Baseball Drops Another Extra Inning Affair To VCU, 3-2

Sunday, March 1

Myrtle Beach, S.C.

3:00 PM

Pitt

3-5

VCU

3-6

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
VCU	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	7	0
Pitt	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	10	3

Baseball Drops Another Extra Inning Affair To VCU, 3-2

3/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 1, 2015

Box Score|Season Stats

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MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - For the second time in three days, the Pitt baseball team played and came up short in an extra inning affair, dropping the rubber match to VCU, 3-2, in 10 innings on Sunday, March 1.

After allowing VCU (3-5) to score the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th on a single by Cooper Mickelson, the Panthers (3-6) rallied with two outs in the bottom half of the inning. Sophomore Caleb Parry doubled to center and was replaced by pinch runner, freshman Jawan McAllister. Redshirt freshman Frank Maldonado was then plunked by a pitch for the second time in the game and the two runners each moved up a base on a passed ball. With the tying run 90 feet away and the winning run 180 feet away, junior Aaron Schnurbusch was retired for just the second time in five trips to the plate when he flied out to left field to end the game.

It was the first time since 2007 that the Panthers played multiple extra-inning games in the same series since going beyond nine innings with Rutgers twice between May 11-13.

"Today was just a good baseball game., well-pitched, well played," said head coach Joe Jordano. "We had our opportunities, but could not get a break. We hit some balls hard right at defenders. The story of the day was Marc Berube. He really did a great job of keeping the ball down in the zone and threw strikes. I was very pleased with his performance. It will be something to build on as we move forward."

The loss spoiled a terrific outing by junior Marc Berube, who was making his second career start and appearance. Berube pitched 8.0-plus innings, making his way into the ninth inning before exiting the tie ballgame. He allowed two runs - one earned - one five hits while striking out six and walking none.

Despite recording the final out of the game, Schnurbusch recorded his third multi-hit game of the season, finishing with a team-high three hits in five at bats. One of those hits was a triple, leading to the second run of the game.

Freshman Charles Leblanc had his team-leading fourth multi-hit contest and third in the last five games. He's riding a six game hitting streak and is the only Panther to reach base in all eight games. Parry, who doubled to lead off the 10th, was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles. Maldonado also crushed his second homer of the season.

Neither team was able to get much going until the fourth inning when the Rams struck first. Logan Farrar started things off with a one-out single and came around to score on a base knock by Shane Dressler that took an unexpected hop off the turf by first baseman Eric Hess.

VCU extended its lead to 2-0 in the sixth with an unearned run. James Bunn reached on an error, moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt and continued to third following an error by Berube. Vimael Machin then took a pitch between third and short to plate Bunn.

Pitt responded in the home half of the sixth with two runs to even the score. With one out, Maldonado sent a pitch over the fence in left center to cut the lead in half. Schnurbusch then tripled to center and scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Manny Pazos to tie the game.

Berube retired the next six batters he faced, striking out three of them, before the Panthers looked to go ahead in the bottom of the eighth. Maldonado drew a two-out walk and went from first to third on a single by Schnurbusch to right center. However, a fly out by Pazos ended the frame.

In the 10th, redshirt freshman Josh Mitchell surrendered a leadoff single to Matt Davis before being replaced by freshman Isaac Mattson. Mattson got the next two batters out, but then gave up the game-winning single to Mickelson. Mitchell was credited with the loss.

"Overall we pitched very well this weekend against a very good team. We will continue to work hard to improve our efficiency at the plate and capitalize on opportunities to score," said Jordano."Iknow we are all looking forward to a very challenging ACC schedule andexpect a great week of practice leading into our conference series against the Virginia Cavaliers."

The Panthers open up Atlantic Coast Conference play next weekend when it travels to national runner-up No. 2 Virginia for a three-game series starting on Friday, March 6.