Friday, March 2
Kissimmee, Fla.
3 PM
Pitt
6-2
3
vs
2
Massachusetts
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5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UMass
0
0
0
0
1
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3
Pittsburgh
0
0
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1
0
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1
3
8
0
Washington Jr. Walks Off Massachusetts in Opener
3/2/2018 6:58:00 PM | Baseball
Pitt Takes Down Minutemen 3-2
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Two comeback innings for the Panthers lifted the University of Pittsburgh baseball team to a 3-2 victory in the opener of the Sunshine State Series over Massachusetts Friday afternoon at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Fla.
Friday's hero was freshman Ron Washington Jr. who cracked a double over the head of the Massachusetts left fielder in the bottom of the ninth, plating Nico Popa. After Cole MacLaren drew a four-pitch walk, Popa entered the game as a pinch runner and swiped second before Washington's late-inning heroics.
"That was a solid baseball game," said head coach Joe Jordano. "I thought we swung the bats much better today and got two huge hits from Nick [Banman] and Ron [Washington Jr.]. Derek [West] gave us a very good start and Chris [Gomez] was equally impressive. Yaya [Chentouf] walked the leadoff batter in the ninth and a tough pitch allowed the tying run to score, but he gave us a shot to win in the bottom half.
"In the ninth, we needed that big hit. We played flawless defensively as well. It was a good start for us against a well-coached, tough UMass team. Big day for us tomorrow."
The big hit wasn't the only of the game for the Panthers (6-2, 0-0 ACC) who, after trailing 1-0 after five innings, counted on a well-hit ball by Frank Maldonado that jumped over the head of the Minutemen third baseman, allowing Liam Sabino to score and tie things up.
Pitt would take its first lead of the game in the eighth as an RBI double from Nick Banman plated David Yanni, who hustled from first to give Pitt a 2-1 advantage.
In the top of the ninth, a passed ball scored the tying Massachusetts runner, setting up the walk off for Washington Jr.
Yaya Chentouf earned his second win of the season as he entered the game in the ninth. Derek West posted another efficient start in his second game back after missing both the 2016 and 2017 seasons due to injury. West threw 5.0 innings, allowing one run off three hits and one walk, fanning a career-best seven. Chris Gomez was solid in relief, tossing 3.0 innings of hitless ball, fanning a pair.
Banman put together the Panthers' lone multiple hit game, going 2-4 with an RBI. Connor Perry, Chris Cappas, Washington Jr., Yanni, Maldonado and MacLaren all tallied hits as the Panthers out hit the Minutemen 8-3.
With the win, Pitt improves to 6-2 on the season. The Panthers will return to action tomorrow, taking on undefeated Butler at 11 a.m. and back against Massachusetts at 6:30 p.m. Matt Pidich is set to get the start for Pitt in game one, with Blair Calvo expected in game two.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Friday's hero was freshman Ron Washington Jr. who cracked a double over the head of the Massachusetts left fielder in the bottom of the ninth, plating Nico Popa. After Cole MacLaren drew a four-pitch walk, Popa entered the game as a pinch runner and swiped second before Washington's late-inning heroics.
"That was a solid baseball game," said head coach Joe Jordano. "I thought we swung the bats much better today and got two huge hits from Nick [Banman] and Ron [Washington Jr.]. Derek [West] gave us a very good start and Chris [Gomez] was equally impressive. Yaya [Chentouf] walked the leadoff batter in the ninth and a tough pitch allowed the tying run to score, but he gave us a shot to win in the bottom half.
"In the ninth, we needed that big hit. We played flawless defensively as well. It was a good start for us against a well-coached, tough UMass team. Big day for us tomorrow."
The big hit wasn't the only of the game for the Panthers (6-2, 0-0 ACC) who, after trailing 1-0 after five innings, counted on a well-hit ball by Frank Maldonado that jumped over the head of the Minutemen third baseman, allowing Liam Sabino to score and tie things up.
Pitt would take its first lead of the game in the eighth as an RBI double from Nick Banman plated David Yanni, who hustled from first to give Pitt a 2-1 advantage.
In the top of the ninth, a passed ball scored the tying Massachusetts runner, setting up the walk off for Washington Jr.
Yaya Chentouf earned his second win of the season as he entered the game in the ninth. Derek West posted another efficient start in his second game back after missing both the 2016 and 2017 seasons due to injury. West threw 5.0 innings, allowing one run off three hits and one walk, fanning a career-best seven. Chris Gomez was solid in relief, tossing 3.0 innings of hitless ball, fanning a pair.
Banman put together the Panthers' lone multiple hit game, going 2-4 with an RBI. Connor Perry, Chris Cappas, Washington Jr., Yanni, Maldonado and MacLaren all tallied hits as the Panthers out hit the Minutemen 8-3.
With the win, Pitt improves to 6-2 on the season. The Panthers will return to action tomorrow, taking on undefeated Butler at 11 a.m. and back against Massachusetts at 6:30 p.m. Matt Pidich is set to get the start for Pitt in game one, with Blair Calvo expected in game two.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chentouf, Yaya (2-0)
L: Donahue, Connor (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: Greene, Logan 1
SH: Hart, Eddy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Oliphant, Luke 1 ; Kessinger, Nolan 1
HBP: Greene, Logan 1
Batting:
2B: Washington, Jr., Ron 1 ; Banman, Nick 1
RBI: Washington, Jr., Ron 1 ; Maldonado, Frank 1 ; Banman, Nick 1
SH: Amos, Alex 1 ; Cappas, Chris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sabino, Liam 1 ; Yanni, David 1 ; Popa, Nico 1
SB: Popa, Nico 1
CS: Perry, Connor 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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/ BaseballINF
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