Panthers Take Down No. 21 Florida State in Series Finale

Sunday, March 12

Tallahassee, FL

1 PM

Pitt

Florida State

Panthers Take Down No. 21 Florida State in Series Finale

3/12/2023 6:32:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Gamebook (PDF)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Kyle Hess hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to help lift the Pitt baseball team (8-8, 1-2 ACC) to its first ACC win of the 2023 season with an 8-6 victory over No. 21-ranked Florida State (11-4, 2-1 ACC) on Sunday at Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium. The game entered a lightning delay with one out in the bottom of the eighth and was ultimately called as final after seven innings.

"It was a great bounce back win," head coach Mike Bell said. "We talk a lot about that, especially in ACC play. They came out and punched hard early, and we responded. We talk about not what happens in a game, but how we respond when things don't go our way. I thought our guys showed a lot of mental toughness throughout the day."

Trailing 6-5 entering the top of the sixth inning, the Panthers put together a three-run frame to take the lead and ultimately win the game. Justin Acal drew a one-out walk, then stole second base. One out later, Acal scored on a single to right field by Johnny Long III, who advanced to second on a Florida State fielding error on the play. That set the stage for Hess to hit his first home run of the season, a two-run blast over the wall in center field.

"Johnny Long with a big, big RBI single," Bell said of the sixth inning. "Kyle Hess doing what you expect an older guy to do with the two-run homer to put us ahead."

Matthew Fernandez worked around a leadoff walk to retire the Seminoles in the home half of the sixth. Jonathan Bautista then came on in the seventh and forced Florida State to strand two runners. Fernandez struck out five in four innings of relief while Bautista fanned one in one scoreless inning of work. Fernandez was credited with the win to improve to 1-2 on the year. Bautista earned his first save of the season.

"Matt Fernandez was phenomenal through the middle frames, giving us four innings of quality work," Bell said. "Bautista was good in his inning."

The Seminoles took the early lead on back-to-back home runs with two outs in the bottom of the first.

Pitt tied it up with a two-run top of the second. The Panthers loaded up the bases courtesy of a walk by Noah Martinez, a hit by pitch that put Jack Anderson on and a single through the left side by AJ Nessler. Martinez tagged up and scored from third on a sacrifice fly by Acal to put Pitt on the board. Anderson then tied the score when he scampered home on a fielder's choice that put that put Tommy Tavarez on base.

Florida State retook the lead in the home half of the second, scoring three runs on a sacrifice fly and a two-run homer.

Pitt made it a one-run game with one swing of the bat in the top of the third. After Hess drew a leadoff walk, CJ Funk hit a mammoth one-out, two-run home run to center.

The Panthers used some two-out lightning in the top of the fifth to tie the game as Funk coaxed a walk and Martinez followed with a double off the wall in left to score him.

Florida State grabbed the lead back in bottom of the fifth an RBI double, but Pitt prevailed thanks to its three-run sixth.

Pitt begins an eight-game homestand with a midweek matchup against Youngstown State on Wednesday (March 15) at Charles Cost Field. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. The contest will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.

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