Pitt Baseball Swept By NC State

Sunday, March 29

Raleigh, N.C.

1:00 PM

Pitt

11-15, 0

North Carolina State

17-9, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Pitt	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	1
NC State	0	5	0	0	2	1	0	1	X	9	14	4

3/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 29, 2015

Box Score | Season Stats

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RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina State completed the three-game sweep against visiting Pitt with a 9-2 victory on Sunday, March 29 at Doak Field.

It was the first time all season the Panthers (11-15, 4-8 ACC) failed to win at least one game during a weekend set. NC State (17-9, 6-5 ACC), meanwhile, has now won six straight games, scoring at least seven runs in each outing.

Pitt chased Wolfpack starter Johnny Piedmonte after just 0.2 innings, but his replacement Joe O'Donnell (3-0) proved give Panthers hitters issues over the next 6.1 innings. O'Donnell, who pitched a perfect inning against the Panthers just two days earlier, allowed one unearned run on two hits while striking out four. His 6.1 innings matched a career-long outing.

Redshirt sophomore Jacob Wright registered two of Pitt's five hits for his seventh multi-hit game of the season. He's also reached base in 16 straight games now, the longest active streak on the team. Senior Boo Vazquez was credited with Pitt's only run batted in while making his first start since Feb. 28.

Junior Marc Berube (0-3) gave up more than one earned run for only the second time in four stars this season. He gave up seven runs (six earned) on nine hits -- all career highs.

Unlike each of the previous two games in the series, Pitt struck first on Sunday and did so in the first inning. It was the only lead the Panthers enjoyed all weekend. Wright led off the game with a single, moved up to second on a failed pickoff attempt and came around to score on a base hit to center by Vazquez.

Pitt looked to add more when Vazquez was able to take second on the throw home and moved up to third on a fly ball to right field. Junior Aaron Schnurbusch drew a two-out walk, forcing NC State to make a change on the mound and bring in O'Donnell. Following a wild pitch that gave the Panthers two runners in scoring position, a called third strike to the next batter ended the threat.

The lead was short-lived, however, as NC State plated five runs in the second, capped off by a three-run homer from Joe Dunand.

Five batters reached base -- and all scored -- to begin the second inning for the Wolfpack. Following an error at short, NC State loaded the bases with back-to-back singles from Andrew Knizner and Jake Fincher. Ryne Willard then brought in NC State's first two runs on a double to the left field gap and two pitches later Dunand blasted an offering over the wall in left field.

Berube settled down a bit after the shaky start to the second inning, retiring three of the next four batters and eight of the next 10. Included in that stretch was an inning-ending double play to get out of the third frame.

The Panthers added a run to their total in the fourth, making it 5-2, but once again left two runners in scoring position. With two outs, seniors Jordan Frabasilio and Eric Hess accepted walks, placing runners on the corners after Frabasilio went all the way from first to third on a wild pitch and errant throw down by the catcher while Hess was batting. That brought up junior Ron Sherman, who lined a pitch to the shortstop, where a dropped ball allowed Frabasilio to come in from third.

In the bottom of the fifth, Berube ran into some trouble again, letting up two more runs as NC State extended its lead to 7-2. The first two batters reached on a single and hit by pitch and both moved up on a wild pitch. Knizner drove one in with a single through the left side and two batters later Willard did the same with his RBI single to center. A walk by Berube loaded the bases and prompted head coach Joe Jordano to turn to his bullpen. With the bases full, senior Hobie Harris struck out Joel McKeithan before he could even take the bat off his shoulder to limit any more harm.

NC State scored added two runs off of Harris during his 3.0 innings of relief work for the final tally.

In the sixth, the leadoff batter Brock Deatherage got aboard on a leadoff single and made his way around the bases on a wild pitch, another single and a sacrifice fly. Pitt kept additional runs off the scoreboard in the frame when Knizner was thrown out at second trying to stretch a near-miss home run off the top of the wall into a double. The final run came home in the eighth when junior Rich Condeelis dealt his first batter a walk with the bases loaded.

Pitt now returns home for nine of its next 10 games. First up for the Panthers during that stretch is a contest with rival West Virginia on Tuesday, March 31.