Friday, February 24
Port Charlotte, FL
1 PM
Pitt
2-2
12
vs
10
Harvard
0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Harvard
1
4
1
0
0
0
3
1
0
10
13
2
Pittsburgh
2
1
0
2
2
1
0
0
4
12
9
2
Walk-Off Grand Slam By Martinez Lifts Panthers to Win Over Harvard
2/24/2023 6:10:00 PM | Baseball
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Noah Martinez hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Pitt baseball team (2-2) to a 12-10 victory over Harvard (0-1) on Friday at Centennial Park.
Trailing 10-8 heading into the home half of the ninth, Brett Heckert came up with a pinch-hit leadoff single through the left side for his first hit as a Panther to get the rally started. Heckert was lifted for pinch runner Cam Barto, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Sky Duff coaxed a walk, then he and Barto put two runners in scoring position as they both advanced on another wild pitch. CJ Funk then drew a walk to load up the bases for Martinez, who homered to right to win the game for Pitt.
"I thought they showed a lot of heart, a lot of mental toughness today," head coach Mike Bell said. "It wasn't the cleanest game of baseball. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot early on with a couple plays and a lack of executing in a couple situations on the mound. But I think the one thing you saw was some tough at-bats throughout the game. Brett Heckert with a big pinch-hit single, a couple free passes on their part and Noah Martinez getting himself into a good count where the guy had to throw a strike, and he did what he does best. He can hit it a long way. It was a great team effort."
The Crimson opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first, but Pitt responded by taking a 2-1 lead in the bottom half. Duff and Jack Anderson each drew walks and scored on a single by Tommy Tavarez and a Harvard throwing error.
Harvard struck back with four runs in the top of the second, taking advantage of two Pitt miscues. The Panthers cut Harvard's lead to 5-3 in the bottom half after Dom Popa hit a one-out single to right center and later scored on a bases-loaded walk by Martinez.
After the Crimson added a sixth run to their total in the third, Pitt proceeded to score five runs over the ensuing three frames to take an 8-6 lead. Tavarez and AJ Nessler came up with back-to-back RBI singles with two outs in the fourth. CJ Funk smacked a two-RBI double to center in the fifth. In the sixth, Nessler led off with a triple to left center and later scored on a wild pitch.
The top of the seventh saw Harvard retake the lead, though, plating three runs on back-to-back two-out hits. The Crimson made it a 10-8 lead with another run in the top of the eighth, but the Panther rallied with their four-run ninth to win in dramatic fashion.
Martinez finished the contest with five RBI and homered for the second game in a row. Tavarez and Nessler each finished with a pair of hits.
Nash Bryan was credited with the pitching victory, his second on the season to improve his record to 2-0. He struck out two over two innings of relief.
Pitt and Harvard will play a doubleheader on Saturday (Feb. 25) beginning at 11:30 a.m.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Trailing 10-8 heading into the home half of the ninth, Brett Heckert came up with a pinch-hit leadoff single through the left side for his first hit as a Panther to get the rally started. Heckert was lifted for pinch runner Cam Barto, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Sky Duff coaxed a walk, then he and Barto put two runners in scoring position as they both advanced on another wild pitch. CJ Funk then drew a walk to load up the bases for Martinez, who homered to right to win the game for Pitt.
"I thought they showed a lot of heart, a lot of mental toughness today," head coach Mike Bell said. "It wasn't the cleanest game of baseball. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot early on with a couple plays and a lack of executing in a couple situations on the mound. But I think the one thing you saw was some tough at-bats throughout the game. Brett Heckert with a big pinch-hit single, a couple free passes on their part and Noah Martinez getting himself into a good count where the guy had to throw a strike, and he did what he does best. He can hit it a long way. It was a great team effort."
The Crimson opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first, but Pitt responded by taking a 2-1 lead in the bottom half. Duff and Jack Anderson each drew walks and scored on a single by Tommy Tavarez and a Harvard throwing error.
Harvard struck back with four runs in the top of the second, taking advantage of two Pitt miscues. The Panthers cut Harvard's lead to 5-3 in the bottom half after Dom Popa hit a one-out single to right center and later scored on a bases-loaded walk by Martinez.
After the Crimson added a sixth run to their total in the third, Pitt proceeded to score five runs over the ensuing three frames to take an 8-6 lead. Tavarez and AJ Nessler came up with back-to-back RBI singles with two outs in the fourth. CJ Funk smacked a two-RBI double to center in the fifth. In the sixth, Nessler led off with a triple to left center and later scored on a wild pitch.
The top of the seventh saw Harvard retake the lead, though, plating three runs on back-to-back two-out hits. The Crimson made it a 10-8 lead with another run in the top of the eighth, but the Panther rallied with their four-run ninth to win in dramatic fashion.
Martinez finished the contest with five RBI and homered for the second game in a row. Tavarez and Nessler each finished with a pair of hits.
Nash Bryan was credited with the pitching victory, his second on the season to improve his record to 2-0. He struck out two over two innings of relief.
Pitt and Harvard will play a doubleheader on Saturday (Feb. 25) beginning at 11:30 a.m.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bryan, Nash (2-0)
L: Narottam, Uday (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Jacobsen, Will 1 ; Baldwin, Hunter 1
RBI: Rounds, Ben 1 ; Berger, Jake 1 ; Jacobsen, Will 1 ; Baldwin, Hunter 1 ; Cooper, George 3
SH: Baldwin, Hunter 1
SF: Cooper, George 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Messervy, Peter 2 ; Rounds, Ben 1 ; Berger, Jake 1 ; Jacobsen, Will 1 ; Snopek, Chris 2 ; Feller, Sawyer 1 ; Baldwin, Hunter 2
CS: Rounds, Ben 1 ; Bravo, Logan 1
Batting:
2B: Funk, C.J. 1
3B: Nessler, AJ 1
HR: Martinez, Noah 1
RBI: Funk, C.J. 2 ; Martinez, Noah 5 ; Tavarez, Tommy 2 ; Nessler, AJ 1
SH: LaSala, Anthony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Duff, Sky 3 ; Funk, C.J. 2 ; Martinez, Noah 2 ; Anderson, Jack 1 ; Nessler, AJ 1 ; Popa, Dom 1 ; LaSala, Anthony 1 ; Barto, Cameron 1
HBP: Long III, Johnny 2 ; LaSala, Anthony 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
1B/C
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RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballUTL
/ Baseball
INF
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