University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
Kent State
Baseball Falls at Kent State
4/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 6, 2011
Kent, Ohio - The Pitt baseball team fell to Kent State, 9-5, Wednesday at Schoonover Field in Kent, Ohio.
The Panthers dropped to 16-11 overall while the Golden Flashes improved to 17-10.
Four Pitt batters finished with two hits, highlighted by freshman Derik Wilson who finished with 2 RBI.
After five scoreless innings, the Panthers jumped on the board first, posting two runs in the top of the sixth.
Four Pitt seniors contributed in the inning, starting with a leadoff single by Zach Duggan. John Schultz then followed with a double off the left field wall. With runners at second and third, Kevan Smith hit a sacrifice fly to deep right, breaking the scoreless tie.
David Chester adding his team-leading 32nd RBI to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the frame, the Flashes responded with three runs, knocking out Panther starter Kevin Dooley. The senior pitched 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits. Dooley walked two batters and struck out one on 89 pitches.
Sophomore Ray Black relieved Dooley with one out and runners on second and third. Trailing 2-0, the Flashes scored runs on a two RBI double and a single through the right side of the infield.
The Panthers rallied right back in the top of the seventh inning, scoring two runs to take the lead, 4-3.
Wilson scored fellow freshman Casey Roche on an RBI single off the center fielder's glove. After advancing on the throw, Wilson scored on an RBI single by Duggan to center field.
In a back and forth game, the Flashes rebounded with two runs in the bottom half, scoring both base runners on a two-out two-run single to center field.
Kent State pulled away in the bottom of the eighth, adding four runs to improve their lead to five.
The Panthers scored their final run in the top of the ninth. Roche tripled to deep right field to lead off the inning and scored on a pinch hit RBI single by junior Anthony Defabio.
Roche, who switched from right field to pitcher in the seventh inning, was tacked with the loss. His record dropped to 1-2.
Kent State out-hit the Panthers 13-12 in the contest.
Pitt returns home to host Villanova for a three-game series beginning Friday, April 8 at Charles L. Cost Field. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
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