Panthers Drop Heartbreaker to Louisville, 6-5

Saturday, May 12

Pittsburgh, Pa.

11 AM

Pitt

27-21, 11-15-0

Louisville

36-15, 14-12-0

Louisville

Pittsburgh

Panthers Drop Heartbreaker to Louisville, 6-5

5/12/2018 2:57:00 PM | Baseball

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Sabino, Maldonado Homer in Game Two Loss

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team dropped game two of a three-game series to Louisville at Charles L. Cost Field on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Cardinals 6-5.

"That was a very difficult loss," said head coach Joe Jordano. "We played well enough to win this game, but obviously we didn't get it done in the end. We just have to put ourselves in a good frame of mind, get refocused, and try and get a win tomorrow."

Pitt (27-21, 11-15 ACC) opened the scoring, taking a 1-0 lead in the first when Ron Washington Jr. singled to left field to bring home Frank Maldonado, who had stolen second and walked to first. The Panthers added two more in the third, increasing their lead to three. Maldonado singled to start off the inning, advancing to third on an error by the pitcher during a failed pickoff attempt, while Liam Sabino would walk and move to second on another failed pickoff attempt. Both Maldonado and Sabino would score when Nick Banman smacked a double into the right center gap.

Louisville (36-15, 14-12 ACC) added a run in the fourth, but the Panthers would remain on top 3-1.

Sabino stretched Pitt's lead to three in the fifth inning, crushing a solo home run to left field for his team-leading 14th home run of the season.

Louisville tallied two in the eight and three in the ninth to come-from-behind and take a 6-4 advantage. Maldonado smashed a solo home run to right field to make it 6-5 in the bottom of the frame, but the Panthers would be unable to surmount a comeback.

Starter Matt Pidich earned a no decision after pitching 6.1 innings, giving up only one run on seven hits, while walking two and striking out eight. RJ Freure pitched 1.1 innings of relief, giving up two runs on three hits and striking out one. Yaya Chentouf (5-3) earned the loss, giving up two earned runs on four hits while striking out one in 1.0 inning of work.

Offensively, Maldonado led the way, going 2-4 with three runs and an RBI including a solo homer. Sabino added a 2-3 performance with an RBI and a run, while Banman added a pair of RBI.

The Panthers and the Cardinals will meet tomorrow for the series finale at 11 a.m. Redshirt junior Blair Calvo is expected to start on the mound for the Panthers.

Notes: The loss is the first of the season for the Panthers when leading after eight, snapping a 24-0 mark thus far … Liam Sabino now ranks third in ACC in home runs (14) … Ron Washington Jr. extended his team-best hit streak to four games … Liam Sabino extended his team-best reached base streak to 13, while Caleb Parry pushed his to 10.

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