Pitt Swept By No. 13 FSU In Doubleheader, Series

Saturday, April 18

Tallahassee, FLA.

1:00 PM

Pitt

14-23, 6-14

Florida State

29-12, 13-7

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

Pitt Swept By No. 13 FSU In Doubleheader, Series

4/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 18, 2015

Box Score

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Pitt baseball team gave No. 13 Florida State all it could in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 18, however the Panthers came up short in both games, losing 6-5 in the first and 10-6 in the second.

Pitt's (14-24, 6-15 ACC) offense provided a glimmer of hope after being held to two runs and two hits in the opening game of the series. For the final seven innings of Friday's game, the Panthers were held hitless. In the two games on Saturday, Pitt actually outhit the Seminoles (30-12, 14-7 ACC), 17 to 14, but couldn't string enough hits together to outscore FSU.

In the first game, Pitt grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Seminoles responded with three runs in the bottom half and extended their lead to 4-2 in the third off a solo shot from John Sansone. Freshman Charles LeBlanc gave Pitt a 5-4 lead with a three-run homer in the seventh, but Sansone ultimately gave the `Noles a 6-5 win with his two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning.

The Panthers put up a valiant effort in the second game and went down fighting. After giving up 10 runs in the fourth and fifth innings, including seven in the fifth, Pitt plated four runs in the seventh to close the gap to 10-5. In that inning, Pitt left the bases loaded and the tying run on deck.

Junior Ron Sherman had the hot bat for the Panthers, going a combined 4-for-8 on the day with three runs, which included a three-hit performance in the nightcap. Senior Eric Hess and junior Aaron Schnurbusch were the only other players to have a base knock in both games, with Schnurbusch driving in a run in each contest.

Redshirt sophomore Jacob Wright, who had two hits in the first game, walked twice in the second to extend his reached bases streak to 28 games.

GAME ONE

Three players registered multi-hit performances, including Leblanc, who finished 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and two runs scored. It was the second straight game and third in the last six that Leblanc homered.

Wright and junior Jordan Frabasilio each posted two hits and scored a run as well.

Starting pitcher junior Aaron Sandefur was in line for his second victory of the season when he departed after 6.0 innings of four-hit, four-run ball. He fanned four batters and walked three. Redshirt freshman Josh Mitchell (0-2) suffered the loss for Pitt after giving up two runs in one inning of work.

Despite giving up the go-ahead three-run homer to Leblanc, Alec Boyd (5-0) received the victory when thanks to Sansone's two-run homer. Billy Strode struck out the side in the ninth for his 11th save.

Pitt came out ready to play following a let down from the night before, as the Panthers scored two runs on four hits before the defense even took the field. The offensive production from the opening inning matched the run total from Friday night while the four hits doubled Friday's output.

Back-to-back opposite field singles by Wright and Leblanc got things underway, and a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position. A squeeze by Schnurbusch not only brought in Wright for the game's first run, but turned into a hit when Schnurbusch beat out the throw at first. Junior Alex Kowalczyk followed with an RBI groundout to make it 2-0.

Sandefur was poised to get out of the first inning after Schnurbusch robbed D.J. Stewart of extra bases with a grab up against the wall for the second out. However, the hurler lost a nine-pitch at bat with Quincy Nieporte and walked him, putting two runners aboard for Chris Marconcini, who returned an 0-1 offering over the fence in right field for his third home run of the weekend, giving the Seminoles a 3-2 lead.

Both pitchers settled down a bit after the first inning, but Sandefur let up one more run in the bottom of the third when Sansone led off the frame with a home run to make it 4-2.

The Panthers offense wasn't able to muster anything else until the seventh when Mike Compton was pulled from the mound. Until then, Compton had retired 15 of the last 18 batters he faced, allowing just two singles and a walk during that span. In 6.0 innings, Compton struck out four and allowed two runs on six hits.

Once Compton was taken out, the Panthers attacked Byrd from his first pitch. Frabasilio and Sherman started off the frame with consecutive singles, but a failed sacrifice bunt and strikeout kept the runners at their bases with one out remaining. In need of a big hit, Leblanc gave the Panthers a 5-4 advantage with a 3-run homer to left center.

The lead was short-lived however, as Sansone struck again with his second long ball of the day, this time a two-run homer off Mitchell, that put the Seminoles back in the driver's seat at 6-5.

For the final two innings, FSU turned to Dylan Silva and Strode, who combined to sit down all six Pitt batters they faced. Strode struck out the side in the ninth for the save as the Seminoles' final lead was never in jeopardy.

