University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
Notre Dame
Irish Hold on for 5-4 Win Over Panthers
3/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 27, 2009
PITTSBURGH — The University of Pittsburgh baseball team opened the second weekend of Big East Conference play against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, dropping a 5-4 contest that came down to the final out here at Trees Field.
Nate Reed (Reading, Pa.-Oley Valley) (1-2) was charged with the loss after giving up four runs on eight hits in six innings of work. Cole Johnson (3-0) threw a complete game for the Irish, yielding four runs, two of which were earned, on seven hits while striking out four Panther batters.
A.J. Pollock gave Notre Dame (15-8, 2-2 Big East) an early 1-0 lead after the first, scoring on a Matt Scioscia single through the right side. The Irish added to their lead in the second with Casey Martin’s solo shot to center field. ND had runners on first and second with just one out, but Greg Sherry was caught stealing and Mick Doyle grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
Pitt (13-7, 2-2 Big East) cut the lead in half at 2-1 in the bottom of the second when Matt Litzinger (Pittsburgh, Pa.-Serra Catholic) doubled down the right-field line to start the inning and later scored on a Cory Brownsten (Lockport, N.Y.-Monroe CC) groundout.
Reed gave up just one hit over the ensuing three innings, including striking out the side in the Irish fifth to keep the Panthers within reach. Chris Sedon (Plains, Pa.-Lackawanna CC) was hit by a Johnson pitch and stole second to put the Panthers in scoring position in the fifth. John Schultz’s (West Lawn, Pa.-Wilson West Lawn) single to right field pushed Sedon to third, where he scored off of Joe Leonard’s (Dawson, Pa.-Connellsville) sacrifice fly to right, tying the game at 2-2.
The Irish answered in the sixth, scoring two to go ahead 4-2. Pollock doubled down the left-field line and scored on a Jeremy Barnes single to left for the first run of the inning. Barnes then stole second and was driven in by a Martin single to right, rounding out the top half of the sixth.
In the seventh, David Mills’ two-out infield single scored Doyle, extending the Notre Dame lead to 5-2.
Pitt responded in the bottom half of the inning, cutting the lead to one at 5-4. Sedon was hit by a Johnson pitch for the second time in the game. Pitt then caught a break as Johnson’s throw to second on a Schultz comebacker was low and away. An error on Doyle allowed Leonard to reach first and Pitt to load the bases, where Morgan Kielty (Burlington, Ontario-Burlington Central) made the Irish pay with a single through the right side that scored Sedon and Schultz.
The Panthers entered the ninth with the top of the order due up. Johnson was able to get Sedon and Schultz to fly out to Pollock, while Golden Tate made a leaping catch at the wall on a hard hit fly ball by Leonard to preserve the win.
The Panthers and Irish pick up play tomorrow in the second of their three-game set at Trees Field. First pitch is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
