WINSTON-SALEM – Considering Wake Forest’s baseball season started with a strong outing by pitcher Josh Hartle, transfer Adam Tellier homering on the first pitch in the first inning, all in front of a record-setting crowd, it was a good night.

Considering Wake Forest only had five hits, had two errors, and spent a lot of at-bats trying to follow Tellier in the home run department, it wasn’t such a good night.

So went the mixed bag of Wake’s 9-3 season-opening win over Fordham on Friday night at David F. Couch Ballpark.

“First off, great crowd tonight. Was really happy with that kind of showing on Opening Day,” coach Tom Walter said. “Really happy with the way Josh Hartle pitched today … happy with both of our bullpen guys, I was really happy with Will Ray and even Blake Morningstar, he had the walk and the home run, but other than that got us six outs.”

So, onto the good parts first.

Wake Forest is turning the page from a historic season and hoping Friday is the first step of a four-month journey back to Omaha. If any reminders are needed of last year’s success, the new signage on the wall in right-center field marking the ACC regular-season championship could suffice; over a few feet to the left are the three times the Deacons have reached the College World Series.

There’s no turning of a page when it comes to large crowds at these games.

The crowd of 3,514 on hand was the largest ever at Wake Forest for a regular-season game. The only four games with a higher attendance were the two regional games against George Mason last year (3,823), and the super regional games against Alabama (3,903).

The previous attendance record for a regular-season home game was 3,023, which was in the final weekend of the regular season last year against Virginia Tech.

“I never would have thought of being the No. 1-ranked team in the country and having the support that we had on the first night and having so many people come out,” said Hartle, the hometown star. “It was truly special.”

The 6-5, 200-pound junior said he could feel the energy building in the hour leading up to the first pitch.

“I saw people filing in when I was in the outfield, I was like, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of people here tonight,’” Hartle said. “I was in the dugout and could hear the roar and stuff from the crowd, it was pretty cool. And then pregame, saw everybody. Saw a lot of people I knew, which was really cool, really special.”

Hartle pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks. He struck out four and the typically stoic lefty showed some frustration with a few calls, most often in two-strike counts.

Ray, a junior reliever, relieved Hartle and picked up four outs, allowing a double.

Wake Forest broke this game open in the fifth, when it was leading 4-1. With a two-run double by outfielder Jake Reinisch followed by a two-run single by catcher Tate Ballestero Jr., the Deacons doubled their run total and hit total.

Those were big swings that resulted in hits; for Walter’s preference, there were too many big swings that resulted in outs.

“I think it’s a little bit of nerves amped up, I think it’s a little bit that Adam Tellier hit the first pitch of the game over the fence,” Walter said. “Quite honestly, I just felt like we were trying to homer for the rest of the game. … We were pressing tonight, there’s no doubt about that.”

Tellier was a bright spot beyond the homer, as he bunted for a hit in his second at-bat and accounted for two of the walks. He was also picked off after the bunt and committed one of the errors, though he also made two hard-charging plays on grounders early that showed why he’s Brock Wilken’s replacement at the hot corner.

“Last year I played a lot of shortstop, really haven’t played a lot of third base in my life,” said Tellier, who transferred from Ball State. “So it’s definitely something that we took into a lot of consideration, just being able to be diligent in our work, being able to understand the different movements at third.”

His homer, defensive plays, a diving play by Nick Kurtz at first — the first couple of innings were eventful.

Fordham struck first with Tommy McAndrews’ one-out single, driving in Daniel Bucciero after he singled and stole a base. Hartle might have been squeezed a little bit against Bucciero, with Ballestero taking a crow hop toward third base after one two-strike pitch that was called a ball.

Tellier led off the first and got the run back on the first pitch he saw as a Deacon, hammering that one over the fence in left-center field.

He wasn’t the only newcomer to homer in his first at-bat — though Tellier’s blast went over the wall, whereas Austin Hawke’s homer was of the little league variety.

Hawke, the UNC transfer and brother of former Deacon Tommy, had a two-out flare into right-center field that hit the glove of centerfielder Ryan Thiesse. That allowed Reinisch and Chris Katz to score, and when Fordham committed two more throwing errors on the same play, Hawke made it home.

That, plus Tellier’s homers and the back-to-back two-run hits in the fifth, were about the extent of Wake’s offensive prowess.

Freshman pitcher Blake Morningstar made his debut with mixed results. He walked two batters and gave up a two-run homer in the eighth, but also struck out the side thanks to a heavy mid-90s fastball.

The 6-4, 220-pounder finished the game on the mound for Wake Forest, inducing a 6-4-3 double play in the ninth and ending it with a strikeout.

“I was really happy with Blake,” Walter said. “Like I told him, ‘Look, flyball home runs happen here. That’s just what it is. You can’t have the walk before that.’ But I was really happy with the way he responded. He’s a big piece to our pitching staff.”

EXTRA BASES: Wake Forest is strapped for pitching this weekend, with six bullpen pieces on the mend. Walter said he expects Joe Ariola, Crawford Wade, Will Gervase, Hudson Lee and Chase Walter (his son, and the only right-hander of those five) to return at various points in the next couple of weeks. Cole Roland, as previously reported, will be out for a longer period. … Marek Houston had an RBI single in the eighth for Wake Forest, and also committed an error. … Illinois and Akron split a doubleheader in early action at the Couch. Illinois won the first game 3-1; Akron won the second game 5-4 in the 11th inning. Wake Forest plays Illinois on Saturday and Akron on Sunday.