Wake Forest blew a late-inning lead and lost the first game of a three-game series at Stanford, and then came back for a couple of wins to win the series.

The Deacons needed a late-inning rally of their own to win Saturday’s middle game. Dramatics were gone in the series’ rubber game, as Wake Forest left the West Coast with a 10-run rule win.

It’s an important series win for a Wake Forest team that dropped two of three games at home against Boston College last weekend. The Deacons (29-16, 12-12 ACC) are in the middle of the standings with two league series left — they’re off next weekend because of a break for final exams.

Here are quick recaps for each of Wake’s games at Stanford this weekend:

On Friday, Wake Forest lost a three-run lead in the bottom of the eighth, tied it in the ninth, only to lose it in the 12th.

The Deacons’ best chance to take the lead in extra innings came in the 11th, when they loaded the bases with two outs. Shortstop Marek Houston struck out to end that threat.

Wake Forest also stranded a runner at second in the 12th.

Stanford won it after a single, walk, and failed sacrifice bunt attempt. Cort Macdonald’s one-out single scored Saborn Campbell from second base.

It was a sour end to a game the Deacons took control of in the middle innings. Wake Forest scored four straight runs between the fourth and seventh innings — Dalton Wentz scored on a wild pitch, Cameron Nelson hit a sacrifice fly, and Jack Winnay hit a two-run home run.

That took the score from a 2-1 deficit to a 5-2 lead and coincided with reliever Griffin Green pitching four shutout innings.

Joe Ariola took over for Green and allowed all three batters he faced to reach — two walks sandwiching an error by Wentz at second base. Haiden Leffew entered and all four of Stanford’s eighth-inning runs were scored against him, on a single, double and two sac flies.

Wake Forest tied the game in the ninth with four walks, the last three of those coming with two outs.

On Saturday, the Deacons were on the right end of a wild late-innings rally.

Wake Forest scored five runs in the top of the ninth to win it. There were five consecutive one-out singles, the last three of them by Nelson, Houston and Kade Lewis driving in runs. With two outs later in the inning, Austin Hawke had a two-out, two-run single for some insurance.

All but one of Wake’s runs came in the sixth inning or later. Nelson had a two-run single in the sixth to cut a four-run deficit in half; Wake’s four-run seventh gave the Deacons a two-run lead, at 7-5, when Hawke and Matt Conte had RBI singles and Javar Williams hit a two-run double.

Stanford scored four in the bottom of the eighth (again), which is how the game went to the ninth with the Deacons trailing by two.

Lewis was 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI. Williams was 3-for-3 with two RBI and he also walked twice. Nelson, Houston, Hawke, Conte and Matt Scannell each had two-hit games; Wake Forest piled up 19 hits and 17 of them were singles.

Blake Morningstar started for the Deacons and pitched five innings, allowing five runs (one earned) on seven hits and a walk. Josh Gunther was charged with allowing three runs in two innings of relief, and Matt Beford gave up Stanford’s last run.

Freshman Rhys Bowie picked up the first save of his career by working around a walk in the ninth.

On Sunday, Wake Forest piled up runs in each inning from the second to the fifth and that was enough to end the game early thanks to a combined and abbreviated four-hitter.

The Deacons scored three runs in the second and the only hit of the inning was Scannell’s one-out triple. Conte hit a sacrifice fly and then five straight batters walked — the last two of those being bases-loaded walks taken by Lewis and Winnay.

Wake’s only run of the third scored on an error; Winnay hit a two-run double in the fourth to make it a 6-0 lead.

Nelson doubled in two more in the fifth, and the Deacons got to double-digit runs on a single by Lewis and an RBI groundout by Williams.

That was plenty enough support for freshman Chris Levonas (3-1), who allowed three hits in four innings. Joe Ariola pitched 1 2/3 with one walk, and Zach Johnston struck out the only batter he faced.

Freshman Duncan Marsten pitched around a walk and a single to end the game in the seventh.