After spending his freshman season at Tennessee, sophomore Matthew Dallas joined a Wake Forest pitching staff that has their sights set on helping the Deacs get back to Omaha this season.
Wake Forest’s pitching staff is returning 195 innings pitched (37.2%) from last year, headlined by sophomore Blake Morningstar and junior Joe Ariola. In addition to Dallas, junior Logan Lunceford (Mizzou), graduate student Matt Bedford (Notre Dame), graduate student Griffin Green (Virginia Tech) and junior Luke Schmolke (Georgia Tech) round out the transfer class for Wake Forest’s pitching staff.
Dallas, born in Memphis, Tennessee, transferred from Tennessee in order to find a better fit, despite calling his time at Tennessee a “great experience.” After consulting with members of his family, and meeting with coach Tom Walter and pitching coach Corey “Moose” Muscara, Dallas knew instantly that Wake Forest was the place for him.
“Oh, I love it. I couldn’t name a better place than this place,” said Dallas when talking about his transition this offseason. “Every day, just hanging out with the guys, hanging out with Moose and all of them, it’s made me very different and I love it.”
Dallas is a left-hander who stands at 6-foot-5 and weighs 190 pounds. He boasts a five-pitch arsenal that includes a four-seam fastball, two-seamer, curveball, changeup and cutter. He believes his biggest strength is his ability to control the outside of the plate and not leave much down the middle.
Since arriving on campus, Dallas has worked extensively with Muscara on developing his cutter and adding a sinker, among many other things, as he prepares for the season.
“There’s been a bunch of mechanical things I’ve been working on ever since I stepped foot here,” said Dallas. “All of those have drastically gotten better because of how they work here and what we do.”
With opening weekend right around the corner, Dallas will open the season as a weekend starter, pitching Sunday, along with right-hander Morningstar who will start the second game of the double-header. Lunceford, another left-hander, will start on Friday, and right-hander Ariola will be on the bump on Saturday.
Earlier this preseason, Walter had high praise for Dallas, mentioning that Dallas was certainly in contention for a weekend starting spot. Dallas’ strong preseason likely vaulted him into that starting spot for opening weekend. Across three weekends of intrasquad scrimmages, Dallas pitched a total of 12 2/3 innings, allowing six hits and one run, while striking out 15.
The opening weekend starting spot is big news for Dallas, who had only 15 appearances and two starts for the Vols last season.
As the Deacs begin their final preparations for opening weekend at David F. Couch Ballpark, Dallas’ first start against Long Island University will give him the opportunity to make an immediate impact for the Deacs.
