Panthers Walk Off Against #11 UNC To Take Series

Sunday, March 15

Pittsburgh, Pa.

12:00 PM

Pitt

8-9, 3-3

North Carolina

12-7, 3-3

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

Panthers Walk Off Against #11 UNC To Take Series

3/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 15, 2015

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PITTSBURGH - Senior Eric Hess came through in the clutch, delivering a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th, lifting Pitt (8-9, 3-3 ACC) to a series-clinching 3-2 victory over No. 11 North Carolina (12-7, 3-3 ACC) on Sunday, March 15 at Charles L. Cost Field.

Entering the game as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning, Hess got his chance to hit in the bottom of the 10th after the Tar Heels tied the score 2-2 in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly. After both teams went down in each of their next half innings, the Panthers took care of business in the home half of the 10th. With one out, junior Ron Sherman roped a single to center and moved up to second on a passed ball. Following a strikeout, UNC elected to walk the hot-hitting freshman Charles LeBlanc with first base open, bringing up the struggling Hess.

Hess made them pay for that decision, taking a 0-1 offering to right center that scored Sherman from second and won the game for the Panthers.

It was the first walk-off win for Pitt this season and first extra-inning victory in three tries. The last Pitt walk-off prior to Sunday was against top-ranked Virginia last season. The Panthers improved to 3-3 this year against teams ranked in the top-11 and are now 4-1 inside the friendly confines of Cost Field this season.

Pitt received a fantastic outing from junior Marc Berube, who threw 7.0 innings and allowed one run on five hits while striking out a career-high seven batters and walking none. He did hit four batters, however. Senior Hobie Harris (1-1) was credited with his first win of the season after tossing 1.2 innings of one-hit ball in relief.

Six Panthers finished with one hit apiece - none louder than Hess' though. Redshirt freshman Frank Maldonado doubled and walked to extend his hitting streak to a team-best 10 games and reached bases streak to 15. He also scored two of Pitt's three runs.

Sherman, who scored the game winning run after a base hit earlier in the inning, also drove in a run of his own.

Berube got off to a shaky start, hitting the first batter of the game on the first pitch. He settled in however, retiring the next six batters he faced, including three by way of strikeouts.

Both Berube and UNC starter Trent Thornton held their opposing teams hitless through the first two innings.

UNC opened the third inning by getting two of its first three runners on with the game's first hit and another hit by pitch. But, Berube buckled down again and recorded two big strikeouts to get out of the jam.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Panthers scored the first run of the game without getting a hit to jump out to a 1-0 lead. Maldonado led off with a walk and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Manny Pazos. An error by the first baseman allowed Pazos to reach safely on the play. Following an unsuccessful sacrifice bunt, the Panthers' patience paid off as back-to-back walks to redshirt sophomore Jacob Wright and Leblanc brought in Maldonado from third.

Pitt tried to extend its lead to 2-0 when Pazos tagged up on a fly out to left, but the throw by left fielder Landon Lassiter beat him to home plate for the double play.

An inning later junior Alex Kowalczyk broke up Thornton's no-hitter with a leadoff single in the fourth and made his way to third with two outs, but was ultimately stranded there.

Berube continued to work from behind once again in both the fifth and sixth innings, but was able to get out unscathed each time.

In the fifth, he hit the first batter for the second time on the day. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner into scoring position, but another crucial strikeout and fly out kept UNC off the scoreboard. After two quick outs were recorded in the sixth, Berube ran into some trouble again. He hit Logan Warmoth - the fourth batter he beaned on the afternoon - then a single that scooted by a diving Jordan Frabasilio placed runners on the corners. The Tar Heels looked to have all but evened the score when an offering from Berube sailed wide of Pazos, but the catcher got a generous bounce off the back stop and easily applied the tag to Warmoth to keep UNC scoreless.

Berube's luck finally came to an end as UNC tied the game on a two-out single by Lassiter in the seventh that went just by a diving Leblanc. The throw home by Wright was off target, but prompted Lassiter to try going to second on the play, where he was thrown out by Pazos.

Pitt took the lead right back in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Sherman for his team-leading 12th RBI this year. With one out, Maldonado sliced a doubled down the right field line and went to third on a bloop single by Pazos to right center. Sherman then got the job done with a deep fly to left, just shy of the warning track that allowed Maldonado to trot on home.

Down to its final two outs in the ninth, UNC managed to tie the game after getting two of its first three batters on base via a leadoff single by Brian Miller and a one-out walk. UNC was ready to bring in left-handed pinch hitter Joe Dudek, but when Pitt turned to its lefty specialist Nick Parnell, the Tar Heels went back to their bench to call on Adam Pate. With a 1-2 count to Pate, a wild pitch allowed the runners to advance and the Panthers chose to intentionally walk Pate and have the double play option. Pitt replaced Parnell with Hobie Harris, who gave up a sacrifice fly to Lassiter that tied the game, before recording the final out of the frame.

Spencer Trayener (1-2) was assessed the loss giving up one run and two hits in 0.2 innings after entering at the beginning of the 10th. Thornton was pulled after 5.0 innings of one-hit ball. He allowed just one unearned run.

Lassiter accounted for both of UNC's RBIs and Elijah Sutherland reached base four times on two hits, a walk and a hit by pitch.

Pitt will close out its homestand next week with a pair of midweek games against Penn State on Tuesday, March 17 and Akron on Wednesday, March 18.