Sunday, February 26
Port Charlotte, FL
12:30 PM
Pitt
4-3
17
vs
7
Harvard
1-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Harvard
3
0
0
0
0
4
0
0
7
8
2
Pittsburgh
0
0
2
6
7
0
0
2
17
16
1
Panthers Roll to Series-Clinching Win Over Harvard
2/26/2023 4:40:00 PM | Baseball
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The Pitt baseball team (4-3) bashed its way to a 17-7 series-clinching win over Harvard (1-3) in eight innings on Sunday at Centennial Park.
The Panthers pounded out 17 runs on 16 hits, tallying four multi-run innings and putting up a six-spot in the fourth and a seven-spot in the fifth.
"Great team effort," head coach Mike Bell said. "Great way to close things out down here this weekend."
Jack Anderson hit a grand slam in the fourth to break the contest open, and Jayden Melendez hit a solo shot in the eighth for his first home run as a Panther.
Five Panthers recorded multi-hit games, led by Anderson, who went 4-for-6 with five RBI and two runs scored. Sky Duff finished 3-for-6 with three doubles , three RBI and three runs scored. AJ Nessler collected a double, a single, two RBI and a run scored. Melendez doubled to go along with his homer and drove in three runs. Dom Popa went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and two runs scored. Tommy Tavarez doubled to give Pitt seven two-baggers on the day.
Harvard jumped out to a three-run lead in the top of the first inning, but Pitt began chipping away with a two-run third that saw Noah Martinez serve up a sacrifice fly and Anderson hit an RBI single back up the middle.
The Panthers completely flipped the script of the game over the next two innings, scoring 13 runs to take a 15-3 lead. The fourth saw Duff shoot a two-RBI double to left center, then Anderson hit his bases-loaded round tripper. In the fifth, Duff sent an RBI double to right, Martinez hit an RBI single to right, Nessler smacked a two-RBI double to right center, Popa hit an RBI single back up the middle and Melendez cracked a two-RBI double to center.
The Crimson plated four runs in the sixth to cut it to 15-7, but Pitt ended the game in the home half of the eighth as Melendez hit his solo homer to right center and CJ Funk scored on a fielding error by Harvard.
"After splitting with these guys yesterday, we knew they were going to be aggressive, and they were in the first," Bell said. "We made a couple mistakes in some advantage counts, and they jumped us for a three-spot in the first. But our guys answered back, building some big innings with some quality at-bats and some extra-base hits. Nessler continues to drive the ball. Jack Anderson had a huge grand slam. Some unselfish baseball, too. Jayden Melendez dropping a great drag in a sac situation and coming up later and driving in a double and an opposite field home run. He played really well behind the plate today."
On the mound, Erubiel Candelario got the start and struck out five over four innings. Jonathan Bautista worked two frames and struck out four. Nash Bryan threw the final two innings and fanned three en route to his third pitching win of the year.
"I thought Nash Bryan was really, really good on the back end of the bullpen today," Bell said. "Candelario and Bautista filled in with some quality innings."
Pitt plays the first of 22 home games at Charles Cost Field as it welcomes Bucknell to the Steel City on Tuesday (Feb. 28). First pitch of the home opener is set for 3 p.m.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
The Panthers pounded out 17 runs on 16 hits, tallying four multi-run innings and putting up a six-spot in the fourth and a seven-spot in the fifth.
"Great team effort," head coach Mike Bell said. "Great way to close things out down here this weekend."
Jack Anderson hit a grand slam in the fourth to break the contest open, and Jayden Melendez hit a solo shot in the eighth for his first home run as a Panther.
Five Panthers recorded multi-hit games, led by Anderson, who went 4-for-6 with five RBI and two runs scored. Sky Duff finished 3-for-6 with three doubles , three RBI and three runs scored. AJ Nessler collected a double, a single, two RBI and a run scored. Melendez doubled to go along with his homer and drove in three runs. Dom Popa went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and two runs scored. Tommy Tavarez doubled to give Pitt seven two-baggers on the day.
Harvard jumped out to a three-run lead in the top of the first inning, but Pitt began chipping away with a two-run third that saw Noah Martinez serve up a sacrifice fly and Anderson hit an RBI single back up the middle.
The Panthers completely flipped the script of the game over the next two innings, scoring 13 runs to take a 15-3 lead. The fourth saw Duff shoot a two-RBI double to left center, then Anderson hit his bases-loaded round tripper. In the fifth, Duff sent an RBI double to right, Martinez hit an RBI single to right, Nessler smacked a two-RBI double to right center, Popa hit an RBI single back up the middle and Melendez cracked a two-RBI double to center.
The Crimson plated four runs in the sixth to cut it to 15-7, but Pitt ended the game in the home half of the eighth as Melendez hit his solo homer to right center and CJ Funk scored on a fielding error by Harvard.
"After splitting with these guys yesterday, we knew they were going to be aggressive, and they were in the first," Bell said. "We made a couple mistakes in some advantage counts, and they jumped us for a three-spot in the first. But our guys answered back, building some big innings with some quality at-bats and some extra-base hits. Nessler continues to drive the ball. Jack Anderson had a huge grand slam. Some unselfish baseball, too. Jayden Melendez dropping a great drag in a sac situation and coming up later and driving in a double and an opposite field home run. He played really well behind the plate today."
On the mound, Erubiel Candelario got the start and struck out five over four innings. Jonathan Bautista worked two frames and struck out four. Nash Bryan threw the final two innings and fanned three en route to his third pitching win of the year.
"I thought Nash Bryan was really, really good on the back end of the bullpen today," Bell said. "Candelario and Bautista filled in with some quality innings."
Pitt plays the first of 22 home games at Charles Cost Field as it welcomes Bucknell to the Steel City on Tuesday (Feb. 28). First pitch of the home opener is set for 3 p.m.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bryan, Nash (3-0)
L: Jacobsen, Will (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Rounds, Ben 1 ; Snopek, Chris 2
HR: Lybrook, William 1 ; Lane, Max 1
RBI: Giberti, Matt 1 ; Bravo, Logan 1 ; Snopek, Chris 1 ; Lybrook, William 2 ; Lane, Max 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rounds, Ben 1 ; Bravo, Logan 1 ; Berger, Jake 1 ; Snopek, Chris 1 ; Lybrook, William 1 ; Lane, Max 1 ; Kang, Jordan 1
HBP: Kang, Jordan 1
Batting:
2B: Duff, Sky 3 ; Funk, C.J. 1 ; Nessler, AJ 1 ; Tavarez, Tommy 1 ; Melendez, Jayden 1
HR: Anderson, Jack 1 ; Melendez, Jayden 1
RBI: Duff, Sky 3 ; Martinez, Noah 2 ; Anderson, Jack 5 ; Nessler, AJ 2 ; Popa, Dom 1 ; Melendez, Jayden 3
SH: Melendez, Jayden 1
SF: Martinez, Noah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Duff, Sky 3 ; Funk, C.J. 3 ; Martinez, Noah 2 ; Anderson, Jack 2 ; Nessler, AJ 1 ; Tavarez, Tommy 1 ; Popa, Dom 2 ; Melendez, Jayden 1 ; LaSala, Anthony 2
HBP: Tavarez, Tommy 1 ; Popa, Dom 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
2
H
4
RBI
5
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
1B/C
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C/INF
/ BaseballUTL
/ Baseball
INF
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