Friday, February 21
Sanford, Fla.
6 p.m.
Pitt
4-1
3
vs
2
Eastern Michigan
1-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Eastern Michigan
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
2
3
1
Pitt
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
X
3
9
3
Pitt Beats Eastern Michigan 3-2 in Series Opener
2/21/2020 9:58:00 PM | Baseball
SANFORD, Fla. – Pitt baseball (4-1) defeated Eastern Michigan (1-3) 3-2 Friday night at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium. The Panthers scored all three runs in the first four innings and held on for the win.
Pitt grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, David Yanni dropped a single into left field. Ron Washington Jr. brought Yanni home with a double that bounced off the wall near the left field line.
Nico Popa led off the third inning with a single through the left side, stole second base and scored on a single up the middle by Yanni.
Pitt scored again in the next inning. Riley Wash led off with a single to left field, and Sky Duff drew a walk. After both advanced on a sac bunt by Jordan Anderson, Wash scored on a groundout to the shortstop by Popa.
The Eagles scored both of their runs in the sixth inning on an RBI-double to left field and an RBI-groundout.
NEWS AND NOTES
HEAD COACH MIKE BELL'S TAKE
"We talked before the game about delivering the first blow," said Pitt head coach Mike Bell. "It was going to be tough for both teams to score runs with the elements (cold and 18-20 mph wind) tonight. Ron's double in the first inning and then jumping out to a 3-0 lead was huge. For me, the game was won on the mound. Corcoran was outstanding, and Lester and Smith followed his lead. I thought all three attacked the zone and pitched with confidence."
UP NEXT
Pitt and Eastern Michigan play the second game of the series Saturday at 3 p.m.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Pitt grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, David Yanni dropped a single into left field. Ron Washington Jr. brought Yanni home with a double that bounced off the wall near the left field line.
Nico Popa led off the third inning with a single through the left side, stole second base and scored on a single up the middle by Yanni.
Pitt scored again in the next inning. Riley Wash led off with a single to left field, and Sky Duff drew a walk. After both advanced on a sac bunt by Jordan Anderson, Wash scored on a groundout to the shortstop by Popa.
The Eagles scored both of their runs in the sixth inning on an RBI-double to left field and an RBI-groundout.
NEWS AND NOTES
- Pitt has scored a run in the first inning in all five games this season.
- Starting pitcher Billy Corcoran (2-0) set a career-high in strikeouts (nine) for the second-straight game and allowed two runs, three hits and no walks in six innings.
- Chase Smith earned the team's first save of the season. Smith entered the eighth inning with a runner on second base with two outs and then retired the next four batters.
- Dylan Lester relieved Corcoran at the beginning of the seventh inning and went 1.2 innings with no runs, hits or walks allowed.
- Duff and Yanni both collected two hits and a walk.
- The Panthers left 11 on base.
HEAD COACH MIKE BELL'S TAKE
"We talked before the game about delivering the first blow," said Pitt head coach Mike Bell. "It was going to be tough for both teams to score runs with the elements (cold and 18-20 mph wind) tonight. Ron's double in the first inning and then jumping out to a 3-0 lead was huge. For me, the game was won on the mound. Corcoran was outstanding, and Lester and Smith followed his lead. I thought all three attacked the zone and pitched with confidence."
UP NEXT
Pitt and Eastern Michigan play the second game of the series Saturday at 3 p.m.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Corcoran, Billy (2-0)
L: MCGUIRE, Luke (1-1)
S: Smith, Chase (1)
Batting:
2B: HOPKINS, Taylor 1
RBI: HOPKINS, Taylor 1 ; WARKENTIN, Daniel 1
SH: TIMKO, Jeff 1 ; KAUFFMAN, Jared 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TIMKO, Jeff 1 ; HOPKINS, Taylor 1
Batting:
2B: Washington, Jr., Ron 1
RBI: Yanni, David 1 ; Washington, Jr., Ron 1
SH: Anderson, Jordan 1 ; Duff, Sky 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Popa, Nico 1 ; Yanni, David 1 ; Wash, Riley 1
SB: Popa, Nico 1 ; Yanni, David 1
HBP: Hulett, Bryce 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
Players Mentioned
OF
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RHP
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RHP
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RHP
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