Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh on Sunday, Maryland’s Jack Wren faced former Marist College teammate Ethan Conrad with runners on for No. 12 Wake Forest.

Conrad bested his former teammate, launching a three-run shot over the wall to spoil an excellent day of starting pitching for Maryland. Wake Forest would tack on another run right after to add some insurance and polish off a rough seventh inning for Wren.

Wake Forest added three more in the eighth, running away with Sunday afternoon’s contest in a 9-1 win over Maryland (6-5). The Terps’ loss in the weekend finale puts a slight damper on an impressive 3-1 showing in North Carolina. 

Sunday was a classic pitcher’s duel at “The Couch” in Winston-Salem.

Wake Forest (10-3) sophomore Blake Morningstar was rolling from the start. The 6-foot-4 right-hander hurled 1-2-3 innings in the first, second, and third, striking out three Terps along the way.

For Maryland, Logan Hastings made his first collegiate start Sunday in what was supposed to be a bullpen game. His first three innings were a bit more adventurous than Morningstar’s.

Despite surrendering two hits and walking five Demon Deacons in his first three innings of work, Hastings always found a way to escape his jams. 

Hastings struck out two in the first to nullify a pair of Wake Forest walks. He then picked up another punch out in the second to hold the Demon Deacons scoreless in an inning where they had two hits and a walk.

Hastings walked two more Demon Deacons in the third but picked up his fourth and fifth K’s to escape a jam for the third straight inning.

Maryland figured out Morningstar in the fourth — to an extent.

Brayden Martin broke up the perfect game with a lead-off bunt single. Two batters later Alex Calarco pushed his hitting streak to ten games with a single up the middle that put a runner in scoring position for Maryland.

But like Hastings, Morningstar steadied himself, striking out back-to-back batters to keep Maryland off the scoreboard.

Wake Forest then broke through in the fifth.

With two outs, Jack Winnay drew a walk and stole second, allowing designated hitter Kade Lewis to drive in the first run of the game on an RBI single.

That was the final inning for Hastings — Maryland’s opener, turned true starter. Facing a top-12 opponent in his first NCAA start, Hastings tossed seven strikeouts and gave up just one run on four hits with six walks in five innings of work.

Morningstar pitched another inning. Hastings’ challenger finished with six scoreless frames, allowing just three hits and one walk while racking up seven K’s. 

Maryland took advantage of Wake Forest’s bullpen in the top half of the seventh to score its lone run.

Sophomore right-hander Nate Brittan was the Demon Deacons’ first option out of the pen. He walked his first two hitters and the Demon Deacons immediately pulled him in favor of Luke Schmolke. The Terps loaded the bases for Colin Gibbs, who drove in Aden Hill on an RBI groundout to tie the game.

Aside from the one run, Maryland struggled to make contact. The Terps recorded just four hits to twelve strikeouts as a team. 

Maryland returns to College Park for a matchup at home against James Madison on Wednesday. First pitch is at 4 p.m., with Nate Schwartz and Brandon Schwartzberg on the call for MBN.