University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
5-8
Niagara
0-8
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niagara | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
| Pitt | 2 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | X | 18 | 19 | 4 |
Panthers Pound Niagara In Home Opener, 18-4
3/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
PITTSBURGH - Pitt scored multiple runs in each of the first four innings and never looked back as the Panthers won its 2015 home opener against Niagara 18-4 on Tuesday, March 10 at Charles L. Cost Field.
The 18 runs was the most by a Panthers team in a game at Cost Field, tying the program record initially set on March 20, 2011 in an 18-9 win also against Niagara. This was also the most runs Pitt has scored in a home opener since moving into Cost Field and was the most in a home opener since 2009 when the Panthers played at Trees Field and scored 18 times against Cincinnati.
The Panthers plated nearly all of their runs throughout the first four innings, scoring twice in each of the first two innings, six in the third and three more times in the fourth to take a 13-1 lead. The six runs were tied for the most in an inning this season. Pitt also scored six in the fifth inning against Saint Louis in the season opener.
Five players finished with multi-hit games as Pitt combined to rack up 19 hits on the day, both a season high and two shy off the Cost Field Pitt record.
Freshman Charles LeBlanc led the way with a 4-for-6 effort, hitting two singles, a double and a triple in his first four at bats. He drove in four runs and scored three of his own, accounting for seven of Pitt's runs.
The remaining four players - junior Alex Kowalczyk, redshirt freshman Frank Maldonado, junior Aaron Schnurbusch and sophomore Manny Pazos - were the fourth through seventh batters in the lineup and combined to go 11-for-21 with six runs batted in and six runs scored.
Schnurbusch was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and a triple, Pazos was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored, Kowalczyk had three singles and two RBIs and Maldonado had two singles.
Nine of Pitt's 19 hits went for extra bases, including a season-high four homers. In addition to Schnurbusch's two-run blast, junior Ron Sherman hit a three-run homer, senior Jordan Frabasilio crushed his fourth homer of the season and sophomore P.J. DeMeo notched the first home run of his career.
Pitt's four homers was the most ever by the Panthers at Cost Field and matched Niagara's four from the aforementioned 2011 contest.
Pitt got things started early in the first when Leblanc doubled down the left field line and Frabasilio walked. Following an infield fly, Maldonado hit a pitch off the end of the bat that took a funny hop and scooted by first base, bringing in Leblanc. Niagara pitcher Dienston Manuela then attempted to pick off Maldonado at first, and an over throw allowed Frabasilio to score the second run of the game.
In the second, Leblanc tripled to right center with two outs, scoring Sherman from second, then came in one batter later when the Purple Eagles' shortstop misplayed a ball off the bat of Frabasilio.
Niagara managed to plate one run in the top of the third when Julian Gallup led off the inning with a single and scored after a sacrifice bunt was sandwiched between two wild pitches.
The first nine batters all reached base for the Panthers in the third inning, yielding six runs on nine hits to break open the game.
Maldonado reached on a bunt single and went to third on a hit-and-run with Schnurbusch. With runners on the corner Pazos slapped a bloop double to right center to bring in one run and put a pair in scoring position. Sherman then drove in both runners and himself with a three run homer that dinged off the left field foul pole.
Pitt continued the inning when senior Eric Hess walked and stole second. Back-to-back singles by redshirt sophomore Jacob Wright and Leblanc sent Hess around the bases. Frabasilio then loaded the bases when he reached on the first of two catcher's interferences in the game. The ninth batter of the inning, Kowalczyk, pushed across the final run with a single through the left side.
The Panthers didn't let up there, however, scoring three more times in the fourth to make it 13-1. After loading the bases with one out, Leblanc drove in a pair with a two-run single through the left side and scored two batters later on Kowalczyk's second base knock of the day.
With the game's outcome all but locked up, the Panthers turned to their bullpen in relief of senior Hobie Harris, who made his first start in a Pitt uniform after 20 relief appearances last year and four more this season. In four innings, Harris struck out six and gave up just one run on three hits. Freshman Ryan Campbell, who was first in relief and made his team-high seventh appearance, was credited with win for his three innings of work.
The teams traded runs in the sixth as Niagara's Greg Rodgers led off the inning with a double down the left field line and scored on a single down the right field line by Trevor McCauley, while Frabasilio provided the power for the Panthers with his fourth homer of the campaign when he took Purple Eagles' pitcher Zach Glowacki out of the park.
Niagara manufactured two unearned runs in the seventh off two hits and two errors, with the runs scoring on RBI single by Geoff Seto and a fielder's choice.
After a scoreless seventh for the Panthers, two-run homers by Schnurbusch and DeMeo in the eighth completed the scoring.
Junior Rich Condeelis and redshirt freshman Dan Furman each pitched scoreless innings to shut the door on Niagara.
The teams will wrap up the two-game series on Wednesday, March 11 at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Campbell, Ryan (1-0)
L: Manuela (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Rodgers 1
RBI: Seto 1 ; Bernick 1 ; McCauley 1
SH: Kirwer 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dziados 1 ; Rodgers 1 ; Gallup 2
SB: Dziados 1 ; Fuhrman 1 ; Firenzi 2 ; McCauley 1
HBP: McCauley 1
PO: Kirwer 1
Batting:
2B: Leblanc, Charles 1 ; Pazos, Manny 2
3B: Leblanc, Charles 1 ; Schnurbusch, Aaron 1
HR: Frabasilio, Jordan 1 ; Schnurbusch, Aaron 1 ; Sherman, Ron 1 ; DeMeo, P.J. 1
RBI: Leblanc, Charles 4 ; Frabasilio, Jordan 1 ; Kowalczyk, Alex 2 ; Maldonado, Frank 1 ; Schnurbusch, Aaron 2 ; Pazos, Manny 1 ; Sherman, Ron 3 ; DeMeo, P.J. 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Wright, Jacob 1 ; Leblanc, Charles 3 ; Frabasilio, Jordan 2 ; Maldonado, Frank 2 ; Schnurbusch, Aaron 2 ; Pazos, Manny 2 ; Emge, Matt 1 ; Sherman, Ron 2 ; DeMeo, P.J. 1 ; Hess, Eric 2
SB: Maldonado, Frank 1 ; Hess, Eric 1
HBP: Sherman, Ron 1 ; DeMeo, P.J. 1
