Baseball Suffers Tough Loss to Georgia Southern

Saturday, March 8

Greenville, NC

8:00 PM

Pitt

Georgia Southern

Baseball Suffers Tough Loss to Georgia Southern

3/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

March 9, 2008

Box Score

Greenville, N.C.-The Pitt baseball team fell to Georgia Southern, 3-2, as the Eagles' Matt Miller blasted a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the tenth. The nightcap headed into extra innings tied at 2-2, but the Panthers (3-5) were unable to capture the win, dropping their second contest of the day.

Georgia Southern (6-5) took an early lead 1-0 in the bottom of the first when Pitt starter Rob Brant (SR/Mansfield, Pa./Mansfield) gave up a two-out walk, which was followed by an RBI-single from Eagles' third baseman A.J. Wirnsberger.

The score remained unchanged until the top of the sixth when the Panthers rallied to tie the game at 1-1. Catcher Nick Mullins (SR/Brick, N.J./Brookdale Community College) roped a leadoff single to center field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Right fielder Zach Duggan (RS FR/Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) then bunted Mullins over to third and left fielder Sean Conley (SR/Chippewa, Pa./Blackhawk) finished the job as he ripped an RBI-single into right field.

Pitt took its first lead of the game in the seventh after Brant and the Pitt defense kept Georgia Southern off the board in the bottom of the sixth. Dan Williams (SR/Berwyn, Pa./Episcopal Academy) got things rolling for the Panthers with a leadoff single to right field. Three batters later, center fielder Jordan Herr (RS SO/Lancaster, Pa./Delaware) brought Williams with an RBI-single of his own, giving Pitt the 2-1 advantage.

The Eagles answered in the bottom-half of the inning, tying the game once again at 2-2. With no outs and the bases loaded, David Kaye (FR/Oakmont, Pa./Riverview) came out of the bullpen in relief of Brant. Brant's night ended after 6.0 innings in which he struck out nine batters and gave up just two runs from four hits.

Kaye got the next Eagle batter to ground into a double play, but with no previous outs in the inning, leadoff batter Jeremiah Parker was able to score, tying the game at 2-2. Kaye closed the inning as the Eagles' center fielder grounded out to Williams.

Pitt and Georgia Southern battled through the eighth and ninth innings with neither team able to break the 2-2 deadlock. The Eagles nearly ended the game when Wimsberger attempted to score from third after teammate Brain Pierce ripped a single into the outfield.

Herr gunned down Wimsberger at the plate with a strike from center field to Mullins, preserving the game for the Panthers.

Even with the momentum from Herr's relay to Mullins, Pitt was unable to score in the top of the tenth, leaving the door open for the Eagles to swoop in for the win. Miller led off the bottom half of the inning by cranking a walk-off homerun over the right field wall and sealing the victory for Georgia Southern.

With the game ending after midnight, Pitt will have less than nine hours until the first pitch of its 9 a.m. contest against No. 15 Michigan on Sunday morning, the Panthers' final game of the Keith LeClair Invitational.