Published Jun 2, 2025
Tennessee beats Wake Forest to win regional
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Conor O'Neill  •  DeaconsIllustrated
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Deacons’ season ends after winning three games to force Game 7 against the Vols

It was one thing for Wake Forest’s baseball team to fight back with three season-extending wins over the last two days.

The Deacons just couldn’t muster a rally from down six runs in the decisive game of the Knoxville regional against Tennessee, though.

Wake Forest lost 11-5 to Tennessee on Monday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, ending the season one win away from the super regional round of the NCAA tournament.

The Vols (46-17) will play Arkansas this upcoming weekend in a best-of-3 series. The Razorbacks are the No. 3 overall seed — and the highest-remaining seed, as Vanderbilt and Texas were both knocked out Sunday.

Dreams of Wake Forest reeling off a fourth straight win to win the regional were dashed with Tennessee’s seven-run bottom of the fourth inning.

The inning started with a walk, and then had another after a strikeout. Zach Johnston threw a wild pitch that moved the runners up and meant Wake’s defensive alignment changed, and a check swing to the right side was slow enough to score a run.

Another wild pitch — by Duncan Marsten, who relieved Johnston — gave the Vols a 3-2 lead.

The twist of the knife, though, was Marsten giving up a three-run home run to No. 9 hitter Manny Marin. That came on the first pitch after Marsten notched a strikeout for the second out of the inning. Gavin Kilen singled next, and Andrew Fischer launched a two-run homer to make it an 8-2 game.

The Deacons got two of those runs back on a home run by Matt Scannell in the next inning. Austin Hawke’s two-out RBI single got the deficit to three, at 8-5, in the sixth.

That was all for the Deacons’ bats, though.

With two outs in the seventh, Tennessee brought in ace Liam Doyle, a likely first-round pick next month who threw 104 pitches in a regional-opening win on Friday night. He closed the door by retiring all seven Wake Forest batters he faced, five of them via strikeout, to earn the save.

The Deacons also turned to their Friday starter. Blake Morningstar, having thrown 111 pitches in a loss to Cincinnati three days earlier, gave up two runs and four hits, with one walk. The Vols put up two insurance runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth.

Wake Forest jumped out to a two-run lead on Matt Conte’s home run in the second. That was with two outs, with Luke Costello at first base after he singled.

Griffin Green started on the mound for Wake Forest. You couldn’t ask for a better first two innings, as he faced the minimum six batters on 22 pitches. A one-out walk in the first inning was erased by a double play.

Tennessee’s first run came in the third, but that was mostly a victory for the Deacons. The Vols loaded the bases against Green without the ball leaving the infield; Johnston replaced him on the mound, got a double play on which a run scored, and escaped the inning with the Deacons still leading, at 2-1.