Panthers Grab Opening Day Win with 9-3 Victory over Oakland

Friday, February 16

Kissimmee, Fla.

3 PM

Pitt

1-0

Oakland

0-1

Oakland

Pittsburgh

Panthers Grab Opening Day Win with 9-3 Victory over Oakland

2/16/2018 7:15:00 PM | Baseball

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Sabino, Pidich Shine in Pitt Victory

KISSIMMEE, FLA. – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team kicked off the 2018 season Friday afternoon, downing Oakland 9-3 in the opening game of the Sunshine State Series at Osceola County Ballpark in Kissimmee, Fla.

Pitt used a big third inning to grab a lead it wouldn't surrender as a 10-hit performance and stellar pitching from starter Matt Pidich led the Panthers to the victory.

Liam Sabino paced the offense in his Pitt debut, going 4-5 including a shot to center field in his first at bat, giving Pitt a 1-0 lead in the opening frame.

"I was very excited for Liam, not only to have the opportunity to play again," said head coach Joe Jordano. "He has worked so hard. He is such a conscientious player, he puts a lot of time in. For him to put the Pitt uniform on for the first time and in his first at bat hit a home run to put us up in the bottom of the first is something that hope he will remember for a very long time. I know I certainly will."

Pitt's big inning came in the third as the Panthers plated four runs off two hits and took advantage of a pair of Oakland mistakes. A walk to Cole MacLaren and singles by Alex Amos and Sabino would load things up with one out. A fielding miscue would allow David Yanni to reach, plating a pair to extend Pitt's lead to 3-0.

A wild pitch would make it 4-0 in favor of the Panthers and a dropped third strike would later give the Panthers a 5-0 advantage.

Pidich would face the minimum through the first four frames before surrendering a single and walk in the fifth, but working around the jam with a pair of strikeouts. He fanned a total of seven batters in the game, setting a new career high.

"Matt is the type of kid that has such a great work ethic," added Jordano. "He sets the tempo, never too high never too low, he sets a good pace. He pounds the zone and the defense works very well behind him. He was commanding three pitches today, which equates to a lot of strikeouts, and we played clean baseball. That's one of the things that we emphasize quite a bit and all of the elements were there on the defensive side today and you saw the result."

Sabino would record his second RBI of the contest in the fourth, bringing MacLaren home off a single.

Oakland broke up the drought in the sixth as a wild pitch would allow a man to come around, cutting Pitt's lead to 6-1.

Pitt would get the run back in the bottom of the frame, as Nico Popa came across on a wild pitch. In the seventh, two more would score as an RBI double down the left field line by Caleb Parry would score Ron Washington Jr. and an infield single by Popa brought Parry home.

The Golden Grizzlies kept things going in the eighth, scoring two off a triple and infield single as Pitt's lead remained 9-3.

In addition to Sabino's solid outing, Popa put together a 2-4 performance, adding an RBI. Parry went 1-4 with an RBI while MacLaren went 1-2 with two runs scored and two walks.

Pidich was nearly perfect in his Opening Day start, tossing 6.0 innings, allowing just one run off three hits, surrendering two walks and fanning seven. Freshman Chase Smith saw 1.1 innings of relief in his collegiate debut and didn't surrender a hit, striking out one. Both Kevin Henriksen and Peyton Reesman also appeared in relief as Pitt moves to 1-0 on the season.

Pitt returns to the diamond tomorrow, taking on Saint Louis at 11 a.m. and Toledo at 6:30 p.m. The Panthers close out the Sunshine State Series Sunday, again taking on Toledo at 11 a.m.

Notes: Pitt is now 37-40 on Opening Day … the Panthers are now 2-1 all-time versus Oakland and have won two straight over the Golden Grizzlies … Pitt is now 4-1 in games played at Osceola County Stadium … redshirt senior pitcher Matt Pidich set a new career high in strikeouts (7) … Alex Amos extends his hit streak to seven games to pace the team … Amos extended his reach-base streak to 18 games to pace the team … Pitt recorded 10 or more hits for the first time since tallying 14 against No. 20 wake Forest on May 20, 2017 to end the 2017 season … Liam Sabino tallied four hits on the afternoon, the first time a Panther recorded at least four hits since Caleb Parry against SIU Edwardsville on April 30, 2017.

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