Sansone and Marconcini combined for all six RBIs. Sansone was the only multi-hit performer from the Seminoles.

GAME TWO

Five runs in the final three innings was not enough to overcome a 10-1 deficit as the Panthers fell 10-6 in the nightcap. FSU scored all 10 of its runs in the fourth and fifth innings, including a seven-spot in the fifth that broke open a 3-1 contest.

Sherman had a career-high three hits, finishing 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Senior Boo Vazquez helped the offensive cause by going 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. Wright was held hitless, but walked twice to extend his reached bases streak to 28 games.

Junior Marc Berube (1-5) started off strong, but fizzled in the third and fourth innings and was lifted after 4.1 innings. He was charged with six runs (five earned) on five hits. The Panthers got a fantastic relief outing from freshman Isaac Mattson, who surrendered just one hit in 3.1 innings and struck out a career-high five batters.

Drew Carlton (3-2) was assessed the win after allowing just one run on four hits in 6.0 innings.

For the third time in the series, Pitt got on the scoreboard first, but couldn't hold its lead again. After both teams were held hitless through the first two frames, Sherman posted the game's first hit with an opposite field double off the 30-foot fence in right field. A sacrifice bunt, followed by groundout from Wright brought him home for a 1-0 Panthers lead.

Pitt was unable to push across another run in the fourth following a leadoff double by Vazquez off the same fence in right. Vazquez made it to third on a ground out and attempted to score on a chopper to third by Kowalczyk, but was thrown out at home and Pitt went on the strand two runners in the frame.

Berube, who retired the first six batters of the game, and nine of the first 10 he faced ran into issues when FSU tagged him for three runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth before adding four more off sophomore reliever Sam Mersing to take a 10-1 lead.

Sansone and Stewart reached on a hit by pitch and walk before Nieporte smoked a single through the left side to tie the game. Both Stewart and Nieporte moved up on a fielding error by Wright in left, and a wild pitch to the next batter allowed Stewart to score the go-ahead run. Nieporte crossed home plate later in the at bat on Marconcini's sacrifice fly to center. The final run of the inning was unearned.

FSU distanced itself with seven more runs in the fifth and chased Berube from the game after 4.1 innings. The `Noles sent 12 batters to the dish, starting with Gage West, who was hit by a pitch. Back-to-back doubles to left center by Delph and Sansone plated two runs, with Sansone accounting for both RBIs. That hit knocked Berube out of the game and prompted Pitt to bring in Mersing.

Mersing didn't fare much better in his first relief outing of the season as he retired just one of six batters he faced, with four of those players scoring. He walked his first batter, Stewart, which placed runners on the corners following a passed ball during the at bat. Nieporte grounded out to bring in Sansone from third to make it 6-1.

The red-hot Marconcini then launched his second home run of the day and fourth of the series, giving him 12 RBIs in the two days. The bleeding wouldn't end there as FSU loaded the bases on a pair of hit by pitches and a single before Mersing exited in favor of Mattson. The first batter Mattson faced, Ben DeLuzio, roped a two-run single through the right side to increase the margin to 10-1. The inning finally ended when Delph popped out in foul territory, leaving two more potential runs on base.

The Panthers wouldn't go down quietly, however, batting around and scoring four times in the top of the seventh to trim the FSU lead to 10-5. Pitt's four-run frame was its third largest output of the season.

Hess led things off with a double that dropped in by the left field line. Sherman followed with his third hit of the game, a single through the left side, and redshirt sophomore Matt Emge drove in Hess with an RBI groundout, the first RBI for Emge as a Panther. Two walks in a row loaded the bases for Vazquez, who sent a pitch back up the middle for a two-run single against Byrd, who entered the game as a reliever before the at bat. Schnurbusch made it 10-5 with his RBI single to right field.

Byrd continued to struggle, walking Kowalczyk to load the bases back up with still only one out. FSU then turned to Silva, who shut the door on Pitt in game one. He did the same against the two batters he faced upon coming in, getting Frabasilio to pop out for an infield fly and Hess to ground out and leave the bases full.

After going down in the eighth, Pitt made things interesting again in the ninth as the first two batters reached base on a pair of errors. With one out, Frabasilio sent a deep drive to center that brought in Vazquez from third, but FSU doubled up Schnurbusch at third for the game-ending double play.

UP NEXT

The Panthers get an entire week off to prepare for a non-conference test against Fairfield beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 25. The series will conclude on Sunday, April 26.