagwell. Bagwell pitched four scoreless frames and gave up just two hits. In the fifth inning, Bagwell was getting tired, according to Walter. The Bearcats’ Zachary Anderson hit a 392-foot home run to get them on the board. They picked up two more, but Walter let Bagwell finish the inning.
Bagwell came out in the sixth and loaded the bases. He was pulled after that, throwing 94 pitches, allowing eight hits, striking out four and walked two.
With no outs and bases juiced, Walter went with Zach Johnston out of the pen. Johnston struck out the first batter and then forced a ground ball up the middle to turn a double play. Johnston walked back to the dugout without allowing a run. He was taken out early, so he can be saved for another game.
“I’ve been in that situation quite a few times,” Johnston said. “I just think leaning back on the experience that I’ve had previously, and not letting the moment get too big was a big part of why that inning was so successful. But, I think just the experience of being able to do that before and just trusting that I can do it again was the biggest part.”
Wake Forest went with former starting pitcher Blake Morningstar to send Binghamton home.
Williams hit a high-hanging homer, catching the wind, to add some more run support in the eighth. Schaaf also brought in another in the ninth with a single. Wake Forest scored at least one run in every inning except three.
The Demon Deacons have some rest before playing the loser of Kentucky-WVU on Sunday at noon.
“It’s all about getting hot at the right time,” Walter said. “Hopefully, we can build some momentum into tomorrow. We had much better at-bats.”